‘I’ve always felt like an underdog, through every period of Grandaddy’ – The Irish Times

Jason Lytle was driving through the desert near his hometown of Modesto, in California, a few years ago when he was struck by a bolt of inspiration. The Grandaddy frontman, who relishes long drives on wide, empty roads, was tuned to his favourite satellite radio programme, Willie’s Roadhouse, hosted by the country legend Willie Nelson, when he heard a song: Tennessee Waltz by Patti Page.

“I remember listening to it, going, ‘Wow, this is a genre of music that’s like old, slow bluegrass,’” he says. Lytle is sitting outside, palm tree visible over his shoulder, his faithful hound Guapo at his knee as birds twitter in the background. “Long story short, I couldn’t find the genre – so I just said, ‘Screw it, I’m going to make it myself.’ And that kind of set me off on this quest to create this genre of music that I was starting to…