Jim James

Jim James, who sometimes performed as Yim Yames, was one of the new millennium's most visible, traditionally-minded rockers, both solo and as the frontman of My Morning Jacket. A Louisville native, James grew up a Beatles fan and revealed that Dan Fogelberg's "Leader of the Band" was the first 45 he ever bought. He formed his first band Month of Sundays soon after dropping out of the University of Kentucky. My Morning Jacket initially began as a side project for acoustic songs that didn't fit Month of Sundays; the name came from a vintage jacket James owned with the initials MMJ sewn on it. MMJ soon outstripped the visibility of James' regular band; their 1999 debut The Tennessee Fire took off first in the Netherlands and led to a European tour. The sound of the debut was drenched in reverb, giving it a haunted Western-noir feel, and over time the band would become both more accessible and more experimental. The 2002 release Chocolate & Ice (officially an EP though it ran 40 minutes) included acoustic songs, a sound collage and a 24-minute jam. They worked with English producer John Leckie on 2005's A, an electronic-tinged album that became their commercial breakthrough. James first stepped outside the band in 2007 to appear in "I'm Not There," director Todd Haynes' surreal film about Bob Dylan. The following year James was seriously injured during a MMJ concert at the University of Iowa. While moving toward the audience in the dark, he stepped off the stage and injured his head and torso on a bass cabinet.  This led to a layoff for the band and the next year brought a number of James' solo projects-first an EP, Tribute To with six songs (four solo and two Beatles) by George Harrison.  That same year he joined fellow indie-acoustic figures M.Ward, Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis on a self-titled album by Monsters of Folk.  James first proper solo album, Regions of Light and Sound of God, was a contemplative work whose lyrics dealt with spiritual matters.  He began practicing transcendental mediation in 2009, and in 2015 appeared at a TM-themed concert at Carnegie Hall for the David Lynch Foundation. James also did a number of collaborations including another Dylan-themed project, Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes, curated by T Bone Burnett.  He also became a close associate of New Orleans' Preservation Hall Jazz Band, performing with them onstage and in the studio. 2017 brought Tribute to 2, this time a full album with a variety of artists covered.