Giant Sand

Giant Sand
Giant Sand performing in Faenza, Italy in 2006
Background information
Also known as	Giant Sandworms, Giant Giant Sand
Origin	Tucson, Arizona, United States
Genres	Alternative rock, americana, roots rock, alternative country
Years active	1985–present
Website	[1]
Members	Howe Gelb Thøger T. Lund Anders Pedersen Peter Dombernowsky Nicolaj Heyman Brian Lopez Gabriel Sullivan Jon Villa Iris Jakobsen Asger Christensen Maggie Bjorklund Lonna Kelley
Past members	John Convertino Joey Burns Rainer Ptacek Chris Cacavas Paula Jean Brown Tom Larkins Iain Shedden Andrew Collberg

Giant Sand (also currently recording as Giant Giant Sand) is an American rock band, based in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The name is shortened from the original 'Giant Sandworms', a reference to the creatures in the Dune books. Overseen by singer-songwriter Howe Gelb, its membership has shifted over the years — at times with each album.

Members have included keyboardist Chris Cacavas (of Green on Red), bassist Paula Jean Brown (who was briefly a member of The Go-Go's and was married to Gelb at the time),^[1] Mark Walton (of The Dream Syndicate and Continental Drifters), drummer Tom Larkins (later to become a Jonathan Richman sideman). and Iain Shedden, drummer with Australian band The Saints. For a long while the band's rhythm section consisted of John Convertino and Joey Burns (of Calexico fame). In the early 2000s Howe Gelb reinvented the band again - this time with players from Denmark.

Guest artists over the last 3 decades have included Victoria Williams, Neko Case, Juliana Hatfield, PJ Harvey, Vic Chesnutt, Steve Wynn, Vicki Peterson, Rainer Ptacek, M. Ward, Isobel Campbell, nearly all members of the band Poi Dog Pondering, and Indiosa Patsy Jean (Gelb and Brown's daughter).^[2]

Discography

• Valley of Rain (1985)
• Ballad of a Thin Line Man (1986)
• Storm (1987)
• The Love Songs (1988)
• Long Stem Rant (1989)
• Swerve (1990)
• Ramp (1991)
• Center of the Universe (1992)
• Stromausfall (1993)
• Purge & Slouch (1993)
• Glum (1994)
• Goods and Services (1995)
• Backyard Barbecue Broadcast (1995)
• Build Your Own Night It's Easy (1997)
• Chore of Enchantment (2000)
• The Rock Opera Years (2000)
• Unsungglum (2001)
• Cover Magazine (2002)
• Infiltration of Dreams (2003)
• Too Many Spare Parts in the Yard Too Close at Hand (2003)
• Is All Over the Map (2004)
• Provisions (2008)
• Provisional Supplement (2008)
• Blurry Blue Mountain (2010)
• Melted Wires (2010)
• Snarl Some Piano (2011)
• Tucson (2012) (as Giant Giant Sand)

Filmography

• Score for Ingenius (2011) - feature film with Jeremy Renner (Bleiberg Distribution)
• High and Dry: Where the Desert Meets Rock and Roll (2006) – a documentary about Tucson musicians which includes music and interviews with Giant Sand members^[3]
• Drunken Bees (1996) – a documentary about Giant Sand by Marianne Dissard.

References

External links

• Giant Sand official website
• Live recordings by Giant Sand at the Internet Archive
• Giant Sand on Myspace
• Ow Om Records record label run by Howe Gelb
• Giant Sand at Allmusic
• Q&A with the Village Voice (9/16/2008)