Having wrapped a banner 2024 with Pearl Jam that saw the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers enjoy widespread acclaim for their Grammy-nominated Dark Matter album, guitarist Stone Gossard is staying busy with his Loosegroove Records label, which today (Feb. 12) released a collaboration between him and singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco and a cover of Pearl Jam’s “Present Tense” by his Painted Shield bandmate Brittany Davis.
The Gossard/DiFranco team-up, “The Message,” follows the 2022 one-off “Disorders,” proceeds from which were donated to the National Network of Abortion Funds. Both songs sport contributions from Pearl Jam producer Josh Evans and the musicians Skerik and Stanton Moore.
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“It’s one of those songs where I didn’t know what what was going to come back, and I just am so, so impressed with what Ani did with it,” Gossard tells SPIN of “The Message.” “She made this real universe around an instrumental track we sent hr. It doesn’t sound like a typical song for her and it doesn’t sound like a typical song for me. It’s new territory.
The pair were introduced through Skerik, who has recorded for Loosegroove for years as a solo artist and as a member of Critters Buggin’. Gossard recently met DiFranco in person for the first time at her show in Seattle, and was stunned to learn she’d had a Loosegroove sticker on her leather jacket for nearly 30 years. “I love the serendipity of the relationship,” he says. “It was based on Skerik suggesting we do something together, much like how he suggested I should buy the building that turned into Studio Litho [in Seattle] 25 years ago. He’s been an angel in my life for a for a long time in terms of experiencing other artists and getting in touch with people that I love.”
Davis’ unique take on “Present Tense” features almost a jazz trio setup, with acoustic piano and standup bass at the forefront. Davis, who is blind, moved to Seattle as a teenager and was largely unfamiliar with the city’s storied alternative rock history until joining forces with Gossard in Painted Shield a few years ago. “Britt wasn’t listening to any grunge at all before that,” Gossard says with a laugh. “Josh Evans thought this song could be a good introduction to Pearl Jam that Britt could relate to. It was kind of whimsical and it turned out to be an excellent choice.”
Looking ahead on the Loosegroove calendar, U.K rock outfit Tigercub will release a Redux edition of their album The Perfume of Decay on March 28. “They’ve reinterpreted it with almost a classical, acoustic approach,” Gossard says. “It’s just absolutely gorgeous and you can hear their level of musicianship in a whole different way.” Coming April 25 is James and the Cold Gun’s Face in the Mirror, which is led by the propulsive singles “Guessing Games” and “Cut the Brakes.”
Both Gossard and Davis have been busy with Painted Shield, which has brought forth three albums in the past five years and today unveiled a video for “She Runs” from Painted Shield 3. Meanwhile, Davis’ latest solo effort, the jazz-forward Black Thunder, is due in May or June and follows their conceptual, heavily produced 2024 project Image Issues. This time around, the musician and bandmates D’vonne Lewis and Evan Flory-Barnes set up shop at Studio Litho and improvised for the better part of three days.
What emerged was, in Gossard’s telling, “one of the most productive three days I’ve ever seen. This record is a fully realized, arranged, amazing story that was basically channeled through Brittany during that time. Loosegroove is not a jazz label, but we understand that this is where one of our artists wants to go. It’s a big deal for me personally, just witnessing it and helping bring it out into the world.”
Gossard says Pearl Jam, who will be back on the road for a short run of U.S. dates beginning April 24 in Hollywood, Fl., are “still feeling a lot of excitement and energy from how we put Dark Matter together with [producer] Andrew [Watt], and what the future holds in terms of being able to make more music. I think that we’re all still hungry to express and try different things. I hope we challenge ourselves. I hope we do something that is a departure.” After being defeated in two Grammy categories by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, respectively, he admits, “there couldn’t be any two bands better to lose to, so I think we’re pretty satisfied with that experience.”
Dark Matter material was often a highlight of Pearl Jam’ 2024 live shows, a fact that was not lost on the band. “That’s a victory, if you can get one song that becomes something that people care about at this point, in terms of the live canon,” Gossard says. “In general, it’s gonna be part of the equation to always mix it up. It’s amazing that we were able to put the record together and that it did have the impact that it had. We couldn’t be happier with it.”
Gossard wouldn’t tip his hand on what to expect from the upcoming shows, but says, “we coalesce when we start rehearsing and that’s where the ideas get thrown out. Right now, everyone is really focused on taking a moment to collect themselves. I’m sure we’ll have a surprise or two when we go out on the next leg.”
Lastly, Gossard was thrilled to hear that Soundgarden is again one of the nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, to which Pearl Jam was elected in 2017. Gossard and late Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell met in Seattle in their pre-fame days and later were roommates as they climbed the ladder of the local music scene. “I’m a voter, so that will be an easy vote for me,” he says of Soundgarden, whose longtime drummer Matt Cameron joined Pearl Jam in 1998.
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