Jim James, Seth Avett Cover Blind Melon to Raise Awareness of Planned Doc
My Morning Jacket‘s Jim James and the Avett Brothers‘ Seth Avett have offered up covers of two Blind Melon deep cuts to raise awareness of photographer Danny Clinch’s Kickstarter campaign to fund a documentary on the Nineties alt rock outfit’s late singer, Shannon Hoon.
James, for his part, tackles “Sleepyhouse” off the band’s self-titled debut. James takes the already ethereal cut into a spacey new realm, letting his gorgeous layered vocals float over simple percussion while fighting against a slinking synth line.
Avett, on the other hand, offers a stripped-down, acoustic rendition of “St. Andrew’s Fall,” off 1995’s Soup, released just eight weeks before Hoon’s died of a cocaine overdose. Though there’s no frantic mid-section freakout or cathartic final solo, the home recording is intimate and immediate, and Avett’s unplugged performance deftly captures the introspective yearning of Blind Melon’s original.
Along with these two covers, Clinch has also released another exclusive clip from the documentary, which was made from mountains of home-video originally shot by Hoon between 1990 and his death. The adorable 30-second clip finds Hoon revealing his new earrings to his mother, who exclaims, “Oh, hon, why did you have such big holes put in your ears?” Her parental concern quickly disappears, however, when she realizes she’s on-camera.
The Kickstarter campaign to fund the documentary on Hoon ends Tuesday, May 5th and is approximately $39,000 short of its $100,000 goal. For Clinch, the film is more than 20 years in the making, the culmination of a relationship with Blind Melon that began in 1992 when they enlisted him for his first gig as a road photographer.
“He was really an endearing character,” Clinch told Rolling Stone about Hoon. “He could just become your best friend straight away. His energy was great. He was really creative and super friendly. He definitely liked to have a good time and he enjoyed the rock and roll lifestyle for sure.”