Here's Everything You Need To Know About Greta Van Fleet Before The Grammys
When you first look at Greta Van Fleet, you might not be sure if you're looking at a group of guys from 1969 or 2019. The band of rockers has a noticeably vintage vibe, but they are new on today's music scene and ready to take the Grammys by storm. Who is Greta Van Fleet? The newbies are already deeply ingrained in the rock scene.
Greta Van Fleet is comprised of four bandmates all under the age of 23: twin brothers Josh and Jake Kiszka on vocals and lead guitar, respectively; their brother Sam on bass; and their childhood friend Danny Wagner on drums. They formed the band in 2012 in their hometown of Frankenmuth, Michigan, and their Michigan upbringing is baked right into every piece of the band, even their name. In Frankenmuth, there is an elderly woman named Gretna Van Fleet, and the boys were struck by what an interesting name it is. They decided to drop the "N" and used the name for their band Sam told Rolling Stone:
I think it's an interesting name because it's different. You don't really know what kind of music is going to be produced by this group. I really like that aspect of the name.
Both the name and the music the band makes seem to have worked out for them, since they scored four Grammy nominations this year: Best Rock Album, Best Rock Song, Best Rock Performance, and Best New Artist.
A lot of folks in the music scene have remarked that not only does Greta Van Fleet look like a classic rock band, but they sound a lot like one, too. In fact, the band's been compared enough times to the 1960s rock legends Led Zeppelin that most headlines of articles about them sound something like "Meet the Band that Sounds Like Led Zeppelin" and "Greta Van Fleet on Why It's Time to Stop the Zeppelin Comparisons." Even Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant joked that Sam sounds like "someone I know very well," which the band took as a huge compliment, according to Vulture. But, some critics argue that the band sounds a little too much like Led Zeppelin, to the point of them just copying them. But that doesn't detract from they joy they get from their many, many fans. With regard to the Zeppelin comparisons, Sam told Rolling Stone, "Obviously we hear the similarity. That’s one of the influences of ours. But at this point it’s like, ‘Okay, we’ve acknowledged that. Let’s move on.'”
And moving on for the band means to focus on the Grammy Awards show ahead of them. There's no word yet if Greta Van Fleet will perform at the show, but with their large fanbase and abundance of nominations, there's a good chance the Grammy producers will give the people what they want and put the rockers up on stage.
You can see if Greta Van Fleet takes home any gold gramophones at the Grammys on CBS on Sunday, Feb. 10 at 8 P.M. ET.