Musical projects involving next of kin are not uncommon in the world of pop music. Offhand, it is enough to recall the same Everly brothers or Gibb from Greta Van Fleets.
The main advantage of such groups is that their members know each other from the cradle, and on stage or in the rehearsal room they understand and grasp everything perfectly.
One of these modern ensembles called Greta Van Fleet will be discussed. Many listeners and musicologists have already referred to him as a new hope for rock, as the second coming of the Lead Airship.
Yes, having become acquainted with the work of this group from Michigan, it seems as if the blessed 70s did not end ... From the easy language of wit they are even called Greta Van Zeppelin, the young singer's voice is so similar to Robert Plant's vocals, and the guitarist's furious sound extraction to legendary riffs Jimmy Page. Let's not be unfounded, judge for yourself.
Let's remember how it all began
In 1996, in the city of Frankenmouth (Michigan, USA), twin brothers were born in the Kizka family, who were named Joshua (Josh) and Jacob (Jake). Three years later, another son was added to the twins, named Samuel (Sam).
From childhood, the boys heard in the house the sounds of jazz, root and modern blues performed by Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Johnny Winter. It is not surprising that later the guys began to play music in the same direction.
The brothers divided the responsibilities as follows: Josh, who has a piercingly sonorous vocal, took a place at the microphone stand, Jake undertook to lead the guitar, and the younger Sam got the bass player. They put their friend Kyle Haack behind the drums.
Having chosen the style for their musical works and having perfected their performing skills, the guys agreed on performances at the venues of their native city. And soon they received an invitation to speak at AutoFest. The only thing left was to come up with a name for the group.
The day before the show, the band was rehearsing in Dad Kizk's garage when drummer Kyle admitted he needed to leave early and help out his grandfather, who was doing some work for a woman named Gretna Van Fleet. And then Josh started up: a cool name for the group! And everyone agreed.
The only thing they did was remove one letter from the first word, and Greta Van Fleet came out. The most curious thing is that after some time this lady attended one of the concerts of the namesake ensemble with her husband, and she liked it. Thus, the guys received an official blessing from the "hero of the occasion."
A year later, the drummer changed in the ensemble, instead of Kyle, another childhood friend, Danny Wagner, was seated for the installation. Greta Van Fleet is still performing with this line-up.
The first successes of Greta Van Fleet
Having gained experience in the exercises in the home "garage" studio, at performances in their hometown, the group was ready for much more serious achievements. In addition, the guys have accumulated a fair amount of high-quality musical material, which they wanted to share with as many people as possible.
In the spring of 2017, the debut single Highway Tune was released on iTunes. The song instantly soared to number one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart. A month later, interested listeners got acquainted with the mini-album Black Smoke Rising. The band was named Apple's Music Artist of the Week.
Greta Van Fleet: strike while the iron is hot
A couple of weeks after this event, Greta Van Fleet went on tour in the United States, and a little later - in Western Europe. Everyone was struck by the professionalism of young twenty-year-old guys, maturity and confidence. Yes, it looks like Led Zeppelin, yes, the world has already heard something similar. But how well these youngsters play!
The band's debut album is listened to in one breath. The blues chords are incomparable, the vocals are fervent and assertive, the rhythm section is armor-piercing and spectacular. In fact, Greta Van Fleet gave the modern world exactly what it lacked for many years - a cool classic drive.
The variety of diverse opinions in the media about the newly appeared group indicates that the work of the young American punks touched a nerve. Some see only clones of Led Zeppelin in them, and immediately put an end to their attempts, others, on the contrary, find something original and hope for the revival of rock.
In the fall of 2017, the group was awarded the Best New Artist award at the Loudwire Music Awards, and later earned a Grammy for Record of the Year - a new mini-double From the Fires.
