David Immerglück

David Immerglück
David Immerglück, 2008 Brussels, Belgium Courtesy: Rutger Hesseling
Background information
Also known as	"Immy"
Born	May 3, 1961 (1961-05-03) (age 50)
Genres	Indie Rock, Rock, Alternative Rock, Pop Rock,
Occupations	Musician, Songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, Mandolin, Pedal steel guitar, Sitar, Keyboards, Twelve-string guitar, Backing vocals, Bass, Lap steel guitar,
Years active	1985–present
Associated acts	Counting Crows, Camper Van Beethoven, Monks of Doom, Glider, Ophelias, Mod-L Society
Website	Official Website
Notable instruments
1966 Fender Jazz Bass 1962 Fender Jazzmaster Fender B-Bender Telecaster Fender Stratocaster

David Immerglück is an American multi-instrumentalist who is best known as a guitarist in the alternative rock bands Counting Crows, Camper Van Beethoven and the Monks of Doom. A versatile musician, Immerglück plays mandolin, pedal steel guitar, electric sitar, and keyboards on a professional level, sings and harmonizes with backing vocals, and performs some songs as a slide guitarist.

David Immerglück's surname is Austrian, and roughly translates from German as "always lucky." His nickname is "Immy", often coupled with the slang phrase "gimme".

Musical career

Early bands

Immerglück began playing music in the San Francisco Bay area. Like other aspiring young musicians, he played with various childhood friends, but began a lifetime habit of joining or "sitting in" with more than one band at a time, learning from the exposure to other differing musical influences and interests. He early began to experiment with different sounds and a growing interest in instruments beyond just the guitar. Performing in an esoteric rock band called Polymorph, Immerglück recorded his first (unreleased) singles with a band named Mod-L Society; "Back To Baltimore", and "Janie", in 1985.^[1] By 1986, he had moved on to a band called The Ophelias, and the same year, had spread his interests to joining other indie rock bands.

Monks of Doom and Camper Van Beethoven

Main articles: Monks of Doom and Camper Van Beethoven

The Monks of Doom were a side project formed by members of the popular progressive Bay area indie rock Camper Van Beethoven. Formed in 1986, the Monks of Doom "somehow fused post-punk sensibilities with prog rock decadence and folk tradition and elegance".^[2] Six months into their career, original guitarist Chris Molla was expelled from the group due to his "lack of commitment"^[2] and was replaced by Immerglück, who contributed guitar, pedal steel, vocals, and keyboards in the group. One Allmusic critic compared their work to "pop experimentalists Frank Zappa and Syd Barrett".^[3] Bassist Victor Krummenacher noted, "We were interested in doing slightly more outside music that had heavier and more progressive tendencies. It was an outside expansion, a chance to go wherever our imagination took us."^[2] Immerglück described the sonic chemistry between that of himself and Lisher, the band's two guitarists, as music "that seemed to juxtapose the chaotic and the beautiful, the raw bluster and the ornate".^[2]

Immerglück also joined Camper Van Beethoven as a member for the final tours of their initial run, prior to their breakup in 1990. The Monks of Doom intensified their activity after this, ultimately producing five albums^[1] to positive acclaim before the members took a long reprieve in 1993.^[2] Both groups have since reformed - Camper Van Beethoven in 1999 (with Immerglück peripherally involved as a part-time member), and the Monks of Doom in 2003 (with Immerglück involved full-time).

Counting Crows

Main article: Counting Crows

Around 1993, Immerglück became involved with an early incarnation of the modern rock group Counting Crows, and has since appeared in some capacity on all of Counting Crows' albums.^[4] Because of other musical projects, he initially functioned only as a session player. With his skills on a variety of guitars, including both slide guitar and pedal steel guitar, mandolin, keyboards and backing vocals, he easily fell into place with old friends from the San Francisco Bay scene. Since 1999, Immergluck has been a permanent member of the band, touring and recording.

Other musical work

Immerglück joined another band, Glider, during the time he was contributing to the Monks of Doom. He has also performed as both a session musician and a sideman with a wide range of other artists, including John Hiatt, Chantal Kreviazuk, Elan Sara Defan, Cracker, Low Stars, Jason Karaban and Sordid Humor. Immerglück, along with Davey Faragher, was nominated for a Grammy award for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 2001 for his work with John Hiatt's album Crossing Muddy Waters, a bluesy soulful album of only three performers, without drums, compared by some to the work of Tom Waits,^[5] with Immerglück contributing mandolin, 12-string guitar, and slide guitar on many songs.

Equipment

Extensive description of instruments on the official website in the infobox:

• 1966 Fender Jazz Bass
• Fender Stratocaster

Influences

Immerglück has listed a variety of musicians who were influences on his music. They include: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, The Band, Van Morrison, The Doors, Bruce Springsteen, Jerry Garcia, Guided By Voices, Peter Green, Led Zeppelin, and Miles Davis.^[3]

Discography

• Extensive Discography on Immerglück's Official Website

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Immerglück, David; King, Mary (2000-2008). "Official Website Discography". Discography. Official Website of David Immerglück. http://gimmyimmy.com/discography.html. Retrieved 2009-01-04. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Official Band Website (2007). "The Monks of Doom". Official Website. http://www.magneticmotorworks.com/monksofdoom.html. Retrieved 2009-01-04. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Proefrock, Stacia (2000). "Monks of Doom Biography". AMG. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p4941/biography. Retrieved 2009-01-09. 
4. ^ Farley, Mike (2000-2008). "Interview with David Immergluck of Counting Crows". Bullz-Eye.com. http://www.bullz-eye.com/concertreviews/david_immergluck-interview.htm. Retrieved 2009-01-09. 
5. ^ Stolder, Steven (September 26, 2000). "Crossing Muddy Waters". Album Review. Amazon.com. pp. 1 Disc; Vanguard Records. http://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Muddy-Waters-John-Hiatt/dp/B00004X03W. Retrieved 2009-01-22. 

External links

• Official Website for Immerglück
• Monks of Doom site

Persondata
Name	Immergluck, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1964-05-03
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death