CNN (2011)

On June 8th CNN published an interview with Jim James, made by Jason Morris. The original interview can be found here.

Keywords: Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival (2004)


Since forming in 1998, Louisville, Kentucky-based My Morning Jacket has become one of America's most beloved rock bands, criss-crossing the country for years on tour. As the group has evolved, so have their homegrown shows at the Bonnaroo music festival in Manchester, Tennessee, which are considered by many fans to be some of their best.

CNN caught up with My Morning Jacket's lead singer/songwriter Jim James to talk about their homecoming at this weekend's Bonnaroo music festival.

CNN: Bonnaroo is celebrating its 10th anniversary this season. What do you think sets the festival apart from others?

Jim James: For us, it was one of the first big festivals we got to play. When you get to do those things for the first time -- I'm trying to think of a term that's not cliché -- but you want to say (it's like) a kid in a candy store because we came into that thing so wide eyed and so in awe of everything. I don't know if it's just because it's close to our home, it's like three hours away from where we live, but all of our friends at home are excited about (Bonnaroo). It always seems like a really special thing to us.

I think it is really set up very well. It's easy to get around the festival, and all the stages are in a comfortable proximity to each other, but you also can't hear them when you are playing, which is really important to the band.

I feel like Bonnaroo puts a lot of thought into where they put the stage, and as an artist, that is very conducive to meeting other artists and getting to form potential collaborations.

One of the cool things about being in a band at one of these festivals is meeting other bands and other artists, and if there is somebody's record that you have been loving, and you get to see them play. It's really cool to get to chat up people that you admired or watched or heard there records.

CNN: Who have you met there that you have gotten to collaborate with and formed relationships with?

James: We played with Kirk Hammett from Metallica one year. You know there are just some of these moments that we call 'eighth grade me'. If the 'eighth grade me' could see what was happening right now, he would be losing his mind. You know just these moments, and there have been so many of them, where you are having sort of an out-of-body experience, to be playing and see Kirk Hammett on stage with you. (Laughs.) It's such a surreal feeling.

I feel like the atmosphere (at Bonnaroo) is very loose, and very casual, and very circular, there is a very good flow to it.

CNN: What are some of the other moments at Bonnaroo where you have had a similar feeling other than the 2008 late-night show with Kirk?

James: We have always had a weird connection there with the rain. I guess it was 2004 that we played in the afternoon and it was just baking hot, it was so hot that we could hardly play, and you look out at the crowd and they are all in the sun, and just wilting like flowers because the heat was so intense.

But then out of nowhere these clouds start to roll in, it all starts to get cloudy and cold. The whole mood changes because everybody is starting to feel green again, starting to pop up and look at the rain and the mood gets a little more up and energized.

I'll never forget it, we're playing and the sky just rips open, and rain just starts pouring down and people are just losing their minds because they are so happy to be getting soaked. And we are like playing on stage with no shoes on, and the whole stage is covered in water, and everybody is petrified that we are going to get electrocuted, but it was such a transcendent moment that we just didn't even care. If this is how I go out this is fine with me because this is unbelievable.

Again in 2008 when we did our late night show it poured. This rain almost makes you feel like you are going through some kind of battle or something. It adds a heightened emotion to the whole thing.

CNN: Playing the festival has been kind of progression for you guys. Do you feel like the festival has played a part in taking your career and the bands career to the next level?

James: I'm sure in some ways, it's been a great opportunity to play in front of a lot of people. And we have always tried to make it along the same lines as a New Year Eve show or something, kind of a holiday event. I don't know if I would give it an undue importance over everything else. (Laughs)

CNN: Of course.

James: It definitely has played a part in shaping what we do. For us it has been so enjoyable because it has been a family affair. Our friends come from Louisville, and from regions close to there.

I think that's really the biggest thing about a festival like Bonnaroo, and Bonnaroo in particular, is that people get to escape their normal reality for three or four days and come and be whatever they want to be. They don't have to live by society's rules. They can come and throw and tent out, and just hang out and let their hair down and just go nuts.