interview: Joe Westerlund (Grandma Sparrow)
“Imagine the Beach Boys meeting up with Charles Ives and taking a walk through Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood. Grandma Sparrow & his Piddletractor Orchestra is a wild ride with the strange, multi-layered harmonies of the Beatles circa Magical Mystery Tour, the symphonic sweep of Van Dyke Parks, and the oddball instrumentation of Brian Wilson at his most wigged-out.
“Grandma Sparrow is the performance alter ego of Joe Westerlund — composer, vocalist and percussionist, and core component of Megafaun, Califone, Gayngs and Mount Moriah. Joe introduced Grandma Sparrow to Alverno Presents as part of Nick Sanborn: Lend Me Your Voice in November 2013. We haven’t heard anything quite like it, and we couldn’t resist bringing Joe back for the full Grandma Sparrow experience, this time with an eight-piece band, strings, horns, and children’s choir.”
~Alverno Presents
Tune into WMSE at noon today to get the lowdown on Grandma Sparrow, straight from Joe Westerlund, himself as he visits the Disclaimer on WMSE to chat about the upcoming Alverno Presents show this Saturday, March 7th.