Marble Valley was the solo project of longtime
Pavement drummer Steve West, born December 8, 1966, in Charlottesville, VA. After attending high school with future
Pavement bandmate
Bob Nastanovich, he studied art at Virginia Commonwealth University before relocating to New York City and working as a Whitney Museum security guard alongside another future
Pavement collaborator, frontman
Stephen Malkmus. When the famed indie group dismissed drummer
Gary Young in 1993, West was tapped as his replacement, making his debut the following year on the much acclaimed
Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. The first
Marble Valley album,
Sauckiehall Street, appeared in 1997;
Sunset Sprinkler followed three years later. After a six-year break, the third full-length record,
Wild Yams, was released. ~ Jason Ankeny