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Cypress Grove (musician)

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Cypress Grove
man playing guitar with hat on
Background information
Born (1959-05-28) 28 May 1959 (age 65)
London, England
GenresAlternative rock
Occupation(s)Musician, singer, songwriter, composer, producer
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, drums
Years active1979-present
LabelsGlitterhouse, Rustblade

Cypress Grove (born 28 May 1959) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, composer and producer. After gaining an honours degree in Psychology at University College London, he decided to follow a career in music.

Biography

Cypress Grove was born in London into a musical family. His father was a professional jazz drummer who at one time played with The Chris Barber band. Grove was taught by his father to play drums at an early age, but by the time he turned 16, his interest had switched to guitar.

Musical career

File:Cypress Grove and Jeffrey Lee Pierce.jpg
Cypress Grove and Jeffrey Lee Pierce

By the age of 18, he started to join a number of new wave bands and would gig regularly. His musical direction started to turn towards alternative rock and he was influenced by bands such as The Birthday Party, The Pop Group, and Einstürzende Neubauten. But his infatuation for pre-war acoustic blues continued to develop and led to a chance encounter with Jeffrey Lee Pierce from The Gun Club in 1988. Pierce had a real passion for roots music of any kind so they started to jam together regularly on acoustic guitars in Grove's bedroom. Pierce invited Grove to collaborate with him on his long planned album of roots material. The album was released in 1992 – Ramblin' Jeffrey Lee and Cypress Grove with Willie Love.[1][2] Cypress and Jeffrey went on to tour the album both with a band and as an acoustic duo.[3]

In October 1994, Pierce and Grove were filmed for Henri-Jean Debon's Hard Times Killin' Floor Blues film. The film was eventually released in 2008.[4] After Pierce's death in March 1996 from a brain haemorrhage, Grove moved to France for three years, travelling the entire country, playing various gigs, festivals and radio sessions.

File:Cypress Grove and Lydia Lunch.jpg
Cypress Grove and Lydia Lunch

In 2006, Cypress Grove discovered a tape of Pierce and himself rehearsing some songs that Pierce was in the process of writing. These were plainly works in progress, and while the quality was deemed too poor for release, Grove started to record the songs properly and invited a number of friends, colleagues and admirers of Pierce to help him complete them. This undertaking became The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Session Project,[5][6][7][8][9] an endeavour that has currently produced three albums, with a fourth and final volume in the pipeline.[10][11][12] Grove has recorded with a number of musicians including Nick Cave,[13] Debbie Harry,[14][15] Chris Stein, Mark Lanegan, Iggy Pop, Isobel Campbell, Thurston Moore, Warren Ellis, The Raveonettes, Crippled Black Phoenix, Mick Harvey, David Eugene Edwards, Hugo Race, Bertrand Cantat, Barry Adamson, Lydia Lunch, Jim Sclavunos, Mark Stewart and James Johnston.

In 2010, Cypress Grove and Lydia Lunch decided to expand on their successful pairing during the The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Session Project and recorded A Fistful of Desert Blues.[16][17][18]

References

  1. ^ "Ramblin' Jeffrey Lee & Cypress Grove With Willie Love – Ramblin' Jeffrey Lee | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. 27 March 1992. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  2. ^ "Gun Club – Ramblin' Jeffrey Lee Pierce & Cypress Grove with Willie Love | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards" (in Italian). Rootshighway.
  3. ^ "Jeffrey Lee Pierce". From The Archives. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  4. ^ Hard Times Killin' Floor Blues | Film/Documentary. Choses Vues.
  5. ^ "Les incantations blues punk de Jeffrey Lee Pierce | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". Le Monde (in French).
  6. ^ "We Are Only Riders – The JLP Sessions Project (Glitterhouse) | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". The Independent.
  7. ^ "Nick Cave and Blondie's Debbie Harry duet on The Gun Club tribute album | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". NME.
  8. ^ "Iggy Pop, Nick Cave, Thurston Moore and Jim Sclavunos play Nobody's City – new music | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". The Guardian.
  9. ^ "Glitterhouse Records :: Artists". Label.glitterhouse.com. 30 March 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  10. ^ "Various Artists We Are Only Riders – The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project Review | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". BBC.
  11. ^ "The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project – The Journey Is Long Review | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". BBC.
  12. ^ "The Shoebox in the Attic: Jeffrey Lee Pierce and the Last Crusade | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". Exeunt Magazine.
  13. ^ "Nick Cave and Blondie's Debbie Harry duet on The Gun Club tribute album | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". Uncut.
  14. ^ "Debbie to contribute to new JLP Sessions Project compilation 'Axels & Sockets' | DEBORAH-HARRY [dot] COM | NEWS & UPDATES". Deborah-harry.com. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  15. ^ "The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project". Facebook. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  16. ^ "A Fistful of Desert Blues CD | Rustblade – Label and Distribution". Rustblade. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  17. ^ "Lydia Lunch and Cypress Grove – A Fistful of Desert Blues More than just art for art's sake..." About.com.
  18. ^ "Lydia Lunch to release acoustic blues album". Regenmag.com. 10 January 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2014.

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