Grandaddy

Grandaddy
Jason Lytle performing live with Grandaddy in London in 1998
Background information
Origin	Modesto, California, United States
Genres	Indie rock space rock
Years active	1992–2006, 2012–present
Labels	Big Jesus Will Big Cat V2 Good
Members	Jason Lytle Kevin Garcia Jim Fairchild Tim Dryden Aaron Burtch

Grandaddy is an American indie rock band from Modesto, California, formed in 1992. The band consists of Jason Lytle (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Kevin Garcia (bass guitar), Aaron Burtch (drums), Jim Fairchild (guitar) and Tim Dryden (keyboards).

After several self-released records and cassettes, the band signed to Will Records in the US and later the V2 subsidiary Big Cat Records in the UK, going on to sign an exclusive deal with V2. The bulk of the band's recorded output was the work of Lytle, who worked primarily in home studios. The band released four studio albums before splitting in 2006, with band members going on to solo careers and other projects. Grandaddy reformed in 2012 and have since made a number of live appearances. In 2016, the band announced its fifth studio album, Last Place, due for release in March 2017.

Grandaddy was formed in 1992 by singer, guitarist and keyboardist Jason Lytle, bassist Kevin Garcia and drummer Aaron Burtch. The group was initially influenced by US punk bands such as Suicidal Tendencies and Bad Brains. Lytle was a former professional skateboarder, who had turned to music after a knee injury forced him to stop skating, working at a sewage treatment works to fund the purchase of equipment, and several of the band's early live performances were at skateboarding competitions.

The band members constructed a studio at the Lytle family home, and the band's first release was the self-produced cassette Complex Party Come Along Theories in April 1994. Singles "Could This Be Love" and "Taster" followed later that year. In 1995, guitarist Jim Fairchild (another ex-pro-skater who had guested with the band before) and keyboardist Tim Dryden joined the band. A second cassette, Don't Sock the Tryer was withdrawn, with the band instead releasing debut mini-album A Pretty Mess by This One Band in April 1996 on the Seattle-based Will label.