Giant Sand

‘56
born in wilkes-barre. pennsylvania .. a small factory laden / coal mining town .. raised by wolves

‘60s
alvino rey and his singing guitar become a televised influence

‘70s
pennsylvania home destroyed by flood and tucson arizona happens in its wake

bestowed free 4 track recording time at npr affiliate wvia hosted and engineered by george graham .. records several sessions including his country duo "wow and flutter" and in the punk band "the stains" ... as well as his own rock opera "zeqe 24.088"

meets * rainer ptacek * in tucson

‘80s
giant sandworms happen with rainer

along with billy sedlmayr and dave seger

after the band becomes too popular in tucson, they relocate to the lower east side in NYC for a year

giant sand emerges from the ashes of giant sandworms with bassist scott garber along with drummers winston watson and tommy larkins

records / releases 2 albums by his own country band the band of ... blacky ranchette and records / releases 2 giant sand albums

produces rainer and das combo's "barefoot rock with ..."

begins touring life in the USA and europe

meets and marries new bassist paula brown from the go go's .. baby daughter born in hollywood

discovers drummer john convertino & invites him into the band

records and releases 3 or 4 more giant sand albums and another the band of ... blacky ranchette before the decade ends.

relocates to joshua tree area near pioneertown after divorce

befriends pappy

90's
discovers bassist joey burns & invites him into the band

moves back to tucson and suggests the band follow

giant sand become a buzz band

discovers grandaddy

records about 8 more giant sand albums and some solo records too

re invents the band as op8 with special guest lisa germano

rainer diagnosed with brain cancer

produces benefit/tribute album "the inner flame" along with rainer fan robert plant

remarries sofie albertsen from denmark

rainer dies

band begins to divide into 2 ..

rhythm section form calexico

baby son is born

‘00s
tours solo more frequently

discovers m. ward

relocates to aarhus denmark for 5 months to have another baby

giant sand is reinvented with a band of danish players

records several more giant sand albums

records more solo albums, one with a canadian gospel choir (receiving a 5 star review in mojo) and another with andalucian flamenco gypsies which include maestro raimundo amador

re-issues entire back catalogue on fire records ( about 50 albums )

‘10s
giant sand expand into giant giant sand, doubling it's previous size, combining equal parts danes and new young tucson players

produces KT Tunstall's critically acclaimed album

assists in the recording of dutch actress carice van houten's 1st album and pens her second single

howe is discovered by gary briggs

releases solo album "the coincidentalist" for new west records which features m. ward, steve shelley + thøger lund along with guest appearances by will oldham, kt tunstall + andrew bird

produces Sylvie Simmons's first album

records giant³ sand album "Heartbreak Pass" all over the planet with many friends guesting in a variety of line-ups .. . from an intimate cluster up to 2o members strong by including the gospel choir on occasion

the new album marks 30 years since the first Giant Sand release of "Valley of Rain".

between the exponential cubed expansion of the band to the sheer audacity of its 3 decade life span, giant sand and giant giant sand are now dead .. .

. .. long live

 

Giant Sand also played at...

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