Willard Grant Conspiracy (solo)

They?ve been called the world’s first proto-garage-folk-rock band, and when you?re dealing with that many hyphens you know you?re onto something eclectically special. With a sound which ranges from the sparse melancolia of a Johnny Cash to the avant-garde psychedelia of a Pere Ubu, and a live show featuring anything between one and 14 people on stage (although he?s solo at Greenbelt this year) it?s no wonder Mojo magazine declares Willard Grant Conspiracy to be ?reminiscent of The Band in all their gothic pomp.?

WGC is a musical constellation that orbits around the singular talents of gravel-voiced songwriter Robert Fisher, if you?ll forgive the mixed astronomical metaphor. The prevaling vibe is Americana but Fisher is a citizen of the world: indeed the latest album – Let It Roll – was recorded in Slovenia. Songs of heartache and despair; but curiously uplifting.

Footnote: Pogonophobes beware; Fisher has a beard you could bury a badger in.