Single Artwork
Single Release — June 4 — "From a Golden State"
As a 9th Grade English teacher, Grover Anderson noticed a peculiar phenomenon—if a family is going to move, they’ll often do so the summer between middle school and high school for one of their children. Presumably they choose this time because their kid is already switching schools; if they’re already in a forced transition, why not rip the band-aid off all at once? Sure, it’s one of the most formidable time periods in their young lives, but they’ll be fine, right? Grover wrote “From a Golden State” late at night around a summer campfire, high in the Sierra Nevadas. It was his two year old daughter’s first time camping, and he wondered whether she would continue to appreciate it as she grew older. Many of his students dismissed the majesty of the wilderness surrounding their community, and as he reflected on possible reasons, the narrative of “From a Golden State” and its lonely protagonist began to unfold.
Recognizing that this was not a typically “Grover Anderson & the Lampoliers” song, both in melody and lyrical content, Grover reached out to friend and collaborator Kiel Williams (Risky Biscuits, Ghost Coach) to produce the track. Layering electric guitars, synths, pedal steel, and a beautiful string arrangement over Grover’s guitar and piano, Kiel crafted a song unlike anything Grover had previously released. Mastered by Richard Dodd (Tyler Childers’ Purgatory, Margo Price’s That’s How Rumors Get Started), “From a Golden State” is the second single off Grover Anderson & the Lampoliers’ July album All The Lies That I Have Told, following the May 7 release of “Willie Nelson”.
Upcoming Releases:
July 2, 2021 • Single
“The Gardener”
(Tallest Man on Earth cover)
July 30, 2021 • Album
All the Lies That I Have Told
Previous Singles:
May 7, 2021
“Willie Nelson” (ft. Kelly Jane)
Biography
For years, Grover Anderson wrestled with his commitment to holding a day job. Always eager to pursue a career as a singer-songwriter, the desire to start and support a family landed one all-important notch higher on life’s priority list. For the last six years he’s been making both work—teaching high school English & drama in his small mountain town, building a devout local following, and touring the US in the summer. He released four albums and played in 23 states, yet still he wondered if he’d given short shrift to a dream. Then 2020 happened, and as he witnessed the hardships endured by career performers, Grover had never felt more fortunate to hold a secondary gig.
At the beginning of last year, Grover and his bandmate Josh Certo began mapping out songs for what was to be Grover’s fifth album. The intent was to use the recordings as a foundation on which their band, Grover Anderson & the Lampoliers, could collaborate through a busy year of gigs and rehearsals. When lockdown began, their project quickly changed directions—Grover, Josh, Marshall Henry, and Anthony Delaney recorded their parts in home studios, sharing tracks virtually to create a fundamentally different album.
All the Lies That I Have Told is a collection of small town stories. Written around a high-country campfire, in a Texas Uber, and amidst Wikipedia deep dives, the songs dig a little deeper than traditional rural clichés. “From a Golden State” is a diary entry from a metropolitan teen forced to move to a place where everyone already knows your story. The duet “Willie Nelson” follows recent divorcees prepping their answers for the same questions that everyone’s asking. Inspired by true crime stories from early 1900’s America, “Tom Horn” and “Man from the Train” explore the impact of heinous villainy on tight-knit communities. It’s not all dark and gloomy—“Backseat Chorus” developed on the twice-daily drive out a one-and-a-half lane road into town, and “Icarus” reflects on a family’s perseverance through tragedy. Two songs, considering the emptiness of infidelity (“In the Nighttime”) and the impact that free two-day shipping has on the worker who makes it possible (is “Amazon Song” too stark a title?), along with a honky-tonk cover of Swedish murder ballad “The Gardener”, round out the album.
The narrative lyrical content in All the Lies That I Have Told stands in stark contrast to Grover’s autobiographical release The Frontman (named the #1 album of 2019 by IndependentClauses.com), but shares the genre-hopping breadth of 2014’s The Optimist, from which “Little Spoon”, “Grindstone”, and “Sick of You” continue to attract new fans. Those songs and others, like the 2011 surf duet “Moonshine”, have been streamed by over 650k people on Spotify and have found homes in 38k listener-made playlists. The variety of bands that he’s opened for (including America, Matt Stell, Birds of Chicago, and The Charlie Daniels Band) reflects the crossover appeal of his music, which folks have labelled folk, country, rock, and Americana. Grover doesn’t really care what folks call it as long as it moves them.
When distancing guidelines cleared his 2020 touring calendar, Grover began playing Pickup Truck Concerts, driving all over Northern California to play safely-distanced acoustic shows from the bed of his truck for folks in their driveways. People who’d loved shows with his band The Lampoliers developed a new appreciation for Grover’s assiduous songwriting and fanciful narratives at these small, modified house concerts. Grover played these shows through the end of 2020 and plans to continue them for a second season this year, in addition to a modest public schedule with The Lampoliers until live music reopens for good.
Grover lives in Murphys, CA with his wife Katie (also a high school teacher) and their two daughters.
Grover Anderson & the Lampoliers
lamp•o•lier | læm′pǝ′lɪɚ
noun | origin: 19th Cent. | colloquial
1. one who maintains street lamps
2. apocryphal demon; personification of avarice
3. member of Grover Anderson’s band
Josh Certo (drums) has been the band’s primary musical leader since 2013.
Marshall Henry (lead guitar) joined the band in 2016 and often accompanies Grover at house concerts and smaller venues.
Anthony Delaney (bass) started playing with Grover in early 2018, shortly after relocating from the Bay Area. When not Lampoliering, Anthony leads The Murphys Jazz Experiment, which hosts a weekly night of improvised music in Murphys.
Press
“Over the past few months, I’ve been struck by Grover Anderson’s creativity. I’ve introduced you to a few of his songs — and none of them sound the same. Anderson’s interested in telling the best stories he can with all of the tools at his disposal, and he’s got a great many.”
—Rachel Cholst, Adobe & Teardrops
“Some songs are likely to simply floor the listener: absolutely devastating with brutal honesty…There are stories here, ones that will draw in listeners, but melody is what makes them songs—Anderson walks that fine line, ensuring he doesn’t allow his internal dialogue to interfere with the listener’s purpose: musical enjoyment. The Frontman is why Fervor Coulee continues to exist.”
—Donald Teplyske, Fervor Coulee
“Anderson is a storyteller extraordinaire. He crafts imagery through stunning lyricism like the town cryer.”
—Lisa Whealy, Independent Clauses
“Though many musical men of late have trendily taken on the trappings of woodsmen, Anderson, hailing from the Sierra foothills, is the real deal — his country- and folk-inspired music has a homey warmth that can’t be faked.”
—Santa Barbara Independent
“If Paul Simon wrote a country love song it might be this one. The melody and poetic lyrics in Evergreen are blended perfectly. You might even imagine a balsamy breeze as Grover’s smooth, sweet vocals confess satisfaction and joy.”
—Karen Bernick, Karen Loves Country
Social Media
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Single Credits
Produced by Kiel Williams
Lyrics by Grover Anderson (ASCAP)
Music by Grover Anderson & Kiel Williams
Performed by:
Grover Anderson — Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Piano
Kiel Williams — Guitars, Pedal Steel, Keys, Cello
Josh Certo — Drums
Austin Broder — Violin
Mixed by Kiel Williams
Mastered by Richard Dodd
Lyrics
You won’t believe how they handle snow days in California
These kids lose their shit over just an inch or two
Dad can roll his eyes and try to blame it on the transplants
But his eyes look like everybody’s do
Everybody asks me how you’re doing
So hard to picture you existing here
We can’t get the Times and it’s an hour to Trader Joe’s
And I can barely breathe two months a year
The river’s fine, but it’s overrated
Every teacher at my school looks just like me
All the locals are so jaded
Hating everyone who pays their salaries
But I’ll keep on pretending this is home
Because I know that’s what you wanted me to do
You taught me how to live alone
But I need more than memories to pull me through
I bet I can love to suffer more than you
Grandma’s told me every story three times
There’s a hard drive full of prepubescent me
And when I hate my dad, and school, and poetry, and cancer
Sometimes I hate you the most for leaving
And I’ll keep on pretending that I’m fine
Because survivor’s guilt’s pathetically convenient
You were even beautiful in dying
And I’m too much like my father to relent
From the narcissistic self-flaggelence
I pretend I’m a spacewoman’s daughter
I project mission completion dates
I pretend I’m a spacewoman’s daughter
It’s all relative, so I’ll just wait, wait, wait