Spacebomb, that homegrown label/studio/performance ensemble founded right here in RVA by Matthew E. White, has established itself over the past couple of years as a venue for unconventional creativity and talented, original American songcraft. This is truer than ever in the case of the latest Spacebomb Records artist, Grandma Sparrow.
Spacebomb, that homegrown label/studio/performance ensemble founded right here in RVA by Matthew E. White, has established itself over the past couple of years as a venue for unconventional creativity and talented, original American songcraft. This is truer than ever in the case of the latest Spacebomb Records artist, Grandma Sparrow. The alter ego of Joe Westerlund, a founding member of North Carolina’s Megafaun who has also collaborated with everyone from Wilco’s Glenn Kotche and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon to Chicago experimental rockers Califone, Grandma Sparrow became a fully active musical project once Megafaun went on hiatus back in 2012.
Having previously connected with Matthew E. White on another project, Westerlund joined forces with the Spacebomb crew to create a “psychedelic children’s song cycle,” incorporating tape loops, horns, strings, and the Spacebomb house band into a full-length album known as Grandma Sparrow & His Piddletractor Orchestra. The album’s 15 tracks flow without stopping into one another, constructing a loose narrative involving Grandma Sparrow himself as well as characters like “Grandma’s nephew Alewishus” (shouldn’t that be spelled Aloysius?), Tristan Wimbley, Scrimpa, and more. The result can recall everything from the nearly incoherent English-fairytale narrative that appeared on side two of The Small Faces’ 1968 album Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake to some of Sufjan Stevens’ more ambitious projects. And of course, it can’t help but remind you of the most demented kids’ shows of the 70s; The Great Space Coaster is just the beginning where this stuff is concerned. Take a listen to Tristan Wimbley’s introductory appearance, “This Is My Wheelhouse,” below:
The album’s narrative, such as it is, takes place within the imaginary town of Piddletractor, but if you’re looking for a more detailed backstory, you’re going to be disappointed. As Westerlund has explained, “Thereʼs no hidden narrative. What the listener hears is all there is. I didnʼt sit down with a typewriter, figuring out any sort of backstory, or social dynamic, or what the land of Piddletractor looked like; all these things just emerged naturally from writing the score, and were left in their obscured state. Weʼre choosing to rely on the music to fill in the blanks for us.” The sounds that make up the world of Grandma Sparrow are downright bizarre at times, though they are always entertaining and indicate a boundless creativity on the part of Joe Westerlund and the Spacebomb crew. Get an idea of the crazy imagination behind this entire project in Episode 1 of Ask Grandma Sparrow, below:
Grandma Sparrow & His Piddletractor Orchestra will be released on vinyl and CD by Spacebomb on Tuesday, May 20–less than a week away. The album will be released in a hand-numbered, hand-stamped edition of 500 copies, and can be pre-ordered by clicking here. But before that happens, you can witness Grandma Sparrow in all his glory live this Friday night at The Coalition Theater, located at 8 W. Broad St. Joined by the Piddletractor Orchestra (played, in this case, by North Carolina group Canine Heart Sounds), Grandma Sparrow will present his latest song-cycle live for the enjoyment of all comers. Opening up the evening will be Pigeon, an improv comedy troupe made up of regular Coalition Theater players. It all kicks off at 10 PM on Friday, May 16; advance tickets are $10, and can be ordered HERE.
