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 Jonesco-founder of funk-pop band Agents of Good Rootswill 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.
