My Morning Jacket

An Americana outfit with alt-country roots and an expansive, psychedelic vision, My Morning Jacket is one of indie rock’s most adventurous—and beloved—bands. ∙ Formed in 1998, the group started as an acoustic outlet for Louisville singer-songwriter Jim James, who came up with the name after finding an old coat with the embroidered initials “MMJ.” ∙ For the 2001 album At Dawn, James recorded his vocals in a grain silo, creating the reverb-heavy sound that became a calling card of the group’s early work. ∙ “Run Thru,” a haunting psych-rocker from 2003’s It Still Moves was included on Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time. ∙ The LPs Evil Urges (2008) and Circuital (2011) cracked the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart, and both received Grammy nominations for Best Alternative Music Album. ∙ In 2008, My Morning Jacket played a legendary four-hour set in a torrential rainstorm at the Bonnaroo festival and were joined onstage by Metallica’s Kirk Hammett. ∙ James is also part of the star-studded collaborations Monsters of Folk (with Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, and M. Ward) and The New Basement Tapes (with Elvis Costello and Marcus Mumford).