Jim Guthrie is one of my favorite singer / songwriter’s ever. It’s honestly a crime that he’s not as well known as he should be, because there are very few artists who can write a melody as catchy as he can. The reason I contacted Jim is because I was thinking about making some new packaging for the frames, and I wanted to have the artist’s permission, and I figured that it might be tough to get Kurt’s approval (and I’m not sure that a seance would hold up in court). I was very excited to receive an email reply from Jim saying that he would be willing to give me permission, and was free to meet up for the record swap and he even had a bit of extra time to talk music with a fan.
The picture included here is of Jim holding his 2003 masterpiece Now, More Than Ever sitting nicely in one of our frames (and the background picture is actually one of Jim’s own photographs). This album is a great early example of the “indie rock + orchestral arrangements = pure awesome” formula, which has seen a huge amount of popularity in recent years with the likes of Sufjan Stevens and the Arcade Fire. We actually chatted about Jim’s connection with the Arcade Fire during a brief tour for Now, More Than Ever when they opened for him for a few dates. Owen Pallett, who is responsible for the string arrangements on Now, More Than Ever, all of the Arcade Fire albums, and many more, actually met the Arcade Fire through Jim at these dates, which is a neat little tidbit of Canadian indie rock history.
Jim was also kind enough to offer me a copy of the Human Highway album (Moody Motorcycle), which also has an incredible album cover in it’s own right. It is a beautiful piece of musical work as well, so I would definitely recommend checking it out. Overall, I was completely overwhelmed by Jim’s kindness, especially with his time, and it was great to talk about all sorts of things both music related and otherwise (he’s currently working on music for an independent iPhone game called Sword & Sworcery, which should see release soon). Like I told Jim that day, one of the main reasons I’m in this frame business is so I can have a legitimate excuse to sit and talk music with fellow fans and musicians alike. If you’re interested in hearing more of Jim’s tunes, you can check out his first two releases here, or check out his homepage for a complete discography.
In case you’re curious, I brought Jim a couple albums for the swap (vinyl for vinyl seemed right) which I thought he may not have heard before, namely, Paradise by My Disco, and Sound on Sound by Bill Nelson’s Red Noise. Hopefully he will dig them.
*Edit* I forgot to mention that the Now, More Than Ever reissued vinyl edition is only available from a U.K. label called 3 Syllables. But Jim also drops off a few records periodically in Toronto, so be on the lookout (they go quickly).