The Gardener

Formed by Aaron Stauffer of Seaweed on vocals and guitars together with Van Conner of the Screaming Trees on guitars, keyboards, and drums, Gardener first took shape in the late 1980s after Stauffer missed a Screaming Trees concert on his 16th birthday. He began phoning the group repeatedly to urge them to perform alongside him, and the exchanges gradually led to a lasting friendship. Around the same period Stauffer assembled Seaweed, bringing in drummer Alan Cage, bassist John Atkins, and guitarist Clint Werner.

Once the Seattle scene reached global attention, Seaweed and the Screaming Trees shared bills on many tours. While supporting each other across the U.K. in 1996, the two acts wrote a pair of songs that later surfaced on Gardener’s debut album, New Dawning Time, issued in 1999. Van Conner then expanded the roster by enlisting his brother Pat on sitar and drums along with longtime acquaintance Adrian Makins on bass and slide guitar.

Stauffer soon relocated to northern California in search of a quieter, more rugged existence, where he continued composing and enlarged Gardener’s membership to include a tabla player and a flutist. The resulting record displayed a broader, more orchestrated texture than the raw rock approach of either parent band, incorporating sitar, Mellotron, and flute. Issued by Sub Pop, New Dawning Time remained the project’s only full-length release. Van Conner died of pneumonia on January 17, 2023, at the age of 55.