John Wicks on getting back on stage, Ament project - Deaf Charlie
Wicks and Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament have known each other for years, but it wasn’t until now that they dove into a new project, called Deaf Charlie. Both had the demands of their main gigs put on hold during a pause, a relatively rare occurrence for them.
“We’ve been talking about it forever, but it was just like we never, neither of us have ever had the time,” he said.
Wicks said they were both game to try anything. “Jeff said, ‘The only rule is there’s no rule, and so that was sort of the mantra going into it.’ ”
For instance, the first single, “Something Real,” has Ament singing in a falsetto.
“He’s got this incredible voice and for me, that was the funnest part," Wicks said, getting to act as a second set of ears, "cultivating that and playing producer.”
Besides recording together, they could exchange tracks without worrying about a looming deadline.
“He just heard things in these songs that I didn’t hear,” Ament said earlier this summer. “So I got excited about that and said, ‘Well, you just take them wherever you want,” he said. He thinks Wicks is expressive and meticulous, and “sometimes this stuff takes a while, so there’s no end game. It’s not a band,” more of “a big art project.”
They released the track with a video that features a group of younger Missoula musicians, including keyboardist Connor Racicot, that he met through Drum Coffee. (He employs a lot of musicians and artists.) Tenor saxophonist Cade Chastain plays a free-ranging solo, after Ament encouraged to go far out and make it sound like Albert Ayler.
They contributed to a number of tracks, although there’s no release date in mind for the album yet, as Ament just released a solo album, “I Should Be Outside,” based on a different batch of material made during COVID.
Comments
PJ Cuyahoga Flalls OH 8/26/1998
PJ Noblesviile IN 8/18/2000
PJ Cincinnatti OH 8/20/2000
PJ Columbus OH 8/21/2000
PJ Columbus OH 6/24/2003
PJ Hamilton Ontario 9/13/2005
PJ Phiadelphia PA 10/3/2005
PJ Cleveland OH 5/20/2006
PJ Columbia SC 6/16/2008.....
e.V Chicago IL 8/21/2008
e.V Philly PA 6/11/2009
e.V Bailtimore MD 6/14/2009...
PJ Chicago IL 8/23/2009
.PJ...Philly PA 10/27/2009 PJ.Philadephia PA 10/28/2009.
PJ Columbus OH 5/6/2010
PJ Cleveland OH 5/9/2010.
BRAD Columbus OH 10/5/2010
e.V St.Louis MO 7/1/2011
.PJ.. East Troy WI 9/3/2011..PJ..East Troy WI 9/4/2011
Neil Young & Crazy Horse Cleveland OH 10/8/2012
RNDM Chicago IL11/13/2012
Alice In Chains/SoundGarden Columbus OH 5/19/2013
AIC Fort Wayne IN 5/21/2013
PJ Pittsburgh PA 10/11/2013
AIC Cincinnati OH 5/17/2014
AIC Cleveland OH 5/19/2014
AIC Indianapolis IN 8/19/2014
PJ Cincinnati OH 10/1/2014
AIC Cincinnati OH 8/06/2015
RNDM Chicago IL 3/15/2016
PJ Columbia SC 4\21\2016
PJ Lexington KY 4/26/2016
PJ Chicago IL 8/20/2016
Soundgarden Columbus OH 5/20/2017 Canceled RIP Chris
AIC Columbus OH 5/18/2018
PJ Chicago IL 8/18/2018 PJ Chicago IL 8/20/2018
PJ St Louis Missouri 9/18/2022
AIC Cuyohoga falls Oh. 8/16/2019
SHAWNSMITH Rip 2019Mark Lanegan Band 5/18/19
-EV 8/14/93