This fact may be hard to believe, but throughout their long and storied career the Preservation Hall Jazz Band have never released a studio album consisting entirely of their own original compositions. The legendary New Orleans act will change all that come July 9, with the release of That’s It! via Sony Legacy. The 11-track record, which was recorded at the band’s home-base at 726 St. Peter Street in the French Quarter, was co-produced by Pres Hall’s own Ben Jaffe and My Morning Jacket front man Jim James, who has been championing the band over the last handful of years.
In advance of the record’s release, Preservation Hall has released this behind-the-scenes look at the making of the album. Let’s check it out…
List Time: 15 Oddest Walk-On Songs of 2013 MLB season
Finally, it appears that we may finally have an answer to ongoing “are they” or “aren’t they” story surrounding the relationship between former Led Zeppelin front man Robert Plant and rootsy songstress Patty Griffin, who have been romantically linked since 2011. The pair, who appear together on Griffin’s new studio album American Kid, had been previously thought to have eloped last summer, despite conflicting reports to the contrary. Earlier this week in an interview with Billboard Griffin set the record straight, telling the industry rag “We’re not legally married, no,” while also going on to speak about their musical connection, “We get a lot of energy from each other’s singing. We both have similar places that we come from as singers-a lot of emotion, and sometimes the emotion overrides technique. He inspires me. He goes far and deep.”
As if we weren’t excited enough for this summer’s AmericanaramA outing featuring HT faves Wilco and My Morning Jacket, we’ve got one more legendary artist who will join part of the tour – Furthur / Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir. Weir will play solo acoustic sets at the first four shows of the AmericanaramA tour this June according to BobDylan.com.
Here’s a look at the dates Bobby has signed on for:
June 26th @ Cruzan Amphitheatre – West Palm Beach, FL
June 27th @ Live Nation Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL
June 29th @ Aaron’s Amphitheatre – Atlanta, GA
June 30th @ The Lawn at Riverfront Park – Nashville, TN
Tickets for the first three shows go on sale this Saturday morning at 10AM local time, while tickets for the Nashville show go on sale May 4th at 10AM local time.
This summer HT faves Wilco, My Morning Jacket and Bob Dylan will headline a North American tour dubbed “AmericanaramA.” All three bands have revealed their participation and they will be joined by Richard Thompson Electric Trio and Ryan Bingham for select dates.
The dates were briefly revealed on Bob Dylan’s website before they were taken down and the bands involved will hit a mix of sheds and unorthodox outdoor venues. AmericanaramA kicks off on June 26th in West Palm Beach and is currently set to run until August 4th. Along the way the tour will visit the Southeast, the Midwest, the Northeast, a small smattering of venues out west and more.
Jim James and The Roots really hit it off a few weeks back when the My Morning Jacket front man visited Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on two consecutive nights to promote his solo debut album. Double J and The Roots will collaborate for a one-night only event dubbed State of the Union: An Evening of Collaborative Performances on June 19th at the Prospect Park Bandshell in Brooklyn.
There will be a Roll Call exclusive Pre-Sale starting at 10am on Wednesday April 17th.You must register for a Roll Call membership in order to be able to participate in this pre-order event. Roll Call members will receive an email with the pre-sale password and links to purchase tickets for this event before it begins. James and The Roots
In order to receive a code, you must become a member of Roll Call no later than 5pm EST on Tuesday April 16th.This code is exclusive to you. Do not share it because it’s good for only one use. Each code allows you to purchase up to 4 tickets. We recommend copying & pasting the code exactly as it appears above to make sure it’s correct when you enter it while making your purchase.
We can’t wait to see what these two HT faves come up with. No word on the Jim James / Questlove album both men alluded to back in February following Jim’s appearance on Fallon.
Last Friday My Morning Jacket played their first gig since January and only show for the foreseeable future at Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park as part of the Final Four celebration. Jim James and Co. delivered a blockbuster two-hour set filled with some of their best songs.
If you missed the live webcast, we came across video of the whole she-bang…
Set: Magheetah > Circuital > Outta My System > I’m Amazed > Off The Record, Lay Low > Victory Dance > First Light, Wordless Chorus, Touch Me I’m Going To Scream Part 2, Holdin’ On To Black Metal, Gideon, Anytime, One Big Holiday
HT faves My Morning Jacket returned tonight to play a set at Centennial Park in Atlanta, their first gig since January. MMJ’s set was part of the Big Dance festivities to celebrate the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Final Four, which will be held at the nearby Georgia Dome on Saturday and Monday.
Jim James and Co. came out of the gates with the rare opener call of Magheetah before offering off a double dose of songs from their most recent LP, Circuital, in the album’s title track and Outta My System. The Louisville-based band didn’t display any rust as they moved through staples I’m Amazed and Off The Record, connecting each song in the opening segment with noisy, fuzz-laden interludes. Lay Low showcased duel lead theatrics from James and Carl Broemel before dissolving into a whirl of feedback out of which Victory Dance emerged. Jim took an opportunity to welcome the crowd and espouse what a beautiful night it was in between First Light and Wordless Chorus and later dusted off his trusty Omnichord for Touch Me I’m Going To Scream Part 2. More Circuital material came in the form of Holdin’ On To Black Metal which was followed by romps through classics Gideon and Anytime. The power-packed, 80-minute set ended the way many MMJ festival sets do, with One Big Holiday.
Setlist…
Set: Magheetah > Circuital > Outta My System > I’m Amazed > Off The Record, Lay Low > Victory Dance > First Light, Wordless Chorus, Touch Me I’m Going To Scream Part 2, Holdin’ On To Black Metal, Gideon, Anytime, One Big Holiday
There are currently no future My Morning Jacket performances scheduled.
Ever since My Morning Jacket ended their extended New Year’s Run with a benefit show in Asbury Park, New Jersey on January 2nd, the band has been on a break while front man Jim James promotes his solo debut. While Jim James will play a number of festivals this spring and summer, there’s been no word of future MMJ gigs. That changed today when the group announced it will play a free show in Atlanta on April 5th as part of the NCAA Big Dance Concert Series.
Earlier this month we told you about a few other performances that are part of the NCAA Big Dance Concert Series which takes place in Atlanta during the Final Four of the Men’s College Basketball Tournament. Dave Matthews Band, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals and Sting are teaming up for the Sunday finale of the series, set for Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park. MUSE, Flo Rida, Ludacris, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Yacht Rock Revue are set to play the park on Saturday. MMJ are the first artist to be announced for Friday the 5th, the first day of the three-day music festival.
Bonnaroo 365 has continued to churn out professionally-shot videos of classic Bonnaroo moments and we’re particularly psyched with the latest selection. This one comes from My Morning Jacket’s instant classic late night show at Bonnaroo 2008 in the pouring rain.
For the finale of the Louisville-based band’s first of two marathon sets at Bonnaroo’s Which Stage, My Morning Jacket brought out “new friend” Kirk Hammett on Metallica to help out on One Big Holiday.
Bonnaroo365 has started rolling out archival videos from past festivals as part of their Bric-A-Brac: Before They Were Headliners series and the first two of the year are amazing. First up, watch Phoenix perform 1901 to close their set at Bonnaroo 2010…
While most of the focus in the My Morning Jacket world has been on Jim James’ solo album and tour of late, we’ve actually got “new” audio from the band itself. MMJ recorded a cover of Leaving On A Jet Plane by John Denver for The Music Is You – A Tribute To John Denver.
The Music Is You is set for an early April release and features Denver covers performed by the likes of Dave Matthews, Amos Lee, Evan Dando and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.
One of the founders of Tibet House US, famed American composer Phillip Glass, will once again be appearing at Carnegie Hall on Thursday, Feb. 21 for the 23rd annual benefit concert. This year he will be joined by Tenzin Choegyal, Ira Glass, Ariel Pink, Rahzel, Patti Smith and her band, tUnE-yArDs and My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James (@jimjames).
Today on Twitter Glass and James chatted in a conversation facilitated by WNYC’s Soundcheck (@Soundcheck). The first part of the #tibethousechat had James posing questions to Glass, and concluded with Glass querying James for a few insights. Tickets, widely ranging in price, are available for purchase here.
My Morning Jacket front man Jim James has just released the official video for A New Life – the first single from his recently released solo debut album, Regions of Light and Sound of God. The vid starts with Jim simply strumming his acoustic before he opens the door and finds a new frontier filled with a buffalo-headed woman and a formally dressed dance troupe. Yes, it’s bizarre.
Before and after Monday night’s performance of A New Life by Jim James (@jimjames) on Jimmy Fallon, show house band drummer Questlove (@questlove) professed not only his affection for the single from the My Morning Jacket frontman’s first solo LP, Regions Of Sound And Of God, but for the tune itself. Everthe prolifictweeter, Questlove raved about the chance to work with the Louisville crooner in a series of tweets culminating with James responding to the drummer’s desire for the pair to record together. Who knows what will come of the tweets below, but a Jim James/Questlove collaboration would certainly be something we’d like to see.
Made @jimjames promise me that if I ever made an honest woman outta some gal he will sing the EPIC song we did today on @latenightjimmy
It also wouldn’t be the first time the two collaborated for the studio, as James lent vocals and a sample of the Monsters of Folk track Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.) to The Roots for their version, Dear God 2.0, which appeared on their 2010 album How I Got Over. Check out the video of James with The Roots for that track below the tweets.
My Morning Jacket front man Jim James appeared on last night’s episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in support of his first solo album, Regions of Light and Sound of God. James was backed by The Roots and a bevy of other musicians as he performed A New Life.
The tune started off soft and sweet before a trio of bass drum wielding musicians helped add extra oomph to A New Life, leading to a full ensemble including horns and string section lending a hand.
My Morning Jacket front man Jim James has just announced a month-long tour in support of his forthcoming solo debut Regions of Light and Sound of God that will kick off in his hometown of Louisville on April 17th and runs through a May 15th performance in Seattle.
“hello friends! i have put together a special band of some of my oldest pals to help bring this album to life on the road! we are very excited about it and cant wait to bring it to light! see ya out on the open road!” said James in a statement on his website. James already had three shows on the books scheduled for next month, all of which have sold out. Roll Call members (MMJ’s fanclub) will have first first access to pre-sales for tickets this Wednesday at 12noon EST followed by general on sales this weekend. James will donate $1 per ticket to Cancer Research Hospital and Treatment Center, City Of Hope, for each show.
In other Jim James news, you can stream Regions of Light and Sound of God at NPR Music. Plus, Jim will perform backed by The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on February 4th. The next night, JJ will return to Fallon to sit in with The Roots for the entire show as a guest performer.
