Willard Grant Conspiracy (WGC) was an

alt-country Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style f ...

band based originally in Boston, Massachusetts and later near

Palmdale, California Palmdale is a city in northern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. The city lies in the Antelope Valley region of Southern California. The San Gabriel Mountains separate Palmdale from the Los Angeles Basin to the south. On Aug ...

, U.S.. The band operated as a collective, with vocalist and songwriter Robert Fisher the only permanent member throughout its existence. Fisher's voice and

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

style have been compared to both

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styl ...

and

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

, with most songs being acoustic.

History

The band was originally formed in Boston in 1995, by

North Hollywood, California North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The North H ...

-raised Robert Fisher (born Robert Neil Fisher, September 9, 1957–February 12, 2017), and Paul Austin. The two had previously collaborated since the early 1980s in

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

, and in the Flower Tamers. They added guitarist Sean O'Brien to record their debut album, ''3 AM Sunday at Fortune Otto's'', issued on Foster's own Dahlia label. For their 1998 album, ''Flying Low'', released on

Rykodisc Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance. History Claiming to be the first Compact Disc, CD-only independ ...

, the trio added James Apt (guitar), David Michael Curry (viola), Erich Groat (mandolin) and Matt Griffin (bass). Over subsequent years, some 30+ other musicians occasionally contributed to the band, both in the studio and during live performances. WGC was signed to the independent label

Loose Loose may refer to: Places *Loose, Germany *Loose, Kent, a parish and village in southeast England People * Loose (surname) Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Loose'' (B'z album), a 1995 album by B'z * ''Loose'' (Crazy Horse album), ...

, having previously released on Rykodisc,

Glitterhouse Records Glitterhouse Records is a German independent record label and mail order company based in Beverungen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It was founded in the mid-1980s. From the late 1980s until the mid-1990s it was the European branch of the American la ...

and Kimchee Records. Later albums included the live recording ''Weevils in the Captain's Biscuit'', and ''Mojave''. The band's 2003 release '' Regard The End'', featuring

Kristin Hersh Kristin may refer to: * Kristin (name), a Scandinavian form of Christine * ''Kristin'' (TV series), a 2001 American sitcom * Kristin Peak, Antarctica * Kristin School, a school in New Zealand See also * Kristen (disambiguation) Kristen may re ...

as well as Chris Eckman of

The Walkabouts The Walkabouts were an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984. The core members were vocalist Carla Torgerson and vocalist and songwriter Chris Eckman. Although the rest of the line-up changed occasionally, for most of the time ...

, and recorded in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

, received critical acclaim with ''

Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

'' magazine naming it Album of the Month. Their albums have been described as "experimenting with country and psychedelic sounds and the blues and punk, while... ''Regard the End'', which many fans and critics see as their masterpiece, upgraded several traditional songs and merged them with a rock sound." In 2002, Paul Austin started to play in

The Transmissionary Six The Transmissionary Six was actually the songwriting team of Terri Moeller and Paul Austin, the former a longtime drummer of The Walkabouts, the latter a founding member of the Willard Grant Conspiracy Willard Grant Conspiracy (WGC) was an alt-c ...

with Terri Moeller of

, and in 2011 he became a member of The Walkabouts. In 2003, Fisher returned to live in his home state of California. Willard Grant Conspiracy toured extensively in 2005 and 2006 visiting 23 countries, including a showcase at the

South by Southwest music festival South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, T ...

. They continued to tour in the US and occasionally in Europe and the UK until 2016. Fisher and Curry also toured together as a duo, and Fisher performed as a solo artist and with other musicians including Scottish singer-songwriter

Jackie Leven Jackie Leven (18 June 1950 – 14 November 2011) was a Scottish songwriter and folk musician. After starting his career as a folk musician in the late 1960s, he first found success with new wave band Doll by Doll. He later recorded as a sol ...

and arranger and composer Malcolm Lindsay.John Clarkson, "Willard Grant Conspiracy Interview"
''Pennyblackmusic.co.uk'', 31 August 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2017 Robert Fisher died of cancer on February 12, 2017, aged 59.

Discography

Studio albums

*''3am Sunday @ Fortune Otto's'' (1996) *''Flying Low'' (1998) *''Mojave'' (1999) *''Everything's Fine'' (2000) *'' Regard The End'' (2003) *'' Let It Roll'' (2006) *''Pilgrim Road'' (2008) *''Paper Covers Stone'' (2009) *''Ghost Republic'' (2013) *''Untethered'' (2018)

Live albums

*''Weevils In The Captain's Biscuit'' (1998) *''The Green, Green Grass Of Slovenia'' (2000) *''Live 2001 – Amsterdam and Aberdeen'' (2001) *''Live At Rockpalast-Crossroads(Il Mucchio)'' (2004) *''From A Distant Shore: Live In The Netherlands'' (2004)

Compilation albums

*''There But for The Grace Of God'' (2004)

EPs

*''Color Of The Sun'' (1999) *''Radio Free WGC'' (1999) *''In The Fishtank 8'', with Telefunk (2002)

References

External links

Official siteShane Gilchrist, "A Conspiracy of One", ''Otago Daily Times'', 27 September 2008
{{Authority control American alternative country groups Musical groups from California Musical collectives Musical groups from Boston Rykodisc artists Musical groups established in 1995 Musical groups disestablished in 2016 Glitterhouse Records artists