"Only A Song" :: Ben Sollee and Jim James (My Morning Jacket)

After the the earnest beauty in his last album Learning To Bend (which included that Southern-sweet cover of "A Change Is Gonna Come"), Kentucky's Ben Sollee is back this month with a 2-song EP, currently available only on tour.

The opening track finds Sollee pairing with another musician friend from Louisville that you may know: Jim James of My Morning Jacket. Their simply-strummed acoustic duet blends Sollee's gentle musings of optimism with Jim's distinctively gorgeous harmonies. It is a timely song of hope in the face of seemingly overwhelming hopelessness.


I wouldn't make a sound if I wasn't so angry
I wouldn't be running if there wasn't so far to go
I wouldn't keep on if there wasn't something worth keeping
I want to believe the mountain can be moved

But this is only a song
It can't change the world

But why try? Why even sing at all?
... There is beauty in freedom and folks like me
Came over on boats, flew in on planes, crawled under fences and fought wars to find some unity

Only A Song - Ben Sollee and Jim James


BEN SOLLEE ON TOUR
1 Nov - Louisville KY / 930 Listening Room w/ Bootsie Ann
5 Nov - Nashville TN / The Basement
6 Nov - Atlanta GA / The 5 Spot
7 Nov - Chapel Hill NC / Nightlight
8 Nov - Washington DC / Iota
11 Nov - Brooklyn NY / The Bell House
12 Nov - New York NY / Mercury Lounge
13 Nov - Boston MA / Great Scott
14 Nov - Philadelphia PA / World Cafe Live
15 Nov - Pittsburgh PA / Club Cafe
17 Nov - Chicago IL / Schuba's
18 Nov - Minneapolis MN / 400 Club
21 Nov - Seattle WA / TBA
22 Nov - Portland OR / Balcony Bar At The Hawthorne Theatre
24 Nov - San Francisco CA / Café Du Nord
25 Nov - Los Angeles CA / Hotel Café

Got forty-fives to play at night :: M Ward / Jim James / Conor Oberst live in 2004

This earthy, warm, rich bootleg is from a shared evening of music that included sets from M. Ward, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, and Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes.

Billed as the "Monsters of Folk" tour, after individual sets it closes with a six-song jam session where they all play together and sometimes (like for the closing Dylan cover) take turns with the verses. The sound quality here is sparkling and pristine with some choice song selections in the mix. Any of their single sets would be a treat in its own right; together they blow my mind a little bit.

Notable track: that Willie Nelson cover! "Always on My Mind" is one of my favorite sad songs as is, but with Jim James taking the lead vocals it aches and ebbs in a new way. There are so many wonderfully melancholy songs in this bunch - in addition to the lonesome starter of "Fuel for Fire," the way M. Ward's voice cracks on Undertaker ("Ah, but if you're gonna leeeeeeaaaaave, you better call the undertaker, take me under undertaker, take me home") is practically the sound of a heart breaking.


MONSTERS OF FOLK TOUR:
M WARD, JIM JAMES, CONOR OBERST
Feb 20, 2004, Pantages Theatre in Minneapolis

M WARD
Fuel For Fire
Duet for Guitars #3
Let's Dance (Bowie cover)
Undertaker
Helicopter
O'Brien/O'Brien's Nocturne
Vincent O'Brien
Outta My Head

JIM JAMES
One In The Same
Like It Should (unreleased?)
I Can't Wait (unreleased?)
Where To Begin (from the Elizabethtown sdtrk)
How Could I Know (b-side from Off The Record)
The Bear
Bermuda Highway
Golden

CONOR OBERST
Train Under Water
Going for the Gold (from the Oh Holy Fools comp)
Soon You Will Be Leaving Your Man
A Celebration Upon Completion
We Are Nowhere And It's Now
Landlocked Blues (oh how I love this song)
Lua
Waste of Paint

ALL THREE (WARD/JAMES/OBERST)
Seashell Tale (M Ward song)
Always On My Mind (Willie Nelson cover)
Laura Laurent (Bright Eyes song)
At Dawn (MMJ song)
At The Bottom Of Everything (Bright Eyes song)
Girl Of The North Country (Bob Dylan cover)


ZIP UP THE NIGHT
(re-upped, the individual links are removed)

(Note: Mike Mogis and Nick White also performed at this show)


[thanks to the original taper]