Adam Gnade
Encyclopedia
Adam Gnade is a San Diego, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

-born American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 musician and author currently living on a farm in rural Kansas. In his bio he defines his music as "talking-songs", which he describes as mixing the spoken vocals of talking blues
Talking blues
Talking blues is a form of country music. It is characterized by rhythmic speech or near-speech where the melody is free, but the rhythm is strict....

 songs with country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

, Appalachian folk
Appalachian music
Appalachian music is the traditional music of the region of Appalachia in the Eastern United States. It is derived from various European and African influences, including English ballads, Irish and Scottish traditional music , religious hymns, and African-American blues...

, noise, psychedelic folk and drone music
Drone music
Drone music is a minimalist musical style that emphasizes the use of sustained or repeated sounds, notes, or tone-clusters – called drones. It is typically characterized by lengthy audio programs with relatively slight harmonic variations throughout each piece compared to other musics...

 influences. His work is issued as a series of records
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...

 and books, which continue the stories of each others characters and further develop plot-lines. Considered a regionalist
Regionalism (literature)
In literature, regionalism or local color refers to fiction or poetry that focuses on specific features – including characters, dialects, customs, history, and topography – of a particular region...

 writer, he writes mostly about San Diego, a bordertown city in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...

, namely the area around the US/Mexico border, though many of his stories take place to the south of San Diego in the city of Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...

, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

.

History

In late 2005, Gnade signed to the California-based Loud + Clear Records, toured the US, and issued Run Hide Retreat Surrender, his first official full-length record after a series of self-released
Self-publishing
Self-publishing is the publication of any book or other media by the author of the work, without the involvement of an established third-party publisher. The author is responsible and in control of entire process including design , formats, price, distribution, marketing & PR...

, extremely limited edition CDs and cassettes
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...

.

In 2006, he issued a set of limited run experimental
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...

 albums (We Are Ghosts and Bones Down Stone-Walled Wells and the 2 CD single) expanding on his "talking songs" idea before signing a UK label deal with Drowned in Sound (also home to collaborators Youthmovies
Youthmovies
Youthmovies were an English rock quintet, comprising Andrew Mears , Al English , Graeme Murray , Stephen Hammond and Sam Scott...

). Drowned in Sound released Gnade's EP Shout the Rafters Down! in Nov of 2006, after which he toured Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 in support of the record, alongside Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

's Youthmovies
Youthmovies
Youthmovies were an English rock quintet, comprising Andrew Mears , Al English , Graeme Murray , Stephen Hammond and Sam Scott...

 and Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

's Blood Red Shoes
Blood Red Shoes
Blood Red Shoes are an indie rock duo from Brighton, England. They have released two full-length albums, Box of Secrets and Fire Like This, plus a slew of early singles on limited 7" vinyl pressings.-Formation:...

.

Gnade also recorded a "talking song"-style track with Faux-Hoax in mid-2006, a side project band featuring Dave Allen
Dave Allen (producer/bassist)
Dave Allen was the bass guitarist for the post-punk band, Gang of Four. In 1981, he left Gang of Four to found Shriekback....

, the bass guitar player of the 1970s British post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...

 band Gang of Four
Gang of Four
The Gang of Four was the name given to a political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution and were subsequently charged with a series of treasonous crimes...

, John Askew from Oregon indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

 group Tracker
Tracker (band)
Tracker is an American indie rock ensemble from Portland, Oregon. The act was founded in 1998 by John Askew, a freelance audio engineer and writer for Tape Op magazine.-Background:...

, and Danny Seim of Menomena
Menomena
Menomena are an indie rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States; currently made up of Justin Harris, Danny Seim and more recently Joe Haege of 31Knots and Tu Fawning...

 and Lackthereof
Lackthereof
Lackthereof is the solo project of Danny Seim, a founding member of the Portland, Oregon-based band Menomena.-History:The first six Lackthereof albums were recorded at home and given out to Seim's friends on cassettes and CD-R's...

. The track, "Your Friends Will Carry You Home," was released on a 7" of the same name by Polyvinyl Record Co.
Polyvinyl Record Co.
Polyvinyl Record Co. is an American independent record label based in Champaign, Illinois. It has released notable records by of Montreal, Japandroids, Braid, Mates of State and many others.-History:...

 in May 2009. The 7" also features members of Portland, Oregon's Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse is an American indie rock band formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington, by singer/lyricist/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. They are based in Portland, Oregon. Since their 1996 debut album, This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think...

 and 31 Knots.

Recent U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an, Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, and United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 radio singles
Promotional recording
A promotional recording, or promo, is an audio or video recording distributed for free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available...

 include "Hymn California," "Honey Slides," "Dance to the War," "The Winter/Their Apartment," "Room for Three and the Bayou Summer," "Palaces," "Lanterns, Rakes, and Shovels," "We're Unknowing in the Crosshairs," "The Old Lover," "Snake Lore," "It's Five O'Clock in America," "We Must Come Home Again," and "We Live Nowhere and Know No One."

2007 saw a two-month US tour, a five-week tour of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 (alongside Youthmovies
Youthmovies
Youthmovies were an English rock quintet, comprising Andrew Mears , Al English , Graeme Murray , Stephen Hammond and Sam Scott...

, Jonquil, House of Brothers
House of Brothers
House of Brothers is an English indie pop band founded by Andrew Jackson. It was originally a solo project by Jackson, whose first EP Deadman was released in 2007...

, Blanket, and Eugene McGuinness
Eugene McGuinness
Eugene Michael McGuinness is a British singer-songwriter and frontman of Eugene + the Lizards, currently living in London and is of Irish heritage.-Music career:...

), and the release of Honey Slides, a collaborative EP with Youthmovies on the Try Harder Records label. There was also a tour-only novella, entitled Seasons Loving Nothing, that was available on the UK dates. As of December, 2008, Gnade requested that Seasons Loving Nothing be taken out of print following its fourth printing.

His next full-length, Trailerparks, was released by Try Harder Records as a limited-edition, tour-only pressing in late 2008 in time for a three-week tour of Europe with Youthmovies
Youthmovies
Youthmovies were an English rock quintet, comprising Andrew Mears , Al English , Graeme Murray , Stephen Hammond and Sam Scott...

.

In September 2008, DutchMoney Books released a novel of Gnade's writing that continues the stories of the albums' characters. It is called Hymn California. A novella of connected material entitled The Darkness to the West was released in December 2008 via Punch Drunk Press.

In November, the experimental label Blast First (Petite) released a Youthmovies EP entitled Polyp which features Gnade contributing lead vocals to two tracks, "Sad Trash" and "Become an Island" which also features contributions from Joe Shrewsbury from 65DaysofStatic
65daysofstatic
65daysofstatic are an instrumental post-rock and math rock band from Sheffield, England comprising Paul Wolinski, Joe Shrewsbury, Rob Jones and Simon Wright...

 and Hugo Manuel of Jonquil. The resulting tour in November 2008 featuring both acts was called the Polyp Tour.

On February 22, 2009, Gnade announced the release of a new EP. Island's Islands will be released on cassette and limited to just 100 copies. On his website Gnade revealed that each copy of the EP would be recorded separately and each would be completely different. Gnade's next record The Wild Homesick was released in May 2009 on the Punch Drunk Press label.

In July and August 2009 Gnade joined the Van's Warped Tour as a book tour along with Microcosm Publishing. His tour diaries were published on the Asthmatic Kitty Records website and by the Willamette Week
Willamette Week
Willamette Week is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Portland, Oregon, United States. It features reports on local news, politics, sports, business and culture....

newspaper.

In August 2009, Punch Drunk Press, released a three-way split CD album featuring his songs and the songs of Ohioan and COASTS. It is called Hello America!

Live and on these newer recordings Gnade plays a four-string guitar he rebuilt and modified to play in the tuning of F, A sharp, D, F.

In January 2010, a new cassette EP, Surrenderland, was released by Punch Drunk Press.

In March 2010 he toured with Youthmovies
Youthmovies
Youthmovies were an English rock quintet, comprising Andrew Mears , Al English , Graeme Murray , Stephen Hammond and Sam Scott...

 as their support act on their final tour and then turned to England for shows with Calvin Johnson
Calvin Johnson
Calvin Johnson is an American guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, music producer, and disc jockey born in Seattle, Washington, USA...

 and Fixers.

In November, 2010, he announced via his website, adamgnade.com, that his second novel was finished. He stated that it would be read (and edited) by someone else and that after that he would be looking for a literary agent to handle the search for publishers.

On January 31, 2010 he announced the release of a collection of rare tracks, From Farmhouses to Tour Vans.

In June, 2011, Gnade's latest novella, Hey Hey Lonesome, was released by Punch Drunk Press. In August, 2011 it was announced via the Lungs, Dirt, and Dreams website as well as via assorted media outlets that Gnade would be touring alongside Atlanta experimental country band Damon Moon and the Whispering Drifters. On Gnade's website he announced there would be a special tour-only cassette featuring both acts as well as a split cassette featuring folksinger Megan Michelle.

Influences

Gnade has said in interviews and on his website that his music is influenced by Neutral Milk Hotel
Neutral Milk Hotel
Neutral Milk Hotel was an American indie rock band formed by singer, guitarist and songwriter Jeff Mangum in the early 1990s. The band was noted for its experimental sound, obscure lyrics and eclectic instrumentation....

, Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom is an American harpist, pianist and singer-songwriter from Nevada City, California.- Early life :Newsom grew up in the small town of Nevada City, California...

, noise recordings, field recordings, and old country music. In interviews he has said that his writing is influenced by Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow was a Canadian-born Jewish American writer. For his literary contributions, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts...

, James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...

 and Roberto Bolano
Roberto Bolaño
Roberto Bolaño Ávalos was a Chilean novelist and poet. In 1999 he won the Rómulo Gallegos Prize for his novel Los detectives salvajes , and in 2008 he was posthumously awarded the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction for his novel 2666, which was described by board member Marcela Valdes...

.

Tour

Gnade tours regularly and generally plays solo or backed by a band. Recent tour-mates have included Youthmovies
Youthmovies
Youthmovies were an English rock quintet, comprising Andrew Mears , Al English , Graeme Murray , Stephen Hammond and Sam Scott...

, Jonquil, Blood Red Shoes
Blood Red Shoes
Blood Red Shoes are an indie rock duo from Brighton, England. They have released two full-length albums, Box of Secrets and Fire Like This, plus a slew of early singles on limited 7" vinyl pressings.-Formation:...

, Eugene McGuinness
Eugene McGuinness
Eugene Michael McGuinness is a British singer-songwriter and frontman of Eugene + the Lizards, currently living in London and is of Irish heritage.-Music career:...

, Blanket, and House of Brothers. He has performed on bills and festivals with Calvin Johnson, Starf*****, F**k Buttons, Angelo Spencer, Castanets, Levon Helm
Levon Helm
Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm , is an American rock multi-instrumentalist and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and frequent lead and backing vocalist for The Band....

, Dark Hills, Damon Moon and the Whispering Drifters, Under White Pines, Sydney Eloise, Alana Amaram, Virgin Forest, The Album Leaf
The Album Leaf
The Album Leaf is an American solo musical project founded in San Diego, California in 1998 by Jimmy LaValle. He is known for his use of electronics, synthesizer and Rhodes piano...

, George Pringle
George Pringle
George Pringle is an artist, performer and writer from London, U.K. She is best known for her stream-of-consciousness style poetry and prose delivered over backing tracks which she creates on GarageBand music software....

, Foals, and many others.

Full-length albums

  • Run Hide Retreat Surrender (2005, Loud + Clear Records)
  • We Are Ghosts and Bones Down Stone Walled Wells (2006 self-release, 2008 Lazy Acre, 2008 Red Red Sun Records)
  • Trailerparks (2008, tour-only limited edition release, Try Harder Records, wide release June 2010 Punch Drunk Press)
  • From Farmhouses to Tour Vans (2011, collection of rarities, digital release, Punch Drunk Press)


EPs

  • Palaces/Whidbey Island (2007, limited edition double-EP/CD, Bad Drone Media 2007, Red Red Sun Records 2008)
  • The Wild Homesick (2009, CD, cassette 2011, Punch Drunk Press)
  • Whidbey Island (2010, reissue, Punch Drunk Press)
  • Shiv Shiv Shake (2010, tour-only reissue, 30 copies, Punch Drunk Press)
  • We'll Out Run Debt and Curse Out Oil Wells (2011, tour-only release, rare tracks collection, Punch Drunk Press)

Split albums and collaborative albums

  • Adam Gnade and Ohioan (2006, Native Kin, limited edition split album with Ohioan)
  • Wilderness and the Holy Gold (2006, BelowPDX, limited edition collaboration with Argumentix)
  • Hello America! (2009, Punch Drunk Press, three-way split with Ohioan and COASTS)
  • Honey Slides (2007, collaboration with Youthmovies
    Youthmovies
    Youthmovies were an English rock quintet, comprising Andrew Mears , Al English , Graeme Murray , Stephen Hammond and Sam Scott...

     Try Harder Records 2007 and Zankyo in Japan 2009)

Singles

  • "Prince of the Confederacy" (2006, split cassette release with Gang Wizard, DeathBombArc)
  • Shout the Rafters Down! (2006, five-song digital EP single, Drowned in Sound
    Drowned in Sound
    DrownedinSound.com or DiS is a UK based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway . The site is an editorially independent music website.-History:...

    's "Singles Club")
  • 2 (two song single, 2006)

Cassettes

  • Island's Islands (2009, limited edition cassette EP, Punch Drunk Press)
  • Surrenderland: You Could Quit Your Jobs and Run Away Like You Used to, Back When You Did Things Just Because, and Because it Felt Good to Run Away, and Because You Didn’t Worry so Much Like You Do Now… just Because and Leave the A**holes Behind and F*** ‘em Anyway, They Don’t Mean *S*** (2010, cassette, Punch Drunk Press)

Live on Simple Folk Radio (3010, Punch Drunk Press)
  • Split cassette, side a The Wild Homesick EP by Adam Gnade. side b Upon Awakening EP by COASTS (2011, Punch Drunk Press)
  • Split cassette, side a Adam Gnade (various live tracks), side b Megan Michelle (various selected tracks.) (2011, Punch Drunk Press)
  • Split cassette, side a Adam Gnade (various tracks), side b Damon Moon and the Whispering Drifters (various tracks) (2011)

Compilations and miscellaneous appearances

  • "Look at What the Light Did Now" (Little Wings cover) from Happy Birthday, K Records (Asthmatic Kitty
    Asthmatic Kitty
    Asthmatic Kitty is an American independent record label founded in 1999 by a community of musicians from Holland, Michigan led by musician Sufjan Stevens and his stepfather Lowell Brams. Some were Holland natives, and others had come to attend local colleges and universities...

    , digital)
  • "Hymn California" from DiS is 6 (Drowned in Sound sixth anniversary compilation, LP)
  • "Room for Three and the Bayou Summer" from We Made This, Portland
  • "T'was the Night Before Christmas" from Another Grey Xmas
  • "Snake Lore" from Loud News UK Magazine Compilation CD
  • Various tracks from Bad Drone Media Sampler
  • "Psalm" from Wood-Land Remixes
  • Lead vocals on "Sad Trash" and Become an Island" from Youthmovies EP Polyp (Blast First Petite)
  • Lead vocals on "Your Friends Will Carry You Home" from Faux-Hoax (members of Gang of Four, Modest Mouse, and Menomena) 7" (Polyvinyl)
  • "Robbie and Lauren and the Silver Sunrise" (with Argumentix" from Sonic Couture 2007 (BelowPDX)
  • "Prince of the Confederacy" from DeathBomb Arc Tape Club Year Two Sampler 3-CD
  • "We're Sick It" from Invisible Children charity comp
  • "You're Just a Skull on a Body, Baby" from Backlash Magazine Comp CD
  • "Your Friends Will Carry You Home" (with Faux-Hoax) from Live from Nowhere Near You Vol 2 (Greyday Records)

Books and zines

  • Seasons Loving Nothing (2007, limited-edition novella)
  • Hymn California (2008, novel, Dutchmoney Books)
  • The Darkness to the West (2008, novella, Punch Drunk Press)
  • Hey Hey Lonesome (2011, novella, Punch Drunk Press)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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