BIOGRAPHY
Giant Sand began as Giant Sandworms, formed by Howe Gelb in Tucson, Arizona, in the late 1970s. Gelb, born around 1956 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, relocated to Tucson in 1975. The band released the EP Will Wallow and Roam After the Ruin in 1980, then debuted under the shortened name Giant Sand with Valley of Rain on Enigma Records in 1983. By 1990, drummer John Convertino and multi-instrumentalist Joey Burns had joined the lineup; the pair went on to form Calexico in 1996 before eventually leaving Giant Sand to focus on that project. Over the following decades, guest collaborators have included Victoria Williams, Neko Case, PJ Harvey, Vic Chesnutt, M. Ward, and Isobel Campbell, with Gelb remaining the group's constant creative force.