"Spidery original bluegrass" — New York Times

Grant Wallace Band is a trio of composer-performers weaving a diaphanous sound from threads of new music, modern jazz, and old-time folk styles. Writing through a uniquely collaborative process, multi-instrumentalists Ben Hjertmann, Chris Fisher-Lochhead, and Luke Gullickson also draw inspiration from outsider artists including the band’s namesake. As Time Out Chicago put it, “If Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt had gone on a triple-date with John Fahey, Dock Boggs and Bill Monroe to an Anton Webern concert, you'd be somewhere in the neighborhood of Grant Wallace Band.”

Founded in 2011 in Chicago, GWB continues to perform around the country, and their collaborative spirit and penchant for theater have led to a series of unusual projects, including work with Ensemble Dal Niente (a maritime mini-musical, Fo’c’s’le), Chicago Composers Orchestra (an orchestral song cycle, The Bridge), and Houston Grand Opera (an outsider cantata, The Magnificent Pretty Boy).

GWB has released five full-length albums on Two Labyrinths Records, commencing with the “strange realms” (Bandcamp Daily) of their 2015 debut Axle of the World (with Rabbit). The group’s road-trip record, 2017’s By This Time Tomorrow, “has instant classic written all over it” (Beach Sloth). 2018’s The Battenkill saw GWB swapping songs with composer/multi-instrumentalist Ross Gallagher, and in December 2019 the band released America (or, One for the Mullygrubbs), an LP of sculpted group improvisations with cellist Emmalee Hunnicutt.

In December 2020 GWB unleashed A Very MIDI Christmas, a lovingly experimental collection of holiday favorites.

contact: grantwallaceband AT gmail DOT com