Willard Grant Conspiracy

by Jason Ankeny
Loose-knit folk-noir confederation the Willard Grant Conspiracy was formed in Boston in 1995 by singer Robert Fisher and guitarist Paul Austin, longtime collaborators who previously teamed in the noise-rock outfit the Flower Tamers. Asked to test-drive a friend's new home recording studio, the duo recruited guitarist Sean O'Brien and within days completed work on the debut Willard Grant Conspiracy record, 3 AM Sunday at Fortune Otto's, issued on Fisher's own Dahlia Records imprint in 1996. From there the group evolved into an ever-changing collective of some 20 local musicians, gathering in various numbers each week for informal jam sessions; guitarist James Apt, violist David Michael Curry, mandolinist Erich Groat and bassist Matt Griffin joined the core trio of Fisher, Austin and O'Brien to record the WGC's 1998 Rykodisc/Slow River debut, Flying Low. The live Weevils in the Captain's Biscuit and the demo collection Radio Free WGC preceded the 1999 release of the superb Mojave. Everything's Fine surfaced two years later.