Blues & Ritmes 2014: Howe Gelb

Added at the last minute to step in for the ailing Jesse Winchester, Howe Gelb is welcomed with open arms to the 25th-anniversary line-up of the Blues & Ritmes festival.

A pioneer of alternative country that knows no stylistic boundaries between rock, country, blues, jazz and even flamenco, Gelb has been a prolific innovator of American musical tradition for 30 years and has released more than 40 albums both solo and as frontman for Giant Sand.

He'll be performing in Badalona featuring the inspired 'The Coincidentalist' (2013), an album recorded with a supergroup starring M. Ward on guitar, Steve Shelley (formerly of Sonic Youth) on drums, and faithful companion and bassist of Giant Sand Thøger Tetens Lundand. The album boasts guest appearances by the likes of Bonnie Prince Billy, who features on the first single 'Vortexas'; Andrew Bird, with a violin solo on the song that bears the same name as the album; and the icing on the cake is the steel guitar of Jon Rauhouse (Neko Case) and a touch of gospel choir.