Okay, this is the final photopost from Summer Tour 2010 because a) the tour is over, b) I'm running out of photos and c) you're probably getting tired of them by now.

If you're looking for posts I and II, you can find them here and here. (For larger views, click on the shot.)

Now, I have space to fill and here's some nice boys and bears to fill it.

Labels: bo koster, carl broemel, denise, jim james, mmj, music, my morning jacket, patrick hallahan, pooch, summertour, tom blankenship

I have way too may photos for one blog post so I'm going to spread it out over three... or four. I cut and re-cut and I'm not saying my little picts are the greatest or anything but it was just too hard to keep taking stuff out.

So here you go... ten days on tour in ten shots vol i. If you click on them they get bigger! If you steal them, they get mad.











Okay, I don't want to make any cheesy "Stairway" jokes but I swear Jim is ascending here.

I hope you have enjoyed this offering. More to come tomorrow time.

If you're looking for part II, you can find it here. Part III is here.

Labels: bo koster, carl broemel, jim james, mmj, music, my morning jacket, patrick hallahan, pooch, summertour, tom blankenship

This is pretty priceless.

I just got home (and by just I mean Monday morning) from a two day jaunt with My Morning Jacket. Full report coming shortly (and by shortly I mean someday before the end of the year).

In the meantime... they say a picture's worth a thousand words so here's a few...


This is Duke Ellington's Wurlitzer. Really! We took a behind the scenes tour at the Smithsonian on Saturday. You wouldn't believe the things we saw! I can't believe the things we saw.


This is the handsome Bo Koster doing soundcheck things at Merriweather Post Pavilion.


This is Patrick and Little Joe BEING AWESOME!!

This is the end of the show. A melee of sorts. And by melee I mean crazy bananas excellence with MMJ and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band who I am now in love with.

I shot about a kajillion photos between the museum and the shows. It was fun to dust off the ol' camera and make some purty photox. I had such excellent subjects after all.

As I said, more coming. In the meantime you can follow all of us on Twitter: My Morning Jacket, That Tom, Preservation Hall Jazz Band and moi.

Labels: bo koster, jim james, mmj, muppets, music, my morning jacket, patrick hallahan, preservation hall jazz band, smithsonian, tom blankenship

It was September 2008 when we trekked down to Wilshire Blvd after a grand ol' time at Leno so the guys could do their voice overs for Seth MacFarlane and Mike Barker's animated series American Dad.

I couldn't write about it until now because it was a :shhh:.

However, the My Morning Jacket episode finally airs this Sunday on Fox! Set your DVRS, kids!

Titled "My Morning Straitjacket," the show features Stan becoming a full on MMJ groupie. I can understand how that happens and not just because I'm biased and stuff. As Barker said, "The best band in the world appearing on the 59th top-rated show on television? It's a no-brainer."


It was the second time we'd been to the American Dad/Family Guy offices and let me say, it's one of the happiest places on earth. They ply you with candy and good times and everyone is almost eerily nice.


Speaking of Tom (Blankenship, MMJ bassist, all around decent human being), he had this to say about the experience, "What struck me most was Mike Barker and [American Dad writer] Matt Fusfeld's enthusiasm for having us be a part of the show and their love for what they do. That made the whole experience so comfortable. These were dudes just like us and I think we shared the thought, 'Holy sh*t! This is what we do for a living!'"

We all had about a million laughs as the band took turns in the sound booth making the TV magics happen.


I can't wait to see the final result. You guys have only had two weeks of anticipation. I've had over a year!

In honor of this most sure to be excellent episode, Mr. Mike Barker agreed to do my rather silly (read: totally awesome) LP Questionnaire.


Mike Barker is a half-Baptist/half-Jew who grew up in Wichita, Kansas.

He shared this rather sad childhood story with me... My parents divorced when I was 12. My father picked me up from Kos Harris Elementary school one day with the backseat of the 1976 White Mercury Cougar stuffed to the hilt with clothes. Me: "Dad, what... what's going on? Why are all those clothes in the backseat?" Dad: "Son... There's no easy way to... Mike... Look, son, your mother and I haven't been getting along for quite some time now."

The happy ending: Mike never blamed himself for his parents' divorce and is married with two wonderful daughters. His eldest (pictured here with the juggling Mike), five-year old Chloe, constantly shouts at him while he's in the shower to "turn off the water" because he's "hurting the planet." Mike pays good money to Chloe's preschool so they can teach her to yell at her father while he's in the shower, trying to get his head straight for the long day ahead of him.

And without further ado, MB tackles The LP Questionnaire:

Name: Mike Barker
Pro Wrestling name: Bunkhouse Cobra

1. Pretend you're 15 (and tell us what year it is, if you don't mind). Name three songs you'd put on a mix tape for your girlfriend.

The Year, 1983. My face, acne ridden. My heart, bursting. My groin, ignored. My mix-tape remedy:

1. Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue" - Check...
2. Spandau Ballet's "True" - And...
3. Prince's "Little Red Corvette" - Mate!

2. Which evil villain would make the best president? Um, the Mountain Man that sexually assaulted Ned Beatty in Deliverance? At least with that guy in office we couldn't act surprised when he inevitably violated us. By the way, is this a family paper?

3. What was your favorite cartoon as a child? Hong Kong Phooey - the cat is smarter than the dog! Women are smarter than men! Come on, fellas, treat your ladies better!

4. What superpower do you wish you had? Is the ability to remember in good times that bad times will eventually be back but that they too won't last a superpower? It should be.

5. What would the title of your autobiography be? How To Succeed Artistically Without Selling Out: An Autobiography in Five Volumes

Way back when, My Morning Jacket subjected themselves to the LPQ. You can peep their answers here.

Labels: american dad, bo koster, jim james, mike barker, music, my morning jacket, the lp questionnaire, tom blankenship, tv

My Morning Jacket say sayonara to Japan and hello Los Angeles today (or tomorrow, but it's Saturday over yonder already). Here they be standing in front of an advert for Soft Bank. I hope Tom is bringing that doggie home.

I'm sad to report that they'll be saying hello to a cold and rainy LA. I can't believe this. It's probably going to rain as much in the four days I'm visiting as it did in the eight years I lived here! Boo!


Still... at least there are cupcakes... these being courtesy of Cake in Manhattan Beach. I just ate a carrot cake cupcake for breakfast. I think I'm going to hell.

Don't tell anyone I took this while driving, but here's a random shot of yesterday's sunset over the ocean. I swear I kept my eyes on the road the whole time, thus the results.

I have a busy day ahead trying to find a slightly more acceptable top to wear to the Grammys, lunching with a friend and coffee with some old Viper Room pals. I'll be dining tonight at Rustic Canyon, the restaurant started by the old Spago chef. Sounds yummy. I'll let you know.

I'll be back later with final shots of MMJ overseas, but in the meantime, I think you might like these shots of the puppy/kitten store, Eric Mayers doing his best Shining impersonation at the puppy/kitten store, and interesting pet disposal options.




I hope you've enjoyed these little travelogues, and as always you can catch up with all of them here.

Okay, the sugar is making me funny in the head. Time to look for more reasonable brekkie alternatives. I think they have eggs in California. Why, I'm sure they do!

(photos by Tom Blankenship, Eric Mayers and yours truly)

Labels: bo koster, carl broemel, cupcakes, eric mayers, japan, jim james, music, my morning jacket, patrick hallahan, tom blankenship, travel, tt, two tone tommy

Due to pilot error I think the pics in the post below weren't visible for a while. So, to make it up to you, please enjoy these pictures of Tom and co. at the standing sushi bar where you make your own green tea. Or, that's what T told me, anyway.

I hear the show in Tokyo went well last night. The audience participated with copious amounts of synchronized clapping and a mosh pit yet were quiet and attentive, as well. Gosh, I love Japan.

I'll try to get one more post in before I head off tomorrow, but if taking out the trash takes longer than I expect, I'll return from the City of Angels.

(photos by Eric Mayers)

Labels: bo koster, carl broemel, japan, jim james, music, my morning jacket, neil patrick harris, tokyo, tom blankenship, travel, tt, two tone tommy

It sounds like the guys had an adventurous first day in Tokyo, in and out of Shibuya, an area as alive and vibrant as I've ever seen.

Here they be hangin' out at My Sky Hole 85-2 by Bukichi Inoue outside the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum.

I've been inundated with hilarious Japan shots so I'll be back in a few with some more. As always, keep up with all the tour wackness here.

I have to wake up at 5 am tomorrow to go to Los Angeles to see some pals, eat some cupcakes and go to the Grammys where I sincerely do hope my hubs wins one. However, jet lagged and all, I think we'll have a good ol' time watching JoBro whether they take home the prize or not.

(photos by Tom Blankenship)

Labels: bo koster, carl broemel, japan, jim james, music, my morning jacket, patrick hallahan, tokyo, tom blankenship, travel, tt, two tone tommy

Some slightly old but definitely not stale words from Tom as he and the band explore Australia... followed by some random photox.

"Wednesday we rode the City Cat down the Brisbane River to the Gallery of Modern Art. The free admission included an exhibition of Australian artists' work titled "Optimism". The collection is beautifully laid out, kid-friendly (for the most part) and absolutely mind-blowing. Highlights were Del Kathryn Barton's "I Am Flesh Again", Jan Nelson's "Walking in Tall Grass", Patricia Piccinini's Vespa inspired sculptures and Kathy Temin's "My Monument: White Forest", which was literally a white forest of towering stuffed, plush trees. We were surrounded by children's groups that were coloring, singing along with songs about swimming and building with neon shapes in a black light room.

Next door to GOMA, the State Library of Queensland was hosting the Game On exhibit,
touting "play your way through the history of video games." We waited an hour to play the Star Wars arcade game (the vector graphics hold up remarkably well), rediscovered the addictive Discs of Tron, and challenged each other to a few fighting games... the original Virtua Fighter is hilariously bad and a play through of several classics of the genre just reinforces how awesome Street Fighter II Turbo really is. Hadouken, Brisbane! And thanks for the memories."

And now for some random photox courtesy of Eric Mayers and Tom Blankenship...










You can read other MMJ in the Southern Hemi posts here.

Labels: australia, bo koster, carl broemel, eric mayers, jim james, music, my morning jacket, patrick hallahan, tom blankenship, travel, tt, two tone tommy

Looks like the lads are having more fun than me. Of course, I'm sitting at a desk WORKING ON THINGS so... you know...

I'm in Austin, they're in Australia. Not quite the same thing.

Here's some more photox from the indomitably spirited Eric Mayers.





I said I wouldn't be bummed I wasn't over there until they got to Japan but I must admit, I would pay to see Tom surfing. He said he managed to ride two out of the five times he tried. I hope he brings that hat home as it's purty darn cute.

More from Down Under soon. You can catch up on MMJ across the world here.

Labels: australia, bo koster, carl broemel, eric mayers, jim james, music, my morning jacket, tom blankenship, travel, tt, two tone tommy