Grandpa Egg is a psych-folk band formed by Pittsburgh, PA, brothers Jeb and Bart Morris. Jeb is the singer and songwriter for the group and Bart is the producer and instrumentalist.
Their first album came was released in 2011 and it was called Songs for My Cat. The album consists of 10 songs that were recorded for his Jeb’s cat Mokey.
After the release of this album the Morris brothers added two new members to Grandpa Egg, Keyboard player and bassist Inga Kristaponyte and percussionist Jordin Goff. Grandpa Egg rarely performs because of a medical condition that Jeb has called tinnitus, which is a ringing sound in the ear.
Praying Mantis is an album about a praying mantis named Pellapetisimo, a bluebird, a girl named Sally and a boy who wondered off alone into the meadow across the road.
The album features very folky lyrics and sounds, but could appeal to someone who is not into the folk music scene. Several of the songs feature a very solid guitar backing that anyone who likes classic rock to country could enjoy. “Stems and a Green Leaf Still,” “Compound Eyes,” “Dandelions,” and “Sally’s House” are the songs where the guitar makes the song.
“Sally’s House” reminded me of being on of being on a beach in Hawaii with its smooth guitar, up-beat drumming and soothing lyrics.
“Compound Eyes” was the most interesting because you could hear all of the different instruments playing throughout, unlike the others where the lyrics would totally over power everything, even the guitar. About halfway through the song, the singer stops and the guitarist and percussionist go in to a very hip beat that got my head bouncing, it was the only song that did that for me.
Praying Mantis was a good album. It had is moments where it shined, but it had several songs that where slow or the beat did not match up to the lyrics.