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GRUBBS GIVES US THE SIDE EYE

posted February 4th, 2025

Hear that sound? It's a Whistle from Above, David Grubbs' new album coming out on Drag City next month! Yes! After sharing the lead single/video for “The Snake on Its Tail” this past December, Grubbs has a new song for us today: “Queen’s Side Eye”.

Opening with warm, folky arpeggiation, David swiftly introduces edits and variations into “Queen’s Side Eye” — he’s hardly done pursuing them down each path before turning and chasing after another set. It’s a taut, intensively scaled guitar piece with Grubbsian, serpentine changes unfurled in a measured, lucid abstraction. As open spaces are found, they're soon filled with judicious ambiance from Cleek Schrey’s ten-string fiddle and Nate Wooley’s trumpet.

After a deep dive into Gastr del Sol’s duo magic that facilitated last year’s compilation box, David opened his deeply personal solo pieces for engaging conversational gambits with some modern masters — Rhodri Davies, Andrea Belfi, Nikos Veliotis, Nate Wooley, and Cleek Schrey — to create Whistle from Above. Hear David’s marvelous, ever-shifting sonic still life on February 28, 2025.

David Grubbs 2025 Performances

USA


Mar. 4 - Brooklyn, NY @ Sisters*
Mar. 29 - Knoxville, TN @ Big Ears Festival

*Whistle from Above record release show w/ Nate Wooley, Wendy Eisenberg, Cleek Schrey

UK

Mar. 15 - Glasgow, UK @ Glad Café (w/Brunhild Ferrari and Luke Fowler)
Mar. 16 - Glasgow, UK @ Glad Café (solo)
Mar. 17 - Newcastle upon Tyne, UK @ Star and Shadow Cinema (solo, w/ Secluded Bronte)
Mar. 18 - Cambridge, UK @ NCI Centre (solo, w/ Secluded Bronte)
Mar. 19 - Cardiff, UK @ Chapter Arts Centre (solo, w/ Secluded Bronte)
Mar. 21 - Birmingham, UK @ Pan-Pan (solo, w/ Secluded Bronte)
Mar. 24 - London, UK @ Cafe OTO (w/Brunhild Ferrari and Luke Fowler)

Artists in this story: David Grubbs