Band members

Current

---Jim James --------- Tom Blankenship ------ Patrick Hallahan

--Carl Broemel ------_---- Bo Koster----

"We know we love each other, We all encourage each other to play as much music as possible and have as much fun out there learning, (but) it always feel great to come back to what we have."

- Jim James
(MySpace interview, March 2011)

Jim James

Jim James at Voodoo 2010, photo by Alysse Gafkjen

"He's one of the most incredible people in existence on this planet. He never ceases to amaze me. He never stops making me laugh. I want to kiss and smack him all at the same time. He's been my best friend since fourth grade. He's a special person and a gift to this world."

- Patrick Hallahan, talking about Jim James
(Pitchfork interview, April 2006)

James Olliges, Jr., professionally known as Jim James or Yim Yames, from Louisville, Kentucky is the lead singer and songwriter of the band. On My Morning Jacket songs James typically plays acoustic guitar, electric guitar and omnichord, in other projects he's also been known to play piano, bass and drums.

Nicknames: Jim James, Yim Yames, Cap'n Goodies (EU & Z), #?^ (April 1st 2012)
Instruments: Guitar, omnichord, piano, drums, bass
Social media: JimJames (Twitter), JimJames (Facebook), JimJames (MySpace), Removador (Instagram), Removador (Removador Recordings and Solutions website)
Just one more thing: Jim is a big fan of The Muppets

Jim James at Voodoo 2010, photo by Alysse Gafkjen

"I just wish there was a way for people to not know who I was, I don't want to be this persona. I don't want people to like me, I just want people to like my music."

- Jim James
(The Independent interview, February 2004)

Jim James/Yim Yames
When asked about having three names in a Metromix interview, James said that he considered the Yim Yames moniker the same as Jim James, but that he felt that it's a litte bit funnier, weirder and a little more unforgettable. He also points out that it can still be pronounced like Jim James, if desired.

"And then somebody saw that there's a guy who, like, plays acoustic covers in bars in North Carolina or somewhere and was going by the name Jim James. So I was, like… I'm just gonna change it to Yim Yames. (laughs) I hope to God nobody else out there has it. I Googled it, and didn't find anybody else named Yim Yames"

- Jim James
(Metromix interview, August 2009)

Influences
When talking about influences and music he likes, James lists several artists and musicians, including a certain frog. Names mentioned in interviews made through the years include; Erykah Bady, Jimmy Rodgers, Outkast, Kurt Cobain and Nirvana, Richard Manuel from The Band, Roy Orbison, Etta James, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, James Brown and Kermit The Frog.

"I remember hearing Kermit sing and then finding out that that was actually a real person singing,” he said, “That kind of blew my mind. I was like, ‘Whoa, that’s actually a real dude.’"

- Jim James
(The New York Times interview, June 2008)

A more detailed post with quotes from James can be found here.

Solo work
When asked in an Metromix interview why he waited 11 years before making something that could be called a real solo album, James stated that he previously hadn't felt the need to, because he'd always been able to express what he wanted to express with the band.

"I've always felt satisfied by that [expressing himself with the band], not that I'm not satisfied by it anymore. When we make a record, we try to get the bulk of it live, and I wanted to do something different, where I build it piece by piece. It gives you a completely different vibe if it's just one person building it out of Legos."

- Jim James
(Metromix interview, August 2009)

Tribute To
On July 7, 2009, James released an EP covering George Harrison songs, entitled Tribute To. A portion of the proceeds from the album will go to benefit the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. The EP was available on yimyames.com as both a digital download and a physical CD/LP

Regions of Light and Sound of God
On February 5th 2013, James released his debut full length album Regions of Light and Sound of God. The album was available on jimjames.com as both a digital download and a physical CD/LP. A limited album package was also available, including a Jim James t-shirt, a fine art print, an "A.E.I.O.U" tote bag and a keychain with carabiner.

Other musical projects
Monsters of Folk
James is also part of Monsters of Folk. Other than James the band consists of Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes, Desaparecidos, Mystic Valley Band among others), Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes, Lullaby for the Working Class among others) and Matt Ward. (M. Ward, She & Him).

New Multitudes

James is also part of New Multitudes. New Multitudes is a Woody Guthrie tribute album performed by Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker, and Yim Yames to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Guthrie's birth, released through Rounder Records on February 28, 2012.

 Featured

I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
On the track At the Bottom of Everything from album I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning Jim James can be heard during the chorus. The track was recorded by Oberst in Nebraska in February 2004, James later recorded his part in Louisville in the spring of the same year.

Writing
Now and then James has chosen to comment on things outside of the actual music, such as the importance of Twin Peaks, or general advice about which food to keep in the fridge for when you return from long travels.

Other appearances
November 22, 2009 - Jim James and the rest of My Morning Jacket played themselves in an episode of American Dad entitled My Morning Straitjacket.

Mentioned
Though he's not featured on the album, Jim James is mentioned in the thank you notes of Conor Oberst's 2008 album Conor Oberst.

Tom Blankenship

Tom Blankenship, Boing Boing video 2011

"I get reminders about it every once in a while. People will say, "Weren't you a founding member?" I get that more & more as the years go by. It isn't something I necessarily think about because the five of us with Carl and Bo have been together for almost seven years, which is the majority of the band's lifespan. So, it feels like two different bands; the first three or four years we were together and then there's this band."

- Tom Blankenship, when asked by JamBase how it feels to be the only guy besides Jim James that's been on all the albums
(JamBase interview, 2010)

Tom Blankenship, also known as Two Tone Tommy, is the bassist of the band.

Nicknames: Two Tone Tommy, Nature vs. nurture ty (EU), Todd (Z)
Instrument: Bass
Social media: SomeTomGuy (Twitter)
Just one more thing: Tom's a major comic book fan

Tom Blankenship at Radio City Music Hall, NYC -2008, photo by Jason Bergman

Two Tone Tommy
Tom Blankenship is also often mentioned as Two Tone Tommy, a nickname he got from former drummer J. Glenn.

“I really should have a funny story by now. J. Glenn, the drummer on the first two records, used to leave funny messages on my answering machine all the time and one of them was three minutes long with him giving me all these different monikers — one of them was Two Tone Tommy, which he repeated over and over again. So when Tennessee Fire was being put together I was asked, ‘Do you want to use your real name?’ And I was like, No, not really, so I picked Two Tone Tommy. After a show, if I have my hair up in a ponytail no one knows who I am. Even if they do recognize me, it’s always, ‘Tommy?’ or ‘Two Tone?’ I don’t even respond to it because I’m just not used to it in my everyday life”

- Tom "Two Tone Tommy" Blankenship
(PopMatters interview, October 2005)

Influences
When talking about influences and music he likes Blankenship points out how this personal connection has been more important than any outside influence. A more detailed post with quotes from Blankenship can be found here.

Tom Blankenship, photo by Serena Van-Hek

Other appearances
November 22, 2009 - Tom Blankenship and the rest of My Morning Jacket played themselves in an episode of American Dad entitled My Morning Straitjacket.

Mentioned
More to come...

Patrick Hallahan

Patrick Hallahan, Boing Boing video 2011

"We got Patrick, our newest and latest and greatest and final drummer, and it just clicked. We're not going through that (process) again. I've known him since fourth grade and we've always wanted to play together."

- Jim James
(JamBase interview, January 2004)

Patrick Hallahan, also known as Phyllis Philsom and Tex Message, from Nashville, Tennessee, is the drummer of the band.

Nicknames: Tex Message (EU), Phyllis Philsom (Z)
Instrument: Drums
Social media: PatrickHallahan (Twitter)
Just one more thing: 

Patrick Hallahan, from the MMJ tumblr, 2011

Influences/favorites
When talking about influences and music he likes, Hallahan lists several artists and musicians. Names mentioned in interviews made through the years include; The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Art Blakey, John Bonham, Steve Gadd, Bruce Morrow and Thievery Corporation. A more detailed post with quotes from Hallahan can be found here.

"I’ve always been a huge fan of hip-hop, I’m talking phat hip-hop beats.

- Patrick Hallahan
(Drum Magazine interview, August 2008)

Patrick Hallahan at the Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, 2008, photo by Leslie Kalohi

Other musical projects
Dan Auerbach & The Fast Five
Hallahan is also the drummer for Dan Auerbach's (of the Black Keys) band, Dan Auerbach and the Fast Five. 


Other appearances
November 22, 2009 - Patrick Hallahan and the rest of My Morning Jacket played themselves in an episode of American Dad entitled My Morning Straitjacket.

Mentioned

Miscellaneous
For details about Patrick Hallahans favorite movies, books and TV shows as of 2008, see 2008 Clash Music interview.

Carl Broemel

Carl Broemel, Boing Boing video 2011

"I thought I'd be really neat to bring Carl along because he has such, y'know, beautiful wave of sound with the steel and his beautiful vocals, he's blushing over there, he's a beautiful man, he's a beauty."

- Jim James
(Morning Becomes Eclectic, October 2006)

Carl Broemel typically plays lead guitar, steel pedal and occasionally saxophone My Morning Jacket songs. He also does vocals.

Nickname: Snowy Bramble (EU), Kyle Bramble (Z)
Instruments: guitar, pedal steel guitar, saxophone
Social media: CarlBroemel (twitter), CarlBroemel (Facebook), CarlBroemel (MySpace)
Just one more thing:

In a 2011 Santa Barbara Independent interview Broemel talks a little about his upbringing, explaining how he was raised in a musical house and that music was always part of his world.

"My dad, he’s now retired, but he’s a professional musician, so I was kind of raised in a musical house. He was a bassoon player, so I was exposed to classical music first off. I played the violin and piano since I was a little guy. Then I was exposed to classic rock radio — I had an older brother who was into rock ‘n’ roll — and I eventually migrated to the guitar in junior high school. Music was just always around, it was part of my world, so I didn’t really try to become a musician until going from high school to college. People started asking me, ‘what are you going to do?’ and I figured, well, I guess I’ll get a music degree."

- Carl Broemel
(The Santa Barbara Independent interview, June 2011)

Carl Broemel at Gold Coast Big Day Out, 2009, photo by kathleenjoyful

Influences
Coming soonish

Solo work
All Birds Say

"I've always been a song writer of sorts in bands when I was growing up in Indiana, so I've always had songs that come into my brain and I'll record a demo."

- Carl Broemel
(The Republican interview, August 2010)

On August 31st Carl Broemel released his first solo album, All Birds Say. In an interview with The Republican Broemel said that his move to the musically rich Nashville was central in his journey towards releasing his solo album.

"I started doing demos in Nashville in the beginning of 2005 and I've been assembling a batch of songs for four years here and there. After six or seven of them, I started giving them to people like Jim (James), our manager, all my friends."

- Carl Broemel
(The Republican interview, August 2010)

Other musical projects

Other appearances
November 22, 2009 - Carl Broemel and the rest of My Morning Jacket played themselves in an episode of American Dad entitled My Morning Straitjacket.

Mentioned

Bo Koster

Bo Koster, Boing Boing video 2011

"On the stage it's pure kind of just emotion and just letting it go, it's fun to build the house, but it's also fun to... knock it down"

- Bo Koster
(Making of Evil Urges documentary, May 2008)

Bo Koster originally from Cleveland, Ohio is the keyboardist of the band, he also does percussions and vocals.

Nicknames: Baby Cookies (Twitter), DJ Juice (Twitter), Christopher B. Honey (EU), Bart Koosler (Z)
Instruments: Keyboard, percussion
Social media: WorldBoFree (Twitter)
Just one more thing: Bo loves basketball

Photo by AMightyCaporal

"I like being the keyboardist. It's a cool role, because you can be a color guy by adding some frosting on top of the cake, but you can also be part of the drum and bass section. I secretly wish I was a drummer or a bass player. Sometimes I really wish I could jump around and be mobile too and lose my mind a little bit more."

- Bo Koster
(Rotoworld interview, February 2009)

Influences
Favorite bands
In an Rotoworld interview Koster talks about his favorite bands, explaining that he kind of considers himself to be a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. However he goes on to list a few names including Henry Mancini, Allen Toussaint and Animal Collective. He also mention some of the first records he connected to as a teenager.

"Keith Jarrett, "Koln concert", Genesis, "Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" from the Peter Gabriel era, and Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" were some of the first records I really connected to when I was 13 or 14. I grew up listening to a lot of the typical classic rock stuff, and then I got heavily into jazz and soul music in high school. There was a moment there where I listened to Miles, Coltrane, Bill Evans, and Keith Jarrett almost exclusively."

- Bo Koster
(Rotoworld interview, February 2009)

Favorite bands to tour with
When asked, in a Rotoworld interview, about his favorite bands to tour with Koster names M. Ward, Dr. Dog, Everest, and Andrew Bird. He also talk about playing It Makes No Difference and A Quick One While He's Away with Eddie Vedder.

"The Pearl Jam guys really know how to treat an opening act. Ed would come out and sing with us to encourage people to arrive early to see us. That's a really generous thing to do and really sweet, and it meant a lot to us. Opening for Neil Young was mind-blowing. Watching Neil play music and channel that energy never gets old. I could probably watch Neil play every day for the rest of my life and never get bored."

- Bo Koster
(Rotoworld interview, February 2009)


Other musical projects

Other appearances
November 22, 2009 - Bo Koster and the rest of My Morning Jacket played themselves in an episode of American Dad entitled My Morning Straitjacket.

Mentioned

Bo Koster photo by 5500