Courier-Journal's Article on the Accident

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http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081008/SCENE04/81008010&s=d&page=1#pluckcomments

My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James injured

By Jeffrey Lee Puckett
jpuckett@courier-journal.com

Jim James, singer and guitarist for the acclaimed Louisville band My Morning Jacket, was injured last night during a performance at the University of Iowa, in Iowa City.

Two shows have been postponed as a result, and James' solo performance at an Oct. 16 Barack Obama fundraiser at Louisville's Water Tower has been canceled.

His performance at tonight's Obama fundraiser in Chicago was canceled, and the band's shows tomorrow night and Friday night at the Chicago Theater will be rescheduled.

My Morning Jacket manager Mike Martinovich said that James slipped on stage and essentially "did a really intense split." Drummer Patrick Hallahan described the injury as "severe body trauma" and said that James will be immobile for at least two to three weeks.

The band was already scheduled for a three-week break beginning Saturday.
"This tour has been inundated with positivity and this was an abrupt ending. But if it was going to happen, this was the best time possible," Hallahan said. "We would never postpone shows unless it was serious."

"He's in a world of pain," Martinovich said.

The injury occurred about 45 minutes into Tuesday's set during what Hallahan said was an especially intense version of "Off the Record." James slipped and fell onto a row of speaker cabinets positioned just beyond the front of the stage.

"Our tour manager and our guitar techs will put bright orange gaffer tape around the edges of stages because not every stage is uniform and Jim's mindful of that," Martinovich said. "So while Jim was rocking out, losing his mind, getting lost in the music, the lights went down. He thought he was going to be stepping either on or in between two monitor wedges ... and I presume he hit the side of one monitor and did a really intense split."

"I don't think (Jim) even knows exactly what happened because it happened so quickly," Hallahan said. "I didn't even see it because the lights were out."

James was treated last night in Iowa City at nearby University Hospital and released yesterday morning.

He will have follow-up tests in Louisville. There has been no announcement as to when the Oct. 9 and 10 Chicago shows will be rescheduled, but tickets already sold will be honored.

The Obama fundraiser in Louisville was still scheduled and organizers were looking for another performer.

If you've already purchased a ticket, you will be contacted by the Obama campaign and offered a refund because of James' cancellation.

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