Greta Van Fleet is named after a real person.

87-year old Gretna Van Fleet is from the band's hometown of Frankenmuth, Michigan. One of the group's early drummers remembered his grandfather telling him he had to go cut wood for Gretna Van Fleet. He thought that sounded like a good name for a band. They dropped the "n" in Gretna and went with it. She went to see her namesake band at the second of their three sold-out shows at the Fillmore in Detroit. Gretna once played piano and sax in a dance band back in the 1950's. She enjoyed the concert and said (quote), "it's not really my kind of music, but people enjoy it and the boys did a good job of presenting it."

Gretna Van Fleet -- who was named for a character in a book her grandfather read -- is enjoying the notoriety, though she notes that "it's been far more than I expected. I really didn't have anything to do with naming the band or anything. When they told me they were going to do that I kind of laughed it off. When I found out they really did it I thought, 'That won't last long. That's not a name for a band.' But they just kept growing and more people ask me about it and I've been far more involved than I expected.

"But so far it's been fun, and I just wish the boys well and keep doing what they're doing."

It had been almost five years since she'd seen the boys after giving the okay to use the name, and of course, marveled at how'd they'd all grown and matured. This was the first time she had met the current drummer.

Billboard.com has more backstory.

 

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