Howe Gelb Goes Gospel… Almost
Friday February 24, 2006 @ 06:30 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff

Howe Gelb

Howe Gelb is synonymous with music from the American southwest, but he recorded his forthcoming 'Sno Angel Like You album in Ottawa with a number of Canadians and will probably preview a few songs from it up here first on a short tour that starts Monday in Montreal.

Gelb recorded the new album during a snowy Ottawa winter (worlds away from what he's used to in his desert-surrounded Tucson, Arizona hometown) with the Voices Of Praise gospel choir, so the album title probably makes more sense to you now. But 'Sno Angel Like You isn't a gospel album.

"It was a grand experiment to see if we could mesh the sounds of the muck I make with the dizzying effect of the glorious sound [the choir] makes," says the Giant Sand founder.

The origins of the project go back to 2003 when Gelb was invited to play at a church with local singer/songwriter Jim Bryson as part of the Ottawa Bluesfest. Gospel choirs performed in between sets and Gelb was inspired to create music that captured that sound but didn't involve religious lyrics.

While in Ottawa, Gelb met a number of other musicians who ended up contributing to 'Sno Angel Like You, which will be released by Thrill Jockey on March 21. In addition to Voices Of Praise and Bryson, keyboard player/recording engineer Dave Draves, singer Susan Odle and Arcade Fire drummer Jeremy Gara are all part of the ensemble.

"Jeremy and I set right into it, old-school, Giant Sand-style recording technique: just guitar and drums without him hearing too much of what we were about to record," says the singer/songwriter/guitarist of Gara's involvement.

Voices Of Praise arranged themselves on the tracks that Gelb had already recorded, which included seven new songs, three old Giant Sand numbers and three compositions by his former bandmate and longtime friend Rainer Ptacek, who died of cancer in 1997.

Unfortunately, Gelb won't have Voices Of Praise with him for his four Canadian shows, so fans should expect to hear more material from his extensive solo and collaborative catalogues. Giant Sand has spun off Calexico, The Friends Of Dean Martinez, Band Of Blacky Ranchette, OP8 and Arizona Amp And Aternator, and Gelb has worked with the likes of Neko Case, Julie Doiron, Richard Buckner, Steve Wynn, Evan Dando, Grandaddy, Scout Niblett and M. Ward.

Here are the non-gospel songs on 'Sno Angel Like You: