The Cribs Take Johnny Marr As 4th Member

There were rumours of a famous fourth member being added to The Cribs band line up earlier this month, and now that new band mate for the Jarman brothers has been revealed as Johnny Marr.

Two weeks ago, guitarist brother Ryan Jarman told The Independent:

“We have decided to change the format of the band. We feel like we have become quite comfortable now and that isn’t always a good thing.”

“I think it’s good to mess things up and change. So we have decided that we are going to bring someone new into the band. I think people will be really surprised when they hear who it is because the person is quite well known.”

That lead to intense speculation over the identity of the fourth member, with most people assuming the band could be taking a real change of direction by adding Kate Nash to the band. Maybe that was just the result of some romantic thinking because Kate is currently seeing Ryan.

Now the band have finally revealed the true identity, and explained how the collaboration with the former Smiths guitarist came about.

It seems Gary Jarman met Marr at a barbecue in Portland, where The Cribs were chilling, and Marr was living after joining Modest Mouse last year.

Gary told the NME:

“I was a bit defensive at first – I was like, ‘Who’s this other English guy at the barbecue?’

“He came up and started talking to me and then the penny dropped about who he actually was. We became mates, then one day we went out for afternoon tea. We drank a few pots of this white tea he’s really into, and decided to work together.”

The band are already writing songs with Marr in Stockport, which could lead to either an EP, or full album being produced. What is not known however, is whether Marr will be joining the band full time, or for the NME Awards Tour, which the band are headlining next month.

Marr is rapidly becoming a rent-a-guitarist, joining bands left, right and centre, and collaborating with as many people as he can. Maybe he’s the British Dave Grohl?