Grandfather Child formed in Houston in 2009 around Lucas Gorham, whose interest in sacred steel gospel helped shape the band’s use of lap steel as a lead instrument. With Robert Ellis, Geoffrey Muller, and Ryan Chavez, the group combined country, rhythm and blues, gospel, and psychedelic rock. The Waiting for You EP (2010) preceded its self-titled album, released by New West Records in 2012. Connecting musicians from several parts of Houston’s independent scene, Grandfather Child placed expressive ensemble playing and steel guitar at the center of a contemporary Gulf Coast roots sound.
External sources are cited for reference only and are not Free Press Houston holdings or affiliates.
Held artifact from Free Press Summer Fest 2011, an edition the act played. 2011 stage guide, published on the festival lineup page alongside a PDF. Free Press Houston Archive holding.
5 appearances documented on Free Press Houston bills. Records are kept to the lineup sources the archive holds; nothing beyond them is stated.
Lineup row held for Free Press Summer Fest 2012, source fpsf-dev-2014-previous-lineups.
Documentary evidence
Portrait — not event-specific. Grandfather Child band portrait, 2012. Bryan Schutmaat, 2012. Copyright retained by photographer/source. Houston Chronicle. Press portrait credited to Bryan Schutmaat; not a Westheimer Block Party photograph.
Free Press Summer Fest 2009Lineup row held for Free Press Summer Fest 2009, source fpsf-dev-2014-previous-lineups.
Westheimer Block Party, fall 2009Lineup row held for Westheimer Block Party, fall 2009, source wbp-2009-lineup-page.
Free Press Summer Fest 2010Lineup row held for Free Press Summer Fest 2010, source fpsf-dev-2014-previous-lineups.
Free Press Summer Fest 2011Lineup row held for Free Press Summer Fest 2011, source fpsf-dev-2014-previous-lineups.
Free Press Summer Fest 2012Lineup row held for Free Press Summer Fest 2012, source fpsf-dev-2014-previous-lineups.
Credits are recorded from each object’s own source. If a credit here is incomplete or wrong, see photo and video credits.
Related Free Press Houston coverage
Archive articles that name Grandfather Child. A mention is a sighting in the paper’s own pages, not a statement that the piece is about this performer.
