Credited with inspiring Dave Grohl to pursue music, Jason Narducy cut his teeth as a mainstay bassist for the cult Chicago punk rock band Verboten. He also doubles as a guitarist, sessioning and touring with Bob Mould, Superchunk, and Sunny Day Real Estate.
However, it’s his side-project with Academy Award-nominated actor Michael Shannon – covering classic R.E.M. songs – that’s garnered significant attention.
“That's one of the most unlikely things that's ever happened to me,” Narducy tells Guitar World of the project's origins. “Michael and I have this super low-pressure, fun hobby where, whenever he was in town, he'd reach out to me a couple of months before and be like, ‘Hey, I'm going to be in Chicago. Do you want to play a show?’”
As a quasi-pop-up band, the two select a record, learn it from start to finish, and perform it. Narducy serves as the musical director for the project, responsible for recruiting musicians who fit the chosen record. They then rehearse overnight and play the show the next day.
“There's something exciting about that; it's kind of like getting deep inside one record, performing it once, and then it's gone.”
Shannon and Narducy have been at this for a decade, so it’s no surprise that R.E.M. eventually caught wind of it – especially with a Hollywood veteran involved. Still, Narducy describes the moment he actually met R.E.M. as surreal.
“The entire R.E.M. band actually came out to our Athens, Georgia show. That was mind-blowing. They actually got on stage and thanked us,” he gushes.
What was even more mind-blowing for Narducy was getting the nod from Peter Buck, the band's co-founder and lead guitarist.
“Before the show, Peter Buck watched soundcheck, and afterward, he came up to me and said, ‘You know, you're using different voicings than I do on the records, but it sounds good.’ I said, ‘Oh, thank you. I'm just doing my best to listen and recreate the incredible parts that you have.’”
He continues, “He happened to be holding a guitar while saying this, and there was like 10 seconds of silence, and he said, ‘When I'm doing Driver 8…’ and he starts showing me. Man, I felt so lucky. I picked his brain for about 20 minutes!”
In June, R.E.M. performed together publicly for the first time in over 15 years to celebrate their induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Guitar World's full interview with Jason Narducy will be published next month.
