Tomorrow is the annual commercial celebration of independent record stores known as Record Store Day and there will be plenty of musical goodness happening throughout Seattle’s various indie record stores and some of that goodness is somewhat related to Pearl Jam.
Brad (which apparently isn’t a Pearl Jam side project, according to Stone Gossard) is performing a free in-store set at Easy Street Records’ Queen Anne location at 4 p.m. The set is in celebration of RSD as well as in advance of the band’s fifth studio album United We Stand which is due out April 24 (more on that record soon). As an added bonus Brad is also releasing a limited edition 7″ of “Waters Deep” and “Don’t Cry” for Record Store Day.
At that exact same time (4 p.m. Saturday) Mike McCready’s good pal Star Anna will be performing a free in-store set at the north end of town at Sonic Boom Records in Ballard. She is playing in support of her Record Store Day exclusive 7″ Call Your Girlfriend. The release is limited to 300 copies and includes a cover of Robyn’s “Call Your Girlfriend” and the song “Keep On,” which she recorded with Mike McCready. It’s worth noting that all copies of the 7″ sold at Sonic Boom are signed by Mike McCready.
This brings Seattle Pearl Jam fans an interesting dilemma. Do you go see Brad for free, which of course includes Pearl Jam’s rhythm guitarist Stone Gossard and the excellent pipes of Shawn Smith? Or do you drop by Sonic Boom and see the amazing Star Anna, who also has some damn impressive pipes, and keep your fingers crossed for a Mike McCready cameo?
I wish I had such a dilemma!