On the eve of beginning his residency, Burke Jam faced a dilemma not uncommon among refugees: How on earth was he going to fit everything he needed into just one car? The Missoula musician, who plans on recording an entire album while staying in the Refuge’s Back Dyott space, managed to fit an assortment of vintage stringed instruments, studio equipment and other noisemakers into his vehicle, but it wasn’t easy. “I’m thinking it may have been harder to pack than it will be to make the album,” says Jam. “That’s what I’m hoping, at least.”
Considering Jam’s prolific past, he shouldn’t have a problem creating work in Basin. The gifted alt-folk composer is a member of former Montana and current Seattle soundscape artisans This is A Process of a Still Life, has recorded two solo albums in the last five years and, in 2006, scored an avant-garde theatrical production in which he played a piano, toy piano, electric guitar and found objects for percussion, among other things. For the latter, he performed live during the entire run, alone and on stage, with his only assistance coming from a fellow Process bandmate manipulating his work from the sound booth. But despite his previous musical experiments, Jam’s never been afforded the luxury of a residency program, and never set out to make an album from scratch in one set stretch of time. “I definitely have some ideas going into it, but they’re mostly skeletal,” says Jam, who fights fires as a smokejumper when he’s not pursuing his music. “There are no lyrics matched with chords, no songs fully written, nothing like that. That’s new for me. “There’s basically just a concept and an emotion that I have ready to bring to the Refuge,” he continues, “and I’m ready to see what happens…I’ve always approached recording with a plan that was a little more rigid than this, but I always thought the best parts in the studio came from the spontaneity. They were never premeditated. Now I get to test that a little more.”
Jam does intend to invite other musicians to sit in on parts of the recording, which fits with his community approach to making music. For instance, when he made And Only One Sky under the moniker Churchmouse, he mixed his own multi-instrumental talents with guests on upright bass, mandolin, pedal steel, percussion, flugelhorn and background vocals. He expects visits in Basin from talented singer-songwriters Jessica Kilroy and Kier Atherton, as well as former refugee Caroline Keys, who contributed to And Only One Sky. He also expects Basin itself to play a part in the album.
“I was raised in Montana and I’ve always been inspired by what it was and what it is today. Basin is sort of an interesting place in that it holds a piece of Montana’s history,” he says. “It is, in many ways, the epitome of a Montana town. So, without sounding like a freak, I want to use that, channel it, tap into it, and use what Basin gives me to work with.”
Listen to Burke Jam’s music through his MySpace page at www.myspace.com/burkejam.
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