Boston Herald - The James Gang

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http://theedge.bostonherald.com/musicNews/view.bg?articleid=106946

The James Gang
By Christopher Blagg
Friday, October 14, 2005

Jim James hates talking about music. Too bad. As lead singer and songwriter for the critically beloved Kentucky rock group My Morning Jacket, he doesn't have much choice.
 
     James is the archetypal reluctant rock star, more comfortable on a stage or in a studio than on a magazine cover. But with the release of My Morning Jacket's magnificent and haunting ``Z,'' James is looking at a long road of publicity demands.
 
      ``It's not hard doing it,'' he said, ``but it's hard talking about it all the time. . . . I feel like I'm constantly in the therapist's office, constantly having to talk about my music. It really makes you live inside your head way more than you should. But I love making music and I love playing shows. It's just a necessary evil, I guess.''

 
     James' next chance to do what he loves comes tomorrow at Avalon.
 
     Along with My Morning Jacket's rising popularity comes the media's attempts to pinpoint the band's hard-to-categorize music. James isn't crazy about that either.
 
     ``People are always saying, `They sound like Radiohead with Lynyrd Skynyrd thrown in, blah, blah, blah,' ''James said crankily. ``It's the quickest, easiest thing for a journalist to do.''
 
      But he and his bandmates do look a bit like the scraggly Skynyrd, don't they?
 
      OK. He'll admit that much.
 
     ``We do look like a Southern rock band, 'cause we've got long hair and beards,'' James said. ``But if people would just close their eyes and listen to the music, it's silly to call us a Southern rock band.''

My Morning Jacket, with Kathleen Edwards, at Avalon, Boston, tomorrow night at 7. Tickets are $20. Call 617-228-6000 or go to www.teapartyconcerts.com