by Kevin Kelly, EARGGH!; January 24th, 2013  Link to full article

Review of Baby Gramps

Baby Gramps is the “Patch Adams” of folk.

When he performs, it’s part guitar virtuosity and part clowning around, and he often works with charities. A Seattle mainstay for nearly 50 years, Gramps qualifies as an outsider artist. With the heart of a genius, no musical training, his own vocabulary and a voice like Popeye the Sailor, he’s a cross between an early 1900s hobo and a “Sesame Street” character.

Gramps was featured in an Academy Award-nominated film — the 1984 documentary “Streetwise” about homelessness, back before politics was entertainment and nobody really gave a damn about documentaries — and has toured with the likes of Bela Fleck and Phish. But I’m betting it wasn’t until pirate geek Johnny Depp came imploring that the musician take part in his first sea shanties shindig showdown, “Rogue’s Gallery,” that Gramps felt he could finally exhort, “I’ve arrived!”