"The band is made out of friendships. We've tried to make it a good, fun environment where you feel welcome. It's grown and evolved. We've had a lot of people come and go."- Jim James
(The Age interview, March 2004)
Jim James formed My Morning Jacket in 1998 as an outlet for the songs that didn't fit his current band Month of Sundays.
"My Morning Jacket started off as just me and an acoustic guitar, as it was a vent for songs my band at the time couldn't use. That band was called Month of Sundays. It featured Dave Givan and Ben Blandford on drums and bass, and I played guitar and sang. They're playing in a band called Panure right now. Very talented guys. I'm really proud of the music we made and I'm remixing some of it to hopefully release it someday. We were more into weird times and heavier stuff so lots of the stuff I was writing wasn't suited for that band. So I did my own thing as My Morning Jacket, but then John [Quaid] got so involved and the boys all followed suit, and we just kind of guffawed our way into playing all the time. Every single day! And making records too. Yeehaw!"- Jim James
(Pitchfork interview, August 2002)
"I was in a band called Winter Death Club with Johnny Quaid the year before MMJ started, so I met Jim when he would come out to record on the farm and we played some shows together."- Tom Blankenship
(College Tower interview, June 2005)
"I had a demo tape of all the My Morning Jacket stuff before I joined, and I remember listening to ‘Evelyn’ and ‘Old September Blues’ and ‘I Will Sing You Songs.’ It felt like listening to one of your friends who has come from the same place you did and spoke about heartbreak and things like that. It’s not like a rock star speaking to you. It’s one of your buddies saying the things I’d felt."- Tom Blankenship
(PopMatters interview, October 2005)
Darla Records
Southern California-based Darla Records signed the band in 1998 and issued its first two albums The Tennessee Fire and At Dawn."It was a Sunday morning, and I’d woken up early to do what I called the ‘demo derby, going through trash bags full of cassettes and DATs and giving each a 20-second listen. It was around Valentine’s Day, and Jim made us a valentine, this ‘Dear Darla, let’s make beautiful music together’ thing. I played his tape, and it was instantly like, ‘Holy fuck … Where’s the letter?’ There were a couple hundred demos. I woke up my wife Chandra, my partner in Darla, and I was like, ‘You’ve got to help me find this letter. I have to call this guy right now.’”- James Agren, founder of Darla Records
(Magnet Magazine interview, September 2007)
"[James] had no facial hair, short hair. And he’s running around the stage, screaming—basically a young, unformed version of Jim as he is now. Then, as [MMJ] got bigger shows, I would go to all of them. I worked in the library’s media department, so I would steal the digital camera and take photos of the band and post them to the Web site. I was a fan of Jim before I was in the band, I was a fan of Jim while I was in the band, and now I may be an even bigger fan. I think everyone knew he was bound for big things. It was just that energy, that voice."Christopher “KC” Guetig
(Magnet Magazine interview, September 2007)
“When it started, it was just Jim. He always did more than I ever expected as far as the quality and volume of the output. He was like, ‘I’m gonna put together a band with my friend Danny and my cousin Johnny. This guy Two-Tone Tommy’s gonna play bass, and this guy from around here, Jeremy (Glenn), is gonna play drums.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, sure. Whatever.’ The next thing you know, he’s got the band together and they’re touring. And it’s good."- James Agren, founder of Darla Records
(Magnet Magazine interview, September 2007)
