FasterLouder (2012)
On March 28th 2012 FasterLouder published an interview with Tom Blankenship, done by Paul Busch. The original interview can be found here.
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Australian audiences will get to immerse ourselves in My Morning Jacket when the band plays couple of Bluesfest sideshows (joined by the tremendous newcomers Dawes) in early April. This guitar driven juggernaut can burn the house down or silence it with the beauty of their lead singer, Jim James (or Yim Yames) vocal theatrics. It has been a few years since they have been here and you should make sure that no matter your Easter plans, that MMJ are a part of it.
Their last visit to our shores was one of those dreamlike moments that bassist Tom Blankenship likes to look back on with a bit of amazement. MMJ had been picked by one Neil Young to support him on his latest tour down under and to perform at the Big Day Out. “It was great,” Blankenship says. “We had played The Bridge School benefit and it was the first time that we met Neil’s camp of people. Now it has become an extended family in a way, especially after the chance to support Neil. Any act that we have toured with or has come on the road with us, you know, it is always like returning to a little home that you can create with them on the road. It makes it comfortable and easy to tour. Getting to tour with Neil and being around him was one of those countless surreal experiences that have happened over the last 15 years”.
Looking back at some of the surreal moments that could already make up a very good read if MMJ finished their run tomorrow are: playing on Letterman’s show with the Boston Pops; live shows at classic venues like Radio City Music Hall and selling out Madison Square Garden on New Year’s Eve; a four hour set in 2008 at Bonnaroo; playing all of their albums at NY’s Terminal 5 over five nights; and performing with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band in New Orleans. This list could go on for many a paragraph. “Playing Preservation Hall was one of the most magical experiences we had in our career and just being in the Hall itself,” Blankenship recalls. “We had played with those guys before at our own shows but to be in their home and joining them onstage and being surrounded by the ghosts and the crazy energy that that place has soaked up over the years was truly a blessing”.
These magical moments, missed or not, are not about to finish here. The Forecastle Festival, now entering 10 years in their hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, has approached them to curate the gig this year. Over three days, MMJ will invite some friends to come along and play, like Neko Case, Galaxie 500 and Andrew Bird and that other rock ‘n roll band that seems to sit in the genre-less zone that MMJ sits in, the stunning Wilco.
However things could have been very different; My Morning Jacket nearly completed their run as a band in 2004 when Johnny Quaid and Danny Cash quit the band to spend less time on the road and more time building families and nurturing their personal lives. At that stage the band had built a very strong fan base, had honed their chops on the road and released three excellent records: The Tennessee Fire , At Dawn and It Still Moves.
his departure left the remaining members worried that the end of the MMJ was written on the wall. “I think right off the bat that the space that we were in when John and Danny left was that we did not know what we were going to do,” Blankenship explains. “We had faith in each other and we were not even sure if we would continue with the name MMJ or start over completely or do it as a three piece and make crazy studio records or still try and pull it off live. We just did not know. The enthusiasm of Carl and Bo from the get go, plus their playing ability and how much they knew about music that we didn’t added a whole bunch of fresh blood into the machine that we were trying to keep alive. I think their excitement and willingness to jump into the band was what really pulled us through the dark times after John and Danny’s departure. Our faith was shaken by the change of the band and we had some really dark times to face”.
MMJ survived the change that would have killed off most rock outfits. This transformation gave the remaining members of MMJ a boost which enabled them to stay on the road and also deliver the releases: Z in 2005, Evil Urges in 2008 and Circuital in 2011. All of these records have been met with positive critical reviews and the fans have never doubted the ability of this band and their leader, Jim James. Jim and Carl Broemel are now listed as two of the new guitar gods of this century (with the Rolling Stone including both on their 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time list and dubbing them “Skynyrd Art-Theorists”) and MMJ go from strength to strength without blinking an eye. There is little doubt the inventiveness of this band can be heard on the stage or from your stereo speakers.
MMJ have also appeared on a segment of American Dad!, entitled My Morning Straightjacket. Besides that, the band was approached to take part in a Muppets project, which was eventually scrapped, much to their regret. “We were approached by Disney who now owns those characters a few years back and they wanted to resurrect or reinvent Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem who were the house band for The Muppets,” Blankenship explains. “They wanted us to be the band that was behind the band and we would record the album as Dr. Teeth and there would be a tour with holographic members and Muppets themselves and there would be us behind the curtain playing. The people who wanted to make this work got replaced so the project died. We did record a few songs and all of them are out there in some form or the other now ( Wonderful, Out Of My System and Friends Again ). It was a little disappointing and we hope if we talk about it enough that someone at Disney will listen and give us a second chance. To say that we are huge fans of The Muppets would be an understatement”.
