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Irwin on 08/16/2010 at 05:20PM
Baby Gramps: wordplay & a steel guitar
Baby Gramps made his first WFMU appearances on Nicholas Hill's Live Music Faucet in the 1990s. I became an instant fan of his Popeye-growl, shameless wordplay, and deft picking on an ancient National Steel guitar. Gramps specialized in jazz rags and reinvented campfire favorites, threw in the occasional 1930s novelty tune, and added dollops of what was known in the minstrel trade as "pure hokum." In May 1998 Gramps was touring a folk circuit that took him to NYC. For reasons that now escape memory, his schedule precluded an appearance on Nick's show (which perhaps was off the air by then), so I offered airtime. (Gramps returned again the following year.) At the time Gramps had no interest in recording or releasing albums; he just wanted to entertain live audiences. He was a natural, graceful presence, full of fun and surprises. There was something magical (and ageless) about Baby Gramps. He was a living cartoon. I recall his visits with great fondness.
Baby Gramps has a new album, Outertainment, in collaboration with Peter Stampfel (co-founder of the Holy Modal Rounders)
