Howe Gelb is an American singer-songwriter and musician from Tucson, Arizona, with early ties to Scranton, Pennsylvania. Born in 1956, he fronts Giant Sand, which he leads from the 1980s onwards, and he builds a large body of work across both group and solo projects.

Career

Gelb is the main creative force behind Giant Sand, an ever-changing project that he describes as a mood rather than a fixed band. His recorded work stretches back to 1983, and his output includes around 40 albums across band releases and solo records. He works in a broad range of styles that draw on alternative country, country, jazz, southwestern roots, lo-fi and punk.

Before Giant Sand takes shape in the early 1980s, Gelb works in Pennsylvania in the 1970s, where he records the rock opera ZEQE 24,088 at a PBS radio station in three hours. After floodwaters destroy his hometown and family house in 1972, he moves to Arizona following his parents’ divorce; his song Steadfast emerges from that experience.

In Tucson, he meets guitarist Rainer Ptacek, and the two form Giant Sandworms. After a small number of singles and recordings, that project ends and Giant Sand develops from it. Gelb remains at the centre of Giant Sand through many different line-ups.

Side projects and collaborations

Gelb also works in several related projects, including The Band of Blacky Ranchette, OP8 and Arizona Amp and Alternator. Other associated groups in his musical family tree include The Friends of Dean Martinez, Calexico, Giant Sandworms, Nive Nielsen & Deer Children, Melted Wires, Geckøs and Slant Can.

His recordings often feature collaborators and guest musicians such as Neko Case, M. Ward, Isobell Campbell, Henriette Sennenvaldt, Lucie Idlout and Lonna Kelley. On the Giant Sand album proVISIONS, he works with Kent Olsen as producer, with recording taking place in Denmark alongside Danish musicians Thoger T. Lund, Peter Dombernowsky and Anders Pedersen.

Style and output

Gelb’s music is shaped by country, desert imagery, loose improvisation and a rough-edged, changing approach to arrangement. Giant Sand’s recordings often rely on spontaneous problem-solving and melodic variation, while Gelb’s own catalogue mixes songcraft with a wide stylistic range.

His work is associated with alternative country and americana, while also drawing on rock and folk traditions.