Rock · US · Active since 1994

The Geraldine Fibbers

Gritty, violin-laced rock that crashes from country-tinged ballads into jagged noise. Intense, unpredictable, and deeply soulful for the restless and the haunted.

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Intro

The Geraldine Fibbers sound like a honky-tonk band that got trapped in a wind tunnel with a noise-rock ensemble. It is music of extreme contrasts: one moment you are hearing the mournful, woody scrape of a violin and a lonesome country croon, and the next, the entire track is being shredded by Nels Cline's jagged, avant-garde guitar feedback. It is heavy, not just in volume, but in its emotional gravity.

What makes them truly distinctive is Carla Bozulich's vocal performance. She possesses a rare ability to pivot from a vulnerable, whiskey-soaked whisper to a terrifying, soul-purging belt without losing the narrative thread of the song. The inclusion of violin as a primary melodic lead, rather than just an accent, gives the music a gothic, Americana-noir quality that feels both ancient and dangerously modern.

Start with 'Lost Somewhere Between the Earth and My Home' to hear the perfect marriage of their country roots and rock ambitions. If you want to see how far they can push the boundaries of noise and structure, move directly to 'Butch,' where the band fully embraces their experimental, art-rock tendencies.

The Geraldine Fibbers were an alt-country band founded in 1993 by Carla Bozulich. Initially, band members included Bozulich, Daniel Keenan, Julie Fowells, William Tutton and Kevin Fitzgerald. While Bozulich had previously been known for noisy industrial music, The Geraldine Fibbers fused American roots music and blues-influenced punk. Julie Fowells left the band quite early and was replaced with Bronwyn Adams who played violin on most of the pre-Virgin recordings. Just as the group signed to Virgin, Bronwyn Adams departed and was replaced with Jessy Greene who remained until mid-1997. The group always incorporated noise and experimentation into their sound, which has been mis-labeled as Alternative Country. In early 1996, Keenan departed, to be replaced by Nels Cline, the band shifting to an even more noisy, guitar-rock sound. Jessy Greene stayed with the band until both Virgin albums had been recorded. Greene was replaced with Leyna Marika P. who, due to prior commitments, could not join immediately. Jessica Moss was recruited to fill in for Leyna on the Butch tour. However, in 2017 when Lost Somewhere Between the Earth and My Home was reissued with bonus tracks, it is Jessica Moss playing violin on the new track, "Thank You for Giving Me Life". Spin magazine named Lost Somewhere Between the Earth and My Home and Butch to their top albums of 1995 and 1997 lists, respectively. Moss joined A Silver Mt. Zion in 2001. The Nels Cline Singers and an enormously diverse biography surround Nels Cline. In 2004 he joined the alternative band, Wilco. Fitzgerald has played with Eleni Mandell, The Circle Jerks and others. William Tutton is now a Los Angeles-based session musician, and has performed live with numerous acts, such as the Grandmothers, Chris Stamey, Glen Meadmore, Los Super Elegantes, El Vez, Badwater Bob, and the Wild Honey Orchestra. Bozulich made her 4th album for her group, Evangelista on Constellation Records. In April 2017, it was announced that Lost Somewhere Between the Earth and My Home would be reissued on vinyl by Jealous Butcher Records on May 5, 2017. The reissue will be mixed for vinyl by Steve Fisk and include "Bitter Honey" and "234" from the original sessions, a previously unreleased studio version of "You Doo Right" featuring both Keenan and Cline on guitar, and a new song "Thank You for Giving Me Life" featuring Bozulich, Tutton, Fitzgerald, Cline and Moss as the lineup.
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Our Catalog2 Albums · 1995 · 1997
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