Will Oldham/Palace/Bonnie Prince Billie: S&D

I'm fantasising over this coming out 20 years ago and Chris Evans hammering it on the breakfast show, turning him into a one-hit wonder

i know it's Oldham and I'd forgive him pretty much anything but this has got my 'shit whimsy' Geiger clicking like mad.

oldham is one of favorite artists but i ignore probably 70% of the shit he's created

(Side note: hadn't noticed that Superwolf has made it onto Spotify.)

He's been adding a year's worth of output to Spotify every Monday.

I see a darkness is all time

this new song would be cornily endearing if BPB was a dad, but I'm pretty sure he isn't a dad

"Whipped" has climbed into my BPBPOV

He seems like a person who is v. much enjoying life these days.

The chorus of this song reminds me of the beginning of "Katamari On The Rocks"

#noizeboardnostalgia

He seems like a person who is v. much enjoying life these days.

The pics in the 2nd post were in a big NYT feature, so you could relax re: your stalker paranoia!

i never tire of looking at photos of artists' homes

i never want to look at photos of artists' homes! it feels so invasive and gross to me. every time i have looked i wish i hadn't.

https://i.imgur.com/kPPdDYM.jpg

TFW your very first show is opening for Big Star's big reunion in STL and you hire the best backing band you know.

Who are those guys?

https://grantland.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/slint-1-hp.gif?w=2048

IT US

Haha, didn't recognize them with dry hair

i barely recognized Oldham with hair

I thought he was Beck at first glance.

good grief that guy really did get all the breaks didn't he?!
does anyone know/care to share how it happened that he was opening for big star as his first show? i am curious

No Pajo, I think that's Grant Barger on banjo.

https://i.imgur.com/94g42Uv.png

i love seeing photos of young bill! what a gem.

thank you for the response! From what I can tell, the answer is "there was somehow an offer"? i am not satisfied! from whom? why?

It was at University of Missouri... maybe some of the guys had connections to the student bookers? (I'm totally just guessing)

Maybe. There is definitely something more factual behind "there was somehow an offer". Still curious.

I remembered that my wife works with a guy who was one of the two college DJs who organized that Big Star reunion show... I asked her to pick his brain and see if he knows/recalls anything about the Palace booking.

hey that's awesome! i just want to know how something like that actually happens, not how it is reflected in the lore or whatever. it probably does boil down to "friends"

I'm interested too!

Got an amazingly great anecdote / reminiscence back from the guy. Don't think I can post it verbatim (and won't use his name), so figuring out how to whittle it down...

Wish I had DM capability and/or your trust!

(a Louisville friend "well-actually"'d me and said that Will, Todd & Grant performed at a cafe "a couple of times" before the Big Star gig.)

(which morrisp's link goes into much better detail, haha, sorry for posting before clicking all links)

The core of it is that this guy (the college DJ and Big Star fan) was friends with Bob Nastanovich, and Bob "knew Will from Louisville and suggested we put him on the bill." He continues: "I didn’t really know what we were getting. But I knew Will from the movie Matewan. I think maybe we gave him $500. We definitely didn’t have 5g. If it was his first show, I didn’t know that at the time (or until now)."

He included a few other personal recollections which are v cool but I probably can't share here.

xp: (though I can confirm that is Grant on banjo in the pic which the meticulously detailed website is uncertain of w/r/t early lineup)

Bob "knew Will from Louisville and suggested we put him on the bill."

They were roommates at the time iirc.

What a great revive, this!

The new arrangements with Eighth Blackbird are gorgeous. It really shows where he is as a singer to hold his own with this ensemble.

Here’s a live one of “One with the Birds”:
https://vimeo.com/179383778

The new arrangements with Eighth Blackbird are gorgeous. It really shows where he is as a singer to hold his own with this ensemble.

Here’s a live one of “One with the Birds”:
https://vimeo.com/179383778

<3 that

same! going to get the album on the back of it

new single off new album, sounds like 8th Blackbird is still involved:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhMz9pvRNCQ

'Superwolves' came out a couple of weeks ago. I'm on track 3. Great stuff so far.

https://www.dragcity.com/products/superwolves

Reading posts from a year ago discussing the show at the university of Missouri. My good friend, Jeff Breeze, was the student who called Alex and pitched the idea of a Big Star reunion gig on campus. This was a few years before I went to school there and became friends with him, though.
He sadly passed away very suddenly last November. I know he was working on writing up the whole experience and shopping it around for publication, but he wasn't getting much traction.

I am not at all certain about any of the details surrounding the event. It had already become the stuff of college radio legend by the time I got there.

Gonna be a luddite and hold out for my physical copy of Superwolves. I've been waiting years for a follow-up, so a few more months ain't gonna kill me. I know pressing plants and schedules are still out of whack, but I'm surprised by how far behind Drag City's physical releases are lagging.

Having now listened to Superwolves fully a few times I am delighted to report that it is magnificent. A worthy successor to Superwolf.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzjahqr9wGs