Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament Gets RNDM With Joseph ArthurRNDM, the Pearl Jam bassist's project with Arthur & drummer Stuverud, releases 'Acts' Oct. 30 ahead of a U.S. tour.
by Jessica Letkemann, N.Y. | August 28, 2012
http://www.billboard.com/news/pearl-jam ... 4352.story
Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament has joined forces with singer/songwriter Joseph Arthur for a new side project called RNDM, which is rounded out by drummer Richard Stuverud (Fastbacks, Three Fish). RNDM's debut album "Acts" hits Oct. 30, just ahead of a 16-date North American tour that kicks off Nov. 2 (full dates below).
The two J.A.'s "randomly" first crossed paths at a June 11, 1999 gig as Arthur and his copious tape-looped guitar-based tunes opened for Ament and Stuverud's previous side-band Three Fish in New York. More recently, the pair collaborated on Ament's solo track "When The Fire Comes" and performed it live (with PJ's Matt Cameron and Mike McCready)
during Pearl Jam's PJ20 festival last Labor Day weekend.
The seeds of RNDM took root soon after -- with Arthur and Stuverud convening in Montana for sessions, Ament explains. "After PJ20, Joe told me he'd never really been able to write up-tempo songs, and I said, 'I have a slew of them. Let's get together and make an up-tempo record.'" The resulting 12-song album, "Acts," was recorded by Pearl Jam engineer Brett Eliason and will be available digitally, on CD and on vinyl via Pearl Jam's Monkeywrench Records.
Before RNDM hits the road, Ament will be busy with a handful of Pearl Jam dates. PJ
headlines the closing day of Jay-Z's Made In America festival this Sunday (Sept. 2). Later in the month, the group plays the DeLuna and Midtown Music festivals in Pensacola Beach, Fla. and Atlanta respectively (Sept. 21, Sept. 22). Pearl Jam's only announced stand-alone arena gig is in Ament's native Montana
on Sept. 30 at Missoula's Adams Field House. Premium packages for the sold-out concert were offered by Montana Senator Jon Tester's re-election campaign and included a pre-show event with Tester and members of the band.
While RNDM is on tour, Ament's bandmate, Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder, will also be criss-crossing the U.S. on a solo tour that was rescheduled from the spring when the singer
postponed dates due to a now-healed back injury. Vedder tours Oct. 31 to Dec. 4 with opening act Glen Hansard.
Arthur, meanwhile, has been urgently trying to track down his artwork and equipment-filled touring van, which was auctioned off by the City of New York on Aug. 23 while he was out of the country (
full info).
Here are RNDM's fall tour dates:
Nov. 2: Brooklyn, N.Y. (Music Hall of WIlliamsburg)
Nov. 3: Washington, D.C. (The Black Cat)
Nov. 4: Philadelphia (Union Transfer)
Nov. 7: Boston (Paradise Rock Club)
Nov. 8: New York (Bowery Ballroom)
Nov. 9: Montreal, QC (Theatre Corona)
Nov. 13: Chicago (Lincoln Hall)
Nov. 14: Milwaukee, Wis. (Turner Hall Ballroom)
Nov. 15: Minneapolis, Minn. (First Avenue)
Nov. 16: Lawrence, Kan. (The Bottleneck)
Nov. 18: Boulder, Colo. (Fox Theatre)
Nov. 21: Los Angeles (Troubador)
Nov. 23: San Francisco (Great American Music Hall)
Nov. 25: Portland, Ore. (Doug Fir Lounge)
Nov. 26: Vancouver, BC (Biltmore Cabaret)
Nov. 27: Seattle, Wash. (Showbox at the Market)
