Cleveland Free Times

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It Still Grooves : My Morning Jacket hones its songwriting skills on Z
 
By Brian Baker


MY MORNING JACKET
Their evolution was natural.  
MY MORNING JACKET'S CAREER PATH has followed an arc similar to one of its slow-building, extended jams. Over the course of seven years, three albums, a handful of EPs and thousands of miles logged on the road, the Louisville, Kentucky quintet has become a critics' darling with its heavily reverbed blues/pop/psychedelic soundscapes. It's earned them boundless praise, magazine cover exposure and a well-deserved reputation as a must-see live act. All of this culminated two years ago with the release of the ecstatically received It Still Moves, the band's debut for Dave Matthews' ATO Records label.

Unfortunately, the acclaim, attention and constant road-dogging ultimately took its toll on the band. After MMJ wrapped up the grueling circuit following It Still Moves, guitarist Johnny Quaid and keyboardist Danny Cash departed the band under circumstances that still aren't openly discussed. The remaining founding members (guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Jim James, bassist Two Tone Tommy and drummer Patrick Hallahan) regrouped, adding guitarist Carl Broemel and keyboardist Bo Koster and hitting the road to provide the new members their MMJ initiation.
When the time came to start writing material for a new album, James, Tommy and Hallahan sequestered themselves in a house in old Louisville and began fashioning tight demos for the songs that would ultimately comprise Z, MMJ's fourth and most concise album. Although there was no overt mission statement about taking a different direction with the band, the reality wasn't far from everyone's minds.
 
"There were like mini-discussions or decisions that we made about a different way of songwriting," says Tommy. "We got together for a month before Bo and Carl came in and just got the rhythm as tight as possible. I think we made a conscious effort to not have everyone playing all at once."
This represented a substantial shift in the MMJ studio mindset. It Still Moves had been populated with songs the band had been playing live for several years, a feeling they recreated live in the studio. The material for Z, save for a couple of tracks, was brand-new and completely untested on stage. The change in songwriting translated into changes along the entire recording process for the band.
"It was as different as we could make it," says Tommy. "It was the first one we haven't done on the farm; the last three were done on John's grandparents' farm. It was the first one with two new members, the first one with a producer, the first one where we actually got to lock ourselves away for an entire month. We literally got out to the outside world one day a week. We were completely secluded for once."
Recording in Allaire Studios in upstate New York under the auspices of legendary producer John Leckie, MMJ assembled Z, an album that retains the reverbed majesty of the band's earlier works while subtly moving toward a more song-oriented atmosphere. Even with all of the changes in personnel and process, Tommy insists the evolution was natural.
"It was never a conscious effort on our part," he says. "We've always been those guys that don't think about it and just do it and see what happens. We've never deliberately tried to sound like Prince or whatever."
Clearly, My Morning Jacket has been revived by the presence of Broemel and Koster, both live in the studio. After the last leg of the It Still Moves circuit, which Tommy says the band dubbed the "Winter Death Tour," MMJ was spiraling downward with the departures of Quaid and Cash and the dwindling energy of the remaining trio. MMJ's two new members and new work modes kept the band from burning out and fading away.
"We'd done three records with the old lineup and always rehearsed and recorded at the same place," says Tommy. "Whether you want to or not, you're constantly being influenced by the same things: the same environment, the same way of songwriting, the same way of talking about music. It's definitely a challenge for me because [Carl and Bo] are such amazing musicians, and I still have no clue how to talk about music."

MY MORNING JACKET, KATHLEEN EDWARDS
8:30 p.m.Thursday, Oct. 20
House of Blues
308 Euclid Ave.
216.241.5555
Tickets: $17-$25