John Darnielle, Anne Gomez to join Jandek in Chapel Hill
Enigmatic Texas songwriter and improviser Jandek will play the 42nd show of his 31-year recording career in Chapel Hill’s Gerrard Hall Sunday, Feb. 22. Jandek didn’t make a public appearance between 1978 and 2004, finally appearing at a Glasgow festival in October 2004. Since, he’s played sporadic concerts across the world with pick-up, one-time bands. This is Jandek’s only currently scheduled stop.
According to the Chapel Hill concert’s organizers, Richmond’s Brian Jones—co-founder of funk-pop band Agents of Good Roots—will back Jandek on drums for the second time. John Darnielle of Durham’s The Mountain Goats will accompany Jandek on keyboards, and Anne Gomez of Durham’s Cantwell, Gomez & Jordan will join the band on bass. Jandek will play electric guitar. This marks Darnielle’s first public appearance on keyboards since age 9.
With this performance, Gomez and Darnielle will join an impressive list of past Jandek collaborators. Richard Youngs, Tom Carter, C. Spencer Yeh, Chris Corsano, Pete Nolan, John McEntire, Loren Connors and Susan Alcorn are among the experimental heavyweights who have joined Jandek on stage since 2004.
The rare Jandek engagement was booked by Tim Strange and Billy Stines, a former Chapel Hill resident and Merge Records intern. Strange booked Jandek’s March 2007 appearance in Richmond, at which Jones played drums. Stines booked both Jandek’s December 2006 appearance in Indianapolis and his April 2008 appearance in Philadelphia.
Gerrard Hall reopened in 2006 after an extensive renovation. The building, completed in 1837, has hosted presidents Buchanan, Wilson and Polk and a commemorative meeting of the N.C. General Assembly in 1993. This is the hall’s third concert since reopening.
Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. show are $20-$22 and are available through the Cat’s Cradle box office (Carrboro), CD Alley (Chapel Hill), Schoolkids Records (Raleigh), Chaz’s Bull City Records (Durham) and online at www.etix.com.
Jandek in Indianapolis, 2006 (Photo: Billy Stines)
lol @ braille song lyrics!
well done, sir.
kinda sad to see the end of an era, but maybe it's for the best. better to go of your own volition, than to be dragged out by sandman sims.
7 Comments
I guess this means we’ll be seeing the Best Ever Esoteric Outsider-Rock Band Out of Durham?
— Jenks 10 February 2009
And you’ll see all those scenesters with their hands out.
— joe 10 February 2009
I don’t understand why their hands will be out.
— smithers 10 February 2009
[...] Weekly music editor Grayson Currin is reporting that John Darnielle of Durham’s The Mountain Goats will take the stage with Jandek when the [...]
— John Darnielle To Join Jandek In Chapel Hill 10 February 2009
[...] Goats frontman John Darnielle are all set to link up. This should be a weird one.According to an Independent Weekly blog post by Pitchfork contributor Grayson Currin, Jandek will play one of his exceedingly rare live shows on [...]
— Mountain Goats' John Darnielle to Play With Jandek - Indie Music News - musicscene network 11 February 2009
erm, I think it’s “all you tweakers with your hands out”.
— Levi 17 February 2009
no, in Chapel Hill it is ‘you scenesters.’
Hail Jandek, tonight.
— mark 24 February 2009