The sonically diverse band My Morning Jacket formed in 1998 in Louisville Kentucky when the band’s leader, guitarist and singer Jim James brought together bassist Tim Blankenship, guitarist Johnny Quaid, and drummer J. Glenn. They began as an alt-country band rooted in psychedelic-tinged American roots music, but, ironically, while their 1999 debut album, The Tennessee Fire, didn’t catch on in their home country, it became a hit in Europe. Patrick Hallahan became their drummer before the band recorded their major label debut, 2003’s It Still Moves, which would be their first album to chart in the United States. Johnny Quaid and Danny Cash would exit the band, replaced respectively by Carl Broemel and Bo Koster before 2005’s Z, a record that hinted at the band’s future sonic experimentation. 2008’s genre-bending Evil Urges found the band exploring funk and prog and proved to be their breakthrough, cracking the Top 10 and containing a Number 5 hit on the Adult Alternative Songs chart with “I’m Amazed”. That album, and a legendary four-hour set at the 2008 Bonnaroo Festival set the stage for 2011’s Circuital, which hit Number 5 on the album chart. Two years of heavy touring commenced after which they had a creative burst in the studio that led to 2015’s The Waterfall. The Waterfall II, and its lead single, “Feel You”, were released in 2020. In 2021, My Morning Jacket released their self-titled ninth album, which featured their first new recordings in six years (The Waterfall and The Waterfall II were both recorded between 2013 and 2015). The critically acclaimed album, which was produced and engineered by leader Jim James, included the singles “Regularly Scheduled Programing” and “Love Love Love”. For their tenth album, is, the band joined forces with producer Brendan O’Brien; their first time working with an outside producer in nearly ten years.
