Current hyped bands No.5: My Morning Jacket

[Colin Zeal EFM]

Supposedly the band of 2003. Anyone have any info??

 

 

[Northern Monkey]

My Morning Jacket : London Camden Monarch

 

My Morning Jacket are the first band in history to be made entirely of hair. Tonight, the Louisville, Kentucky five piece amble onstage looking like they've been marooned on a desert island for 15 years with nothing but a tape of classic '70s rock for company. Singer Jim James, in particular, looks like a wig on legs.

 

All of which is momentarily disorientating. They might be only just releasing their debut EP over here, but they've been putting out genius music in the States since 1999 - and for the most part that been mournful, Joy Division-esque country (check out the sensational 'At Dawn' LP for further details). It's quickly clear, however, that live their schtick is very different.

 

Dispensing with the fragility that they obviously keep for the recording studio, they offer instead a loose sawdust rock that recalls '70s powerpoppers Big Star or early Black Crowes. Since it's been about 12 months since 'At Dawn' appeared, much of their material is new and unfamiliar - although there are a few scattered highlights from their earlier records (notably a highly wrought 'Lowdown' and a lurching rendition of 'Just Because I Do'). The whole excellent spectacle ends in a flurry of deranged rock histrionics followed by a polite goodbye and a couple of shivery solo numbers from James.

 

Refreshingly at odds with the current garage rock zeitgeist, My Morning Jacket - along with The Thrills and the unsigned Hope Of The States - hint at where music's heading next. There's going to be depth, subtlety and a whole lot of hair.

 

James Oldham

 

My Morning Jacket : London Camden Monarch

 

My Morning Jacket are the first band in history to be made entirely of hair. Tonight, the Louisville, Kentucky five piece amble onstage looking like they've been marooned on a desert island for 15 years with nothing but a tape of classic '70s rock for company. Singer Jim James, in particular, looks like a wig on legs.

 

All of which is momentarily disorientating. They might be only just releasing their debut EP over here, but they've been putting out genius music in the States since 1999 - and for the most part that been mournful, Joy Division-esque country (check out the sensational 'At Dawn' LP for further details). It's quickly clear, however, that live their schtick is very different.

 

Dispensing with the fragility that they obviously keep for the recording studio, they offer instead a loose sawdust rock that recalls '70s powerpoppers Big Star or early Black Crowes. Since it's been about 12 months since 'At Dawn' appeared, much of their material is new and unfamiliar - although there are a few scattered highlights from their earlier records (notably a highly wrought 'Lowdown' and a lurching rendition of 'Just Because I Do'). The whole excellent spectacle ends in a flurry of deranged rock histrionics followed by a polite goodbye and a couple of shivery solo numbers from James.

 

Refreshingly at odds with the current garage rock zeitgeist, My Morning Jacket - along with The Thrills and the unsigned Hope Of The States - hint at where music's heading next. There's going to be depth, subtlety and a whole lot of hair.

 

James Oldham

 

 

[Northern Monkey]

HARDLY SEEM BRAND NEW THO

MY MORNING JACKET

 

Jim James lead vocals, guitar Johnny Quaid guitar Two-Tone Tommy bass Danny Cash keyboards Patrick Hallahan drums

 

The music of My Morning Jacket combines restless experimentalism, heartfelt emotion, and unforgettable songs. Their soaring collective interplay is rooted in a decade of friendship and music making. This Louisville, Kentucky quintet is perhaps the most acclaimed new group to emerge from Mid-America in the past two years: New Musical Express called My Morning Jacket "the band to fall in love with in 2002."

 

In suburban Louisville, well below the music industry radar, My Morning Jacket forged their own style and sound over the course of countless gigs in small clubs, house parties, and community centers. "Weíve created what we do just out of wanting to create," says Jim James, MMJ's lead singer and principal songwriter. "None of us have much musical training to speak of."

 

Yet Jim has been making music for most of his 24 years often jamming with his cousin, MMJ guitarist Johnny Quaid. In high school, the two played in different bands but always kept in touch. When Jim began writing songs with a new group in mind, Johnny was the first on board. In 1998, with the addition of bassist Two-Tone Tommy and a now-departed drummer, the band began rehearsing on the farm owned by Johnny's grandparents. When Danny Cash found an MMJ flier advertising for a keyboard player, he began teaching himself to play with the express aim of joining the band. Drummer Patrick Hallahan, although the last to arrive, has been Jim James' best friend since they were both ten years old. A veteran of several Louisville bands, Patrick joined My Morning Jacket just in time for the bandís July 2002 tour with Guided By Voices.

 

Indie rock in Louisville, Jim James recalls, was mostly hardcore. "Me and my friends who were in bands back then, we had this other little freak scene where we kinda just supported each other. And I think it was set in our minds that we wanted to do something different, something special."

 

Given his age, James cites some unusual influences including Etta James, Nina Simone, The Band, Roy Orbison, and Led Zeppelin. ìIím into the good stuff! I know people listen to lots of music for lots of different purposes. If theyíre cutting the grass, they listen to one thing; if they're washing the dishes, they listen to something else. But I just like music thatís amazing and time-less.î (On stage, MMJ have been known to cover everything from 'Hot Legs' by Rod Stewart to Bill Monroeís 'Blue Moon of Kentucky.')

 

Since the release of the debut album The Tennessee Fire in 1999, My Morning Jacket have issued a profusion of independent recordings including three EPs, a couple of seven-inch singles, and several compilation tracks. But At Dawn (Darla Records, 2002) is the group's most accomplished and compelling disc to date: 70-plus minutes of memorable melodies and eclectic arrangements sparked by the soulful singing of Jim James. At Dawnës 13 tracks range in style from the gentle folk-rock of "Lowdown" to the freak-blues of "Honest Man' to the drum-less acoustic ballad "Bermuda Highway." The swooping multi-tracked guitars of "Xmas Curtain" offer a taste of the bandís full-throttle live explorations. As the San Francisco Weekly noted: "The reverb-heavy mix that transforms James' voice into an unnerving siren song gives the band a cathedral-size space to stretch out in."

 

Like My Morning Jacketís previous releases, At Dawn is self-produced. The improved sound is the result of years of homegrown recording experiments and the recent addition of some new equipment to the Shelbyville, KY studio owned and operated by Johnny Quaid. "It was definitely a growing process," Jim James recalls. "Thereís just a path I have to follow, and I kind of lead everybody along. It's an unexplained force. I donít even know what it is, I just know it's right when we've done it."

 

My Morning Jacket got their first real break when their Darla Records debut, Tennessee Fire, was released in Europe. Jim: ìThere was a journalist in the Netherlands who got hold of our first disc through the distributor there. He wrote this big article, saying how it reminded him of the music he loved when he was growing up. That got a fire started and a lot of other journalists in-terested. We made all the Dutch critics 'Top Ten lists.'

 

In 2000, My Morning Jacket made their first tour of Holland and Belgium. They've been back several times since, and were even the subject of a Dutch documentary film. "Here we were a local band from Louisville, playing for nobody," says Jim. "We'd never even toured much out-side of Kentucky. All of a sudden weíre in Holland, three or four hundred kids are showing up for every gig, and thereís a documentary film crew following us!"

 

"It made us feel we were doing something people actually liked which was something weíd never felt before."

 

Back in the USA, the band found growing critical acclaim as they spent most of 2002 on the road. On tours with Guided By Voices, Ben Kweller, and Doves, My Morning Jacket have played more than 30 shows with each headliner.

 

In a review of their South by Southwest performance in Austin, Texas, Blender praised My Morning Jacketís "Neil Youngñinspired guitar freakouts, thunderous rock & roll stage moves and warm, intricately woven melodies that recalled mid-period Pink Floyd" "My Morning Jacket plays richly wistful songs that emerge from somewhere between Neil Young and Merseybeat," wrote The New York Times of MMJís show with Swearing At Motorists (3/29/02, Mercury Lounge, NYC). In November 2002, MMJ will make their first live appearances in England and Scotland followed by a two-week tour of Europe. By the yearís end, the band will be hard at work on their first album for a major label, ATO/RCA Records. A spring 2003 release is anticipated.

 

"Like Robbie Robertson said in The Last Waltz, the road is a damn near impossible way of life," says Jim James. "It's lonely, and you miss the people back home. But we love playing rock & roll. That's what we're here to do."

 

October 2002

 

[Colin Zeal EFM]

Impressive research, cynic!!

 

 

[Northern Monkey]

Nah not really, just what came up using me virginnet search engine. no pics found yet.