David Grubbs

by Stacia ProefrockBrooklyn-based guitarist/pianist/vocalist David Grubbs made a major impact on the indie music scene during a ten-year residence in Chicago. Originally hailing from Louisville, Kentucky, he was a member of Bastro, and Squirrel Bait before teaming up with Jim ORourke in Gastr del Sol. That band issued a number of critically acclaimed albums in the mid-90s before ORourke split to pursue solo projects and focus on his Drag City boutique label Moikai. Grubbs first solo album of his own was released by the Table of Elements label in 1997, entitled Banana Cabbage, Potato Lettuce, Onion Orange. His second album, The Thicket, garnered a lot more critical and commercial attention when it was released in 1998 by Drag City. Apertura, a project with Sweedish reedist Mats Gustafsson, followed in 1999. In 2000, Grubbs paired up with Gustafsson again along with Noel Akchote and John McEntire to record The Spectrum Between. Featuring clever lyrics paired with delicate guitar work, the album was a fine addition to Grubbs growing discography. Though it was recorded around the time of The Thicket sessions, The Coxcomb, a musical adaptation of Stephen Cranes short story The Blue Hotel, was not released domestically until late 2000 on the Drag City subsidiary Blue Chopsticks. Thirty Minute Raven appeared the following year, but 2002 was a big year as he put out both Rickets & Scurvy and the instrumental Act Five Scene One. The following year, he released Off-Road, a collaboration with Swedish improv saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, and a split single with Avey Tare of Animal Collective on Fat Cat. A Guess at the Riddle, which reunited Grubbs with Rickets & Scurvy collaborator Rick Moody, arrived in 2004.