The Jody Grind was an American band from the Cabbagetown neighborhood of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia, United States. Karen Schoemer's review of their debut album for ''The New York Times'' put their sound in historical context: "This young band from Atlanta is so at home with the musical languages of past eras, one can imagine it sharing cocktail chitchat with Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra and the Gershwins." Billboard's Chris Morris described them as a "sweet, swinging." The Jody Grind opened for

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...

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Robyn Hitchcock Robyn Rowan Hitchcock (born 3 March 1953) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano, and bass guitar. After leading the Soft Boys in the late 1970s and releasing the ...

and

Poi Dog Pondering Poi Dog Pondering is an American musical group which is noted for its cross-pollination of diverse musical genres, including various forms of acoustic and electronic music. Frank Orrall founded the band in Hawaii in 1984, initially as a solo pr ...

History

In 1988, vocalist

Kelly Hogan Kelly Hogan (born January 11, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter, often known for her work as a member of Neko Case's backing band, as well as for her solo work. Early and personal life Hogan was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the daughter of ...

met

Bill Taft Bill Taft is an American rock musician living in Atlanta, Georgia. Biography Taft is the son of former Ohio state Senator William W. Taft, and a distant cousin of former United States President William Howard Taft. In 1982, Taft moved from Ohio ...

at one of his open mic nights at the White Dot in Atlanta. A mutual appreciation of old-time jazz and swing kicked off the friendship, and Taft soon invited Hogan to perform with him. They were soon joined by David Ellis (bass) and Walter Brewer (drums) and performed as An Evening With the Garbagemen. Ellis left soon after, and the band continued as a three-piece. He was eventually replaced by Robert Hayes. By 1989, they were called the Jody Grind. In 1990, the band released their debut album, ''One Man's Trash (Is Another Man's Treasure)''. It was produced by John Keane and released by

DB Records DB Records (stylized as DB RECS) was a record label owned by Danny Beard, active from 1978 to 1997. The label was operated out of the Wax'n'Facts record store in the Atlanta, Georgia neighborhood of Little Five Points. Through the 1980s, the ...

. Said Schoemer of that debut album: "Their eclecticism never sounds forced; the performances are loose and enthusiastic, and each song is linked by the smoky, sashaying vocals of Kelly Hogan Murray. Her singing, like the album, feels effortless and lovely." By 1990 they were playing packed crowds in Atlanta, many times sharing the bill with Atlanta

performance artist Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

Deacon Lunchbox. In 1992, the Jody Grind released their second album, ''Lefty's Deceiver''. It was also produced by John Keane and released by DB Records. Soon after the album was recorded, Rob Clayton joined the band as their new drummer. On April 19, 1992, less than a week after the release of ''Lefty’s Deceiver,'' a camper driven by a drunk driver crossed the I-65 median near Greenville, Alabama, and struck a borrowed van carrying Clayton, Hayes and Deacon Lunchbox, who were heading back to Atlanta from shows in Florida. Clayton, Hayes and Deacon Lunchbox died at the scene. Hogan and Taft had decided to spend the night in Pensacola and did not learn of the crash until arriving home. After the crash, Hogan and Taft disbanded the Jody Grind and formed a duo called Kick Me. Allen Page joined Kick Me, but the band broke up following his heroin overdose in 1994. Hogan later moved to Chicago to continue a solo career, and has since played with a variety of bands, including Rock*A*Teens, Wee Hairy Beasties and

Neko Case Neko Richelle Case (; born September 8, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the Canadian indie rock group the New Pornographers. Case has a powerful, untrained contralto voice, which has been described by contemporaries and cr ...

. Taft still lives in Atlanta and has been involved with several projects since, including Another Evening with the Garbageman,

Smoke Smoke is a suspension of airborne particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwanted by-produc ...

, Hubcap City and W8ing4UFOs.

Discography

Albums

*''One Man's Trash (Is Another Man's Treasure)'' (1990,

) *''Lefty's Deceiver'' (1992, DB Records/GMM Records)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jody Grind Musicians from Atlanta