The Grip Weeds

The Grip Weeds
Origin Highland Park, New Jersey
Genres Power pop, psychedelic rock
Years active 1988–present
Labels Jem Recordings, Ground Up Records, Twang! Records, Rainbow Quartz Records, Wicked Cool Records, Buy Or Die Compact Discs
Associated acts Jim Babjak’s Buzzed Meg, The Smithereens, The Anderson Council, The Rooks, The Wyld Olde Souls
Website gripweeds.com
Members Rick Reil
Kurt Reil
Kristin Pinell
Dave DeSantis

The Grip Weeds are an American rock band from Highland Park, New Jersey.

History

The Grip Weeds were formed in 1988 in New Brunswick, New Jersey by brothers Rick Reil (guitar) and Kurt Reil (drums). The band is named after the fictional character “Musketeer Gripweed”, played by John Lennon in Richard Lester’s 1967 motion picture How I Won The War.[1] The Reil brothers are joined by guitarist Kristin Pinell, a veteran of New York City's The Rooks.[2] and bassist Dave DeSantis, who joined the band in 2012.

Their music is often classified in the power pop, psychedelic rock and garage rock categories. Influences include The Beatles, The Who, Big Star, Buffalo Springfield, The Yardbirds, The Smithereens, The Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, and others.[3]

The Grip Weeds began their recording career with the 1992 three-song independent release See You Through on their own Ground Up Records label, followed by the single “She Brings The Rain b/w Strange Bird” for the German Twang! label. Their 1994 full-length album debut House Of Vibes, was the first to be recorded in their own fully equipped home studio, also known as “The House Of Vibes”. Known for its laid back atmosphere and a collection of vintage sound equipment and instruments, it has also been put to use by many other recording artists including The Smithereens, Jim Babjak’s Buzzed Meg, Najma Akhtar and Gary Lucas, The Swingin' Neckbreakers, The Anderson Council and more.[4] A second album, for Buy Or Die Compact Discs, The Sound Is In You, followed in 1998. The band signed with Rainbow Quartz Records for their 2001 release Summer Of A Thousand Years, and followed it up with Giant On The Beach in 2004. “Little Steven” Van Zandt’s Wicked Cool label released the compilation CD Infinite Soul: The Best Of The Grip Weeds in 2008, and Van Zandt has been a vocal supporter of the band.[3] Rainbow Quartz released the double CD and double vinyl LP Strange Change Machine in June 2010. 2012 saw the release on Ground Up Records of a live album, Speed of Live (In Concert: In New Jersey) along with a companion DVD release, Live Vibes featuring a "live in the studio" performance taped at The House Of Vibes. Ground Up Records followed the live releases with the 2013 rarities collection, Inner Grooves (Rare And Under-Released Tracks). After signing with Jem Recordings, the band released their sixth studio album How I Won The War on April 7, 2015.[5]

Throughout their career, The Grip Weeds have performed at venues across the United States, and internationally, including the South By Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas, The Cavern Club in Liverpool, England, and several tours of Europe, among others.

Members

Current Lineup
Former Members

Discography

References

  1. ↑ Bucketfull of Brains, April 1999 http://www.gripweeds.com/press/press-siiy/0499-brains.htm
  2. ↑ The Rooks Web Site http://therooks.com/tree.html
  3. 1 2 The Grip Weeds Web Site Bio http://www.gripweeds.com/bio/bio.html
  4. ↑ House Of Vibes Recording Studio http://www.houseofvibes.com/
  5. ↑ The Grip Weeds Discography http://www.gripweeds.com/discography/discography.html

External links

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