Howe Gelb (Giant Sand) & Lorenzo Corti

Howe Gelb long has been saddled with such titles as ‘godfather of alt-country’ and ‘elder ambassador of desert rock’ ( at 3:00 AM during a writer's deadline ) but please never utilize the moniker Americana anymore ( which originally was a descriptive instigated by Sylvie Simmons of MoJo aeons ago ).In three decades plus, he’s managed to mash elements of erosion rock, de-composition, crunchy & western, something close to blues, punk snark, lo-fi hi-fi, pseudo jazz, gospel a-choir-ing, semi-standard piano standards and a side swipe of Andalusian gypsy flamenco. If musical classification were likened to sonic masonry, then one can prepose that Howe Gelb’s stone work is but the mortar in between all categorical bricks. An uneasy fit for the discernible listener, but none the less, nicely holds it all together. He’s probably ‘folk’ with a side of cacophony, let’s go with that.

He has a catalogue of over 60 albums of his various incarnations, including Giant Sand. He’s produced albums for John Doe and K.T. Tunstall. He’s made original music with his friends Anna Karina ( French New Wave ) and Pappy Allen ( Pappy & Harriet’s ). He had helped M. Ward and Grandaddy get their first albums out. His 90s rhythm section became Calexico after turning them on to his hometown in Tucson, Arizona. He recently co-wrote the screenplay for a film called "Quantum Cowboys" starring Lily Gladstone and Gary Farmer which also won him the Annecy Animation Festival ‘original music’ award