JIM JAMES Did NOT See a Bear Flip Over A Car

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers" — JIM JAMES Did NOT See a Bear Flip Over A Car (Jan 6, 2026)

Episode Overview

In this episode of "Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers," hosts Seth Meyers and Josh Meyers (with frequent co-host Josh Gondelman) sit down with Jim James, frontman of My Morning Jacket. The discussion delves into Jim’s childhood travels, family dynamics, formative music memories, the early days of band touring, international adventures, irrational phobias, and the humble joys of hot donuts. With candid humor and heart, the episode weaves together stories about Kentucky roots, the transient weirdness of family moves, building a band from scratch, unexpected kindness from musical legends, and a surprising spaceship-related water phobia.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Opening Banter: Family, Birthdays, and Aging

• The brothers open with personal anecdotes about late-night parties, family, and the trials of parenthood.
• Reflection on milestone birthdays and the changing nature of celebration with age.
  • “I can’t believe my little brother’s 50. That’s harder than knowing that I turned 50.” — Seth Meyers (03:33)
• Lighthearted commentary about family sleeping arrangements and generational quirks.

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Introducing Jim James

• Jim James joins the “Breakout Room,” with self-deprecating rockstar cool.
• The hosts discuss Jim’s unique connection to the equestrian world: a famed rider has named several show horses after My Morning Jacket songs.
  • “That dude definitely is like, horses are so…” — Jim James (10:34)

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Family Structure and Childhood in Kentucky

• Jim describes growing up in Louisville with twin sisters (three years younger) and a brother thirteen years his junior.
  • “It’s unbelievable to have that, we’re really close... Whenever I encounter other people who have twins in their life in a powerful way, it’s such a unique gift.” — Jim James (13:40)
• The arrival of his much younger brother was unexpected, offering a “new breath of life into the family” (15:01).

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Childhood Moves and Family Travel

• The James family moved from Kentucky to Georgia when Jim was in 2nd grade for his father's electrician job, then returned after several years.
• Fond memories center on the music played during car rides, especially on the many summer trips to Panama City Beach, Florida with grandparents.
  • “The music in the car... I have a really distinct memory of hearing Night Shift by the Commodores.” — Jim James (20:43)
• Jim’s irrational childhood fear: after seeing NASA’s underwater astronaut training tank in Huntsville, he became convinced there might be spaceships lurking in pools and lakes.
  • “I developed this crazy fear of being in the water. Cause I was afraid there was gonna be a spaceship under the water.” — Jim James (32:44)
  • “Even if I could see there’s no spaceship in there…I still am kind of a little bit afraid of it.” (33:32)

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The Power of Simple Vacations & Donut Memories

• Family tradition: annual low-budget vacations to Panama City Beach manifested “the power of the ocean” and hot donuts from Thomas’s Donut Stand.
  • “Those remain the best donuts I feel like I’ve ever had in my life. And I had them when I was four years old.” — Josh Meyers (35:55)

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The Early Days of My Morning Jacket & Touring Life

• Jim recounts building the band from local gigs and low-budget van tours—often using the DIY “Book Your Own Life” punk guide to book shows.
  • “There was a book that used to come out called Book your own life. It had all the venues in every state where, like, you could call them up and try to play there...” — Jim James (39:27)
• Recounts mailing creatively wrapped demo tapes to labels—sometimes in boxes adorned with stuffed animal heads or elaborate packaging—to get label attention.
  • “I sent out demo tapes…in a giant cardboard box and spray painted silver and put a stuffed animal head hanging out…” (42:14)

Breakthrough in Europe

• My Morning Jacket’s first big following was in Holland and Belgium, surprisingly before the US.
  • “The first place the band ever took off was in Holland and Belgium... our album was number one on the murder list over here in Holland.” — Jim James (47:33)
• The Dutch loved the first, lo-fi album but were confused (and hilariously honest) about the band’s live energy:
  • “We really like your album a lot. We do not enjoy your show.” (48:27)

Musical Friendships & Beginnings

• Longstanding friendship with drummer Patrick Callahan since 4th grade—bonding over music, the Muppet Show, and “hair metal” one-upmanship.
  • “Who likes the tougher metal? So, yeah, we kind of started bonding over music immediately.” — Jim James (26:25)
• Jim’s initial reluctance to sing, until a happy accident with reverb made it “what I was born to do." (28:55)

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Touring Abroad: Getting Lost on Purpose

• Describes loving cities like Tokyo, and embracing the adventure of solo travel in Japan—riding trains, not understanding the language, and “getting lost in a beautiful way.”
  • “Japan is one of my favorite places to go and just like, get lost there... It’s so cool when you’re able to get completely lost.” — Jim James (54:50)

Family Support, Recognition, and Modesty

• James’s family often attends US concerts (especially Red Rocks), but are naturally reserved and avoid being “in the way.”
• The Meyers brothers reflect on parents' support for unconventional careers, joking about their own lack of fallback options.
  • “I think our parents supported it quickly, because they were like, what the fuck else are they gonna do?” — Seth Meyers (59:18)
• Jim fondly recalls working at Subway and the joys of a proper sub sandwich.

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Bear (and Non-Bear) Stories

• Despite claiming to lack wild stories, Jim does recount once witnessing a bear in a dumpster at Levon Helm’s house in upstate New York, nabbing a block of deli ham.
  • “A black bear with his claws and head up, peeking into the dumpster... And it had a whole wrapped block of, like, deli ham.” — Jim James (61:14)
• Levon Helm was, in true rock legend style, generous with hospitality—and weed (“Elf on the Shelf except with weed”)—and left daily surprises for the band.

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Quick-Fire Questions (Speed Round, 63:23 onward)

• Ideal vacation: Relaxing
• Preferred transport: Car
• Dream vacation family: The Rolling Stones
• Desert island companion: Gracie, his parents’ dog
• Louisville’s pitch: Vibrant, magical, New Orleans energy, cultural mix, nature ("So much beautiful nature. Muhammad Ali’s from here.")
• Grand Canyon: Has visited, would like to return with a little more comfort ("If somebody had a program where they had a helicopter that helicopters in like a premium yurt... that feels like this.")

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “My experience on this earth has been one of some kind of Error 404 message is constantly displaying in my consciousness…” — Jim James (23:33)
• “It was funny because we would just get little signs, you know, we did a. I did a real aggressive mailing campaign that definitely wouldn't work in today's world...” — Jim James (42:02)
• “[Eddie Vedder] came out …and play an acoustic song before us to get all the fans excited to come in to see us…just trying to get people into their seats from the beer lines.” — Jim James (12:42)
• “We really like your album a lot. We do not enjoy your show.” — Dutch fans, as recounted by Jim James (48:27)
• “The oppressive expectations of a beautiful day…” — Seth Meyers, on not being a Carnival-in-Rio type (54:16)
• “Even if I could see there’s no spaceship in there, I was like, very afraid of that.” — Jim James, on his irrational pool fears (33:32)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Introduction and Birthday Talk: 00:01–07:48
• Introducing Jim James and Equestrian Connections: 08:58–11:03
• Opening for Pearl Jam & Musical Breakthroughs: 11:32–13:21
• Childhood in Kentucky, Siblings, and Family Moves: 13:23–15:52, 19:24–24:43
• Music, Moving, and ‘Error 404’ Years: 23:33–24:17
• Panama City Trips, Donuts, & Spaceship Phobia: 31:32–36:21
• Starting Out Touring & Indie Band Life: 39:08–43:16
• Breakthrough in Benelux, Dutch Fans, Paradiso: 46:36–49:39
• Japan Adventures & International Touring: 54:50–56:10
• Red Rocks, Family Support, and Stage Frights: 57:22–58:55
• Bear Dumpster Story at Levon Helm’s: 61:14–63:11
• Speed-Round Questions: 63:23–66:03

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Final Thoughts

“JIM JAMES Did NOT See a Bear Flip Over A Car” highlights how the most memorable travel stories are often shaped less by dramatic mishaps than by formative friendships, supportive families, quirky fears, and happy musical accidents. Jim’s candidness and warmth fit perfectly with the Meyers brothers’ blend of comedy and nostalgia, illuminating the rewarding messiness of creative and family life.

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For listeners who missed the episode:
This summary captures all the heart, humor, and humble wisdom of the conversation—no bear attacks necessary.

Transcript

[Seth Meyers]

Hey, budgie.

[Josh Gondelman]

Hey, Suvi.

[Seth Meyers]

So the other day, my friend Brad Paisley was on the show.

[Josh Gondelman]

Oh, yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

And, you know, he's obviously close family friend with Alexi and especially my father in law, Tom.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah, I've. I've been at Tom's house on Martha's Vineyard when. When Brad's there and Tom stays up a little later, and maybe we'll have like a. A little snifter of whiskey that. He's not normally sort of a drinking guy, but if he can hang out with Brad Paisley, then when he can.

[Seth Meyers]

Strum on a little guitar with Brad Paisley, he's gonna do it. So he came by, Alexi came by. They brought Addie with them. Addie was on the Thanksgiving show with her brothers.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

And to great effect. I'm doing my warmup for the show, and I'm talking during my warmup, I talk about my kids, and I mentioned her, and then I didn't realize because she was backstage. Then she just ran out on stage.

[Josh Gondelman]

Your security is good, but I don't think they expect someone that small.

[Seth Meyers]

No, no. And so then we were just. She just sat. She just stood out there with me, and, like, I just set her up and she told stories and she's just. I mean, she's not blanching at all in front of the hot lights of amazing television studio in front of a crowd. But then, you know, end of the show, like before the last act, I go into the audience and I do a Q A. Mm. So I'm doing the Q and A. And I at this point assumed she had left. And instead she walks out again. And this time she's holding a ribbon that you would wrap a Christmas present with. And she's got a ribbon. And she just walks up. And again, everybody's like, oh. And then she, like, leans me down. You know, she like, weighs me down. I go, what's up? She goes, can I show people my ribbon? And I was like, go for it. And I kept doing the Q and A. And she was just walking up the steps holding the ribbon over her wrist the way you would show off, like a fancy Rolex. And, like, very serious, like, didn't think. And she was just, like, showing this ribbon and people. And I like, just while I'm doing this Q A, I hear people being like, can I touch it? She was like, no. Well, yeah, you can only look at it.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

And, yeah, that's what I'm dealing with right now.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Pretty cute little superstar.

[Josh Gondelman]

You know what I'm dealing with right now?

[Seth Meyers]

What's that?

[Josh Gondelman]

This comes out January 6th.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Josh Gondelman]

You know, you know what happens on January 8th birthday. Your baby bro turns 50.

[Jim James]

Oh.

[Josh Gondelman]

So that's what I'm dealing with.

[Seth Meyers]

Oh no, it's. I can't believe I fell asleep on the big five zero for you.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

What are you gonna do?

[Josh Gondelman]

I don't know. As of now, as we're recording this, I don't know.

[Seth Meyers]

Uh, yeah.

[Josh Gondelman]

I'm not a big like come to my party kind of guy, so we might.

[Seth Meyers]

Sounds like you the way you said it. Sounds like the way you talk.

[Josh Gondelman]

We might. Mackenzie and I might go out of town and we might go skiing somewhere. Um, I've looked for like, what's a great, like, what's one of the world's great hikes you can do in January? And like the websites are all like in January. None of them, man. I think it's a bad time for it. I could go to Patagonia, but that's too far to go. I don't have that much time, so. Right. I don't know, maybe we don't do anything big and then we'll do something later.

[Seth Meyers]

Cuz we're talking when this airs, we're talking like a couple weeks beforehand. So you have a little bit of time to work it out.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

50. I can't believe my little brother's 50. That's harder than knowing that I turned 50. Yeah.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah. But yeah, I feel better about this one than I did about 40. Interesting.

[Seth Meyers]

In the lead up, you know what I have always said the hardest one I ever had was 46. Was that there was something about like being on the other. Like being in my late 40s was like. Yeah. Also nobody like celebrates you at 46.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah, yeah. I was, I was at a thing last night and my neighbor was there and she was like, January 9th and we're going to have a huge party in the building. It's probably going to turn into a street party for my 28th birthday. And I was like, oh, I'm 22 years and one day older than you.

[Seth Meyers]

And you already have a plan.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah. She's like, come to my party. It's like, it's not. Yeah, yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

I don't know if I want to be with a 28 year old. We had our late night holiday party last night and you know, it was, it was lovely.

[Josh Gondelman]

Late night the show. Not a late night the show.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. It's not a late night party. Like I left at like 9:30.

[Josh Gondelman]

Okay.

[Seth Meyers]

But it's funny because like I came into Work today. I'm like, how's everybody feeling? Everybody's like, fine. I'm like, all right. We all like, everybody at our show. Like, this is a show that got. We all aged the last 10 years together.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

And, like, I guess we moved it to this barbecue place because a few, like, five years ago, there wasn't enough food at the party. And, like, somebody got so drunk and, like, immediately, this is how not fun late night is. It's like, we gotta go to a place with more food so nobody ever gets drunk again.

[Josh Gondelman]

Well, I. You know, for 30 and for 33, I think I did these, like, really epic bar crawls in downtown Los Angeles, and people are like, hey, you used to do those, like, fun parties. Why don't you do something like that again? And I would sort of go down on my own to downtown la and I would map out. I would, like, just walk around and create a map of, like, eight bars, but it would be so sloppy by the end of the party. And we're not like that anymore. Like, I have a lot of sober friends, and I don't want to have eight drinks in a night. And I don't think they. Yeah, it's. That ain't.

[Seth Meyers]

That is the thing now, you know, when you're just, like, drinks.

[Josh Gondelman]

Multiple.

[Seth Meyers]

Although I will. I mean, I'm. You know, it'll be interesting to see tonight, like, you know, going out with two of our oldest friends. As I mentioned on a previous podcast, going out with Ike. Going out with hopefully, Pete. Gross.

[Josh Gondelman]

Oh, yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

And you know that. I think I. I think I. I'm. My goal is, like, two cocktails.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah. Just to loosen it up.

[Seth Meyers]

Problem is, you know what happens? Two cocktails. Posh. What's that? I start to snore.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

And I'm not. Maybe I'm telling you a little bit too much behind the curtain here. But. But let's just say this morning my daughter woke up in my bed and I woke up in hers. Because at some point last night, my wife decided she'd rather sleep with a toddler than old Porky Pig over here. On a previous snorting his way previous.

[Josh Gondelman]

Episode, you talked about how your daughter didn't want to sit next to you at a movie theater.

[Seth Meyers]

Oh, it's very.

[Josh Gondelman]

And now your wife doesn't want to sleep next to you.

[Seth Meyers]

Well, by the way, everybody learned it from my wife. The modeling my wife does on, like, no more of you.

[Josh Gondelman]

Do you and Addie high five when you're swapping bedrooms in the middle of the night?

[Seth Meyers]

No. Yeah, we don't. I think she came in first and then got between us. Cause she said she had a cold. I'm pretty sure she was lying.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

And then. And then Alexi realized since there was a open slot, she could banish me.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

By the way, you've slept in that bed. Not the worst thing in the world.

[Josh Gondelman]

No.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. Yeah. Comfortable. I had a great night's sleep. And I do hate to be the reason somebody gets a bad night's sleep.

[Josh Gondelman]

So did she learn. Did Addie learn. Learn her lying from your middle son Axel, do you think?

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, I think. Well, they all. Now they all feel like if they didn't. If they don't wake up in our bed, like the other. Another kid got the leg up on them. So they're all just like. They're just lying earlier and earlier into the night.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah. They're like people standing too close to an airplane gate. Like by standing, crowding around. It's like. Yeah, there you go.

[Seth Meyers]

Wait till your group is called.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Great conversation today with Jim James.

[Josh Gondelman]

My Morning Jacket.

[Seth Meyers]

My Morning Jacket. Sweet, man. If you are excited to hear a story about him camping in a bear, it does not happen.

[Josh Gondelman]

It doesn't happen.

[Seth Meyers]

It makes it very clear.

[Josh Gondelman]

But.

[Seth Meyers]

But lovely.

[Josh Gondelman]

Lovely guy, lovely conversation, and, yeah, I mean, a heck. Heck of a musician.

[Seth Meyers]

Heck of.

[Josh Gondelman]

If you have not. If you haven't dabbled. Give him a listen.

[Seth Meyers]

Give it a listen. And thanks, everybody, for being with us. Yeah.

[Josh Gondelman]

And happy New Year, everybody.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. Happy New Year.

[Narrator]

Family chips with the M Brothers. Family chips with the mayor.

[Jim James]

Hello. How are you, Jim?

[Josh Gondelman]

How are you?

[Jim James]

I'm glad to be in the Breakout Room.

[Seth Meyers]

You're in the Breakout Room. You know what? Take it easy. Take it easy. It's time for a break.

[Jim James]

I think y' all need to change the name of the podcast to the Breakout Room.

[Seth Meyers]

The Breakout Room is actually a pretty good name for. Anyone who's been on Zoom would enjoy a podcast called the Breakout Room.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah, it's really the inner circle. It's behind the velvet robe in here.

[Jim James]

Totally. You.

[Seth Meyers]

Let me just say, like, we. We have the backgrounds of people who do too many podcasts, and you have the backgr of a rock and roller. And I really respect it. It's everything I wanted it to be.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah. Real quick, Jim, before we get into it all do. My wife is an equestrian. Do you know your connection to the equestrian world?

[Jim James]

Are you saying that you know it and I may not?

[Josh Gondelman]

I know it, and I'm asking if you know it.

[Jim James]

Okay.

[Josh Gondelman]

No, I don't there is one of the us is like, best equestrians is this guy, Will Coleman, and he is a huge fan of yours, and he has several horses which are named after songs of yours, and they compete at, like, the Olympics and the highest levels. He has a horse name off the record. Dundante Gideon Megidda. Honest man, Highly suspicious. Circuitl Tropic, Steam engine. He's a huge fan, and these horses are amazing. So if you're curious, you can look up Will Coleman, equestrian. He's a mad fan of yours. And to. To a degree where he's named several. Several horses after your material.

[Jim James]

I had no idea. That's so crazy. That dude definitely is like, horses are so.

[Seth Meyers]

I bet that he's like, oh, trust me, Jim knows.

[Josh Gondelman]

He does know.

[Jim James]

Yeah, he's. I always wanted to do the. What do they call it when you do the therapy with the horses?

[Josh Gondelman]

I think just equine therapy. I think.

[Jim James]

Yeah. That looks so amazing.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

That's when the horse gives you a massage.

[Jim James]

Exactly. Yeah. The horse puts its gentle hooves. Yep. Just gently.

[Seth Meyers]

It's all about trust. They say the real hard part of equine therapy is the trust.

[Josh Gondelman]

There is some video, just because I'm in this, you know, adjacent to this horse world because of my wife. I have seen. There's some dude does, like, horse yoga, and there's. There's a video out there of a guy, like, with his shirt off and some big baggy pants, and he's just, like, stretching a horse out, and I can't tell who's getting more out of it.

[Jim James]

Makes sense.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

And we were gonna get to your favorite jokes, but I have a question as well. Did you ever did My Morning Jacket ever open for Pearl Jam?

[Jim James]

Yeah, many times.

[Seth Meyers]

Fantastic.

[Jim James]

Yeah, we opened for them. We did a tour of Europe with them that was unbelievable. And we did some shows in the States, too. It was a while ago. It was a good.

[Seth Meyers]

Were you very. Was it very early days for your band?

[Jim James]

I want to say it was like 2006, 2007, somewhere in there. So not super early, but kind of early.

[Seth Meyers]

I do a standup show once a month with John Oliver, and our opener is this wonderful comedian named Brooks Whelan, who's a dear friend of ours. And Brooks has a joke about, like, just what it is like to be the opener. And he's like, you know, I used to go see bands, and I'd be mad when the opening band came out. And now he goes, as I'm older, I realize that band has a family they have parents. But his punchline is. He's like.

[Josh Gondelman]

He's like.

[Seth Meyers]

But guess what? Maybe years from now you're gonna realize, oh, yeah, we went to see Pearl Jam, but that was my Morning Jacket, man.

[Jim James]

They. Eddie Vedder did one of the sweetest things I've ever seen anybody do. He came out because, you know, we're playing these arenas that are like, there's like a hundred people in a 30,000 seat arena to see us when we come on. And he would come out and play an acoustic song before us to get all the fans excited to come in to see us. It was really, really, wow. Really, really cool. And he came out a couple times and sat in with us and stuff, just trying to get people into their seats, you know. You know, everybody come rushing in from the beer lines or whatever. It was pretty, pretty amazing. We were really.

[Seth Meyers]

That is really. That is an extra special thing when you realize somebody at that level appreciates and remembers what every other level was like.

[Jim James]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Seth Meyers]

So you grew up in Kentucky?

[Jim James]

Yep.

[Seth Meyers]

Siblings. What is your sibling situation?

[Jim James]

I've got twin sisters who are three years younger than me, and I've got a little brother who is 13 years younger than me.

[Seth Meyers]

Gotcha. Is it haunting to have twin sisters?

[Jim James]

No, no, it's very rewarding, actually. It's. It's unbelievable to have that we're really close and to have that kind of connection, you know, is pretty unbelievable. I feel like whenever I encounter other people who have twins in their life in a powerful way, it's such a unique gift. Despite the shining horror, were you intimidated?

[Seth Meyers]

I mean, I guess three years old, you weren't. Were you able to process, like, there are about to be two more people here?

[Jim James]

It was wild. I mean, I don't. I don't know if my three year old mind quite had the processing power, you know, because I'd never experienced anything else. I thought maybe two babies came at once all the time that's worked. But I remember it just being so. Yeah. So surreal, you know, Something so surreal about two people at once, you know?

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah.

[Jim James]

Like that. That are. And they're identical twins, you know, so. Yeah, especially as a kid, it was. It was pretty, pretty insane.

[Seth Meyers]

That's fantastic. And you're still close with both of them?

[Jim James]

Yep.

[Seth Meyers]

But they don't speak to one another. They've completely.

[Jim James]

Yeah, they never speak. But we all hang out and I mediate between them.

[Seth Meyers]

Oh, that's good. That's so nice to have that big brother role.

[Josh Gondelman]

And then your. Your 13 years younger brother was he sort of a surprise to everyone when.

[Jim James]

He came or he was a surprise. Yeah. And that was really interesting because it was like we got to experience, you know, having that new energy in the house. And I've never had kids myself, so I'm kind of glad I got to experience that, you know, what it's like to have a baby around the house. And it was, yeah, it was really, really interesting. It brought a whole new chapter and a whole new breath of life into the family. You know, at a time when definitely wasn't like expected that that would come.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Josh Gondelman]

Were you given responsibilities, not like severe responsibility?

[Jim James]

I wasn't like entrusted with the baby' life or anything like that. You know, we, we tried to help best we could. I'm sure my sister's helped more than I did. 13 year old teen angst, you know.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, that's great.

[Josh Gondelman]

Hey, we're going to take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors.

[Seth Meyers]

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[Josh Gondelman]

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[Seth Meyers]

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[Josh Gondelman]

It'S like, then you open your fridge and you find, oh, I don't have that Worcestershire sauce.

[Seth Meyers]

And you know what? I always say that sauce is the best. Well, also you can text one on one with your shopper. They can help you get exactly what you need down to the brand size, dietary restriction, even the preferred shoe shade of your bananas. Shipt pairs me with shoppers that are so helpful and know my favorite stores, download the app or order [e-mail] that is S-H I P T.com support comes from Fitbod. Hey Boschi.

[Josh Gondelman]

Hey Suvi.

[Seth Meyers]

Hey, come on, it's the new year's. Baby, we're gonna get fit, right?

[Josh Gondelman]

These bod's gonna be fit.

[Seth Meyers]

Let's keep some of the promises we've made to each other, okay? Okay. So you know what I mean? Like, you get a fitbod, here's what it is. You don't need a personal trainer to hit your 20, 26 goals. All you need for a personalized workout is Fitbod. Yeah.

[Josh Gondelman]

I mean, Fitbod tracks your workouts. So if you think, you know, oh, I really, really did it today, really got into it, it's gonna say like, oh, yeah, actually last time you were lifting more weight. Fitbod's gonna tell you how much you need to do how many reps. Yeah, it's encouraging.

[Seth Meyers]

It helps you push yourself because now it's all tracked. Now you know how to do better. And you know what? My family's noticing, my friends are noticing. I walked in the other day after a workout and I couldn't believe what my 4 year old said. Addie looked at me and she said, holy shit, what's your secret? And I said, fitbod, yeah.

[Josh Gondelman]

Fitbot's not gonna let you lollygag. Sometimes if you're working out on your own without any oversight, you're gonna be like, I'm just gonna, like, I'm just gonna push around some weights today. Fitbod's gonna say, no, no, no, that's not it. That's not how you gain strength.

[Seth Meyers]

And you don't wanna, nobody, you don't wanna let down fitbot after everything it's done for you.

[Josh Gondelman]

So you're there, you're working out. Might as well get something out of it. Might as well gain some strength, gain some endurance.

[Seth Meyers]

Bod's not gonna push you too hard. They're gonna be like, hey, we're gonna track your muscle recovery so you can avoid burnout, keep up your momentum.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah. They're gonna challenge you. You're gonna see progress. That's what we're all after.

[Seth Meyers]

That's it. We just wanna be a little bit better day in and day out. Thanks to fitbod, you can be level up your workout in the new year. Join Fitbod today to get your personalized workout plan. Get 25% off your subscription or try the app free for seven days at Fitbod. Me Trips. That's F I T B O D Metrips.

[Jim James]

Fitbod, here we go.

[Seth Meyers]

So when you were a kid and you obviously you were close enough to your sisters that that was when you were sort of, I would Assume going on family trips. If you went on them, what sort of things would you guys do?

[Jim James]

Well, it's funny because when. When this came up and I was thinking about, like, family trips, and I was like, man, I don't know if I have any, like, insane stories of this one time, you know, whatever. A bear attacked our tent. We kind of had. We moved to Georgia when I was in second grade for a job from. For my dad's. A job that he got. And we also went. The only place we ever really went was Panama City Beach, Florida, where a lot of people in Louisville go for vacation. And my grandparents would get a condo down there and we would stay with them. And we kind of just did that every summer. And we. But on the move to Georgia, there was a lot of driving back and forth from Kentucky. And so there's just a lot of memories of, like, being trapped in the hot, sweaty car, you know, in the heat of the summer. And one of my favorite memories is just like, the. The music that we would hear as we were going. Like, I have a really distinct memory of hearing the. That song Night Shift by the Commodores.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Jim James]

You know, like, I remember, like, being a young kid hearing that and just being like, what is this? You know, like, that was my favorite part about all the travel was like, the. The. The music in the car.

[Seth Meyers]

I remember we would take road trips at a young age, and my. Our dad would lie to us and say that, you know, only certain songs would only play in certain places. And so I remember the first time hearing. I remember hearing Weird Al's Eat it and thinking it was the greatest thing ever. And he's like, that's why it's great to be on the road. You know, this isn't playing everywhere else yet. And I.

[Jim James]

That's smart.

[Seth Meyers]

Getting back to school and being like, you guys cannot believe. And they're like, yeah, no, it's here.

[Jim James]

Yeah, we've heard it.

[Seth Meyers]

We heard it.

[Josh Gondelman]

Dude, what did your dad do that brought you guys to Georgia?

[Jim James]

Well, he's an electrician, and there was a. He was working at, like, a nuclear power plant facility around here. That was then. You know, I don't. You know, the nuclear scares and all of the things that have gone through, you know, the society and the. The debates about nuclear power. That's a whole other conversation. But. But that. That plant was shut down. So then we went to Atlanta to. For just another job that he had to do. We were there for a couple years and then came back to Kentucky.

[Seth Meyers]

Were your parents both from Kentucky.

[Jim James]

Yeah, we're all from. From Louisville. Yeah.

[Josh Gondelman]

Gotcha. Did you come back to the same house or was it a new house?

[Jim James]

Yeah, it was a new house. It was a different. Yeah, because we. I don't think we really knew how long we'd be gone. But then luckily he found, you know, it's one of those things where you leave and you're like, okay, how soon can we get back? Kind of thing, you know.

[Josh Gondelman]

Right.

[Jim James]

A move of. Of necessity. And. And luckily he found a job, so we came back.

[Seth Meyers]

Do you have, like, the strong memories from those, like two years away? Because I would imagine it's also probably pretty easy to forget about it, especially when you go back to the place you.

[Jim James]

Yeah, I mean, I just remember how hard it was for everybody because I remember the. You know, I think they say, again, I don't have any kids, but I've heard many people who do have kids say that, like, routine and structure and, you know, familiarity and stuff like that is good for kids. So I remember, like, just. I think all of us were just like, thrust into this new world, you know, where. No. Nobody knew anybody. And, you know, it's kind of like. It's kind of almost like a purgatory feeling, you know, I'm sure it's harder for my parents or whatever and then. But luckily it only lasted a couple years and then we. We headed back. But, yeah, I don't. I mean, I don't know. My experience on this earth has been one of Some kind of Error 404 message is constantly displaying in my consciousness where it's like, I don't really nothing. Things don't compute for me very often. And I remember that. That time period just being like. I've done a lot of talking with my therapist about this, about the, you know, just what in us that works or doesn't is. Is it hormones? Is it chemicals? Is it depression? Is it alcoholism? Is it. You know, because I feel like there were like, so many things I've been blessed with, with like a great family and, you know, supportive people and stuff, but still, most of my life, I feel like there's like error 404 while not found webpage not loading. You know, it's like, so I remember those. Those years. I'm just like, yeah, I bet it.

[Seth Meyers]

Makes a difference too. Like, it does seem like the vibe was. Even your parents were like, we're going to try to get back. And so that probably as kids makes it harder to, like, put down roots as well, you know.

[Jim James]

Oh, yeah. Oh, my God, yeah, absolutely.

[Seth Meyers]

I mean, we moved, but, like, you know, when we moved, like, I think it was very much like the door was closed on the place we'd left as OPP to, like, don't worry. This is all temporary. Don't get close.

[Jim James]

Right, right, right. Did you move around a lot?

[Josh Gondelman]

We.

[Seth Meyers]

What we. One big move.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah.

[Jim James]

Okay.

[Josh Gondelman]

We moved when we were both very little from Wilmette, Illinois, to Omas, Michigan. And then when we were, like, 5 and 7, we moved to New Hampshire, and our parents are still in that house now, so.

[Jim James]

Oh, that's cool. Oh, wow. That's a good long stretch.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, it is a good long stretch.

[Jim James]

Right?

[Seth Meyers]

It's. It's also. It has a little bit of a shrine feel to it. Certainly Josh's room, for whatever reason, like, my room was immediately in office, and, like, Josh's room was like, no, nobody touch it.

[Jim James]

Right, right, right.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, I like that. They're still like, he might be president and they're gonna. People are gonna want to see what it looked like.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah.

[Jim James]

But you're around, and he might come back. Yeah, he might move back in.

[Seth Meyers]

That's their real dream.

[Jim James]

Right.

[Josh Gondelman]

Did you come back to Louisville to. To friends that you sort of had left behind? Were grandparents close by? Did you sort of fall back into that old groove?

[Jim James]

No. Everything was all. All this. I mean, we had tons of family and stuff like that, but, yeah. Yeah, Friendships and stuff. I had to start over, but it was pretty great because when I came back, a lot of the friends I met in fourth grade, when I came back to Louisville, I'm still friends with. And Patrick Callahan, the drummer in My Morning Jacket. We have been friends since fourth grade, and we have the same birthday. And so I met him when I came back, and we're still. Still going strong. We were just listening to records last night.

[Seth Meyers]

Is that something? Did you guys. At what age after you met, were you guys connecting on music? Was that an early part of your friendship?

[Jim James]

Pretty much immediately, yeah. It's like, I feel like I always was, like, drawn to music as a kid through, like, the Muppet show and stuff like that. And I think when I came back in fourth grade and we're starting to get into. At that time, like, hair metal was becoming really popular, and I think a lot of us wanted to prove how tough we were by, like, you know, I like Metallica, I like Slayer. You know, it's like, who's. Who likes the tougher metal and stuff like that. So, yeah, we kind of started bonding over music. Immediately.

[Seth Meyers]

I saw something on social media, somebody made a post and I'm gonna get it wrong, but they said when they were young, the maddest they ever made a friend, as a friend was saying, like, how Hardcore Dawkin was. And he goes, I can prove they're not. And he goes, how? He goes. They sat in a room and they wrote a song. It's really funny that, like, you know, you just think of them, but then you're like, oh, at the end of the day, like, everybody's a musician and they have to be like, like writing down stuff and sound. Right.

[Jim James]

Yeah. Not just sacrificing animals to Satan. Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

And like, it's like, I think like, even rebellious music has to come from a place of, like, form and, you know, function.

[Jim James]

Oh my God. Absolutely. In practice. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

And so it's just like, you know, it looks like they just walked on stage and they don't care about anything. It's like, oh, no. They've definitely have. Have had arguments about every word in this song.

[Jim James]

Dude. Isn't that so weird? I mean, I feel like that's something a lot of people don't realize on the path to trying to be a musician or whatever. Because that's what I thought too. I was like, I was like, man, if I'm. If I'm like in a band, I'll just be partying and like smoking. Yeah. Cocaine and all this stuff. And it's like, I feel so lucky that I also just loved recording on a four track in the basement, you know, like, that was one of the only, only places I found peace was like working on this music by myself or practicing with my friends. So I think, like, I lucked out to meet people who also wanted to work and also wanted to snort cocaine, smoke cigarettes and do the whole Motley Crew thing, you know, it's like we wanted to do that too, but we were like, we also liked to work, you know, and it was like, it was a good combination. But yeah, so many people too, I did meet though, especially as kids. You know, it's funny as you start having band practice and at first there's like 10 kids, you know, and. And they're all like, yeah, but they just want to smoke and drink and stuff and they kind of fall away. And then the people who really do also want to do the work end up coming together.

[Josh Gondelman]

Were you self conscious singing sort of in front of other people or did that just.

[Jim James]

Oh, yeah, I hated singing for a long time. Our friend's older brother sang and then he left. He Was a couple years older than us, way cooler than us, and. And then I tried, and I really didn't like it. But then one day, somebody left the reverb on an amp, turned up all the way, and I. You know, you plug your mic into the amp, and. And I sang, and all the reverb came out, and I was like. I was like, oh, my God. This is like. This is what I was born to do. It was like. It. It all felt so natural. And from that point on, I just. I loved singing. You couldn't stop me from singing.

[Josh Gondelman]

That's so great. That's like. That's one of those hurdles that I sort of. I just was such a stumbling block for me, and I just was at a holiday party, and there was a guy there who, like, was in chorus, and I'm just so regretful that I didn't, like, just be in the school chorus, because you're gonna stand around with 40 people and you're all gonna sing, and you're gonna get your part, and you're gonna learn how to harmonize, and, like, that confidence that sort of just comes from doing, and I love that it was a situation where a couple people dropped out, and then amp was set to the right setting for you to be like, oh, this I can. Yeah, I can do this.

[Jim James]

It's so beautiful. Yeah, because it is weird because, like, if you think about the sound of your voice right now in these microphones you're using for a podcast, it's very deliberately clean and dry, and, you know, you want to hear all of the words you're saying. But when you sing, it's like, everybody knows that you sound best in the shower or in a reverberant place, like a garage or a stairwell or something. And I think that reverb accidentally being on it was like this gateway to, like, whoa. Everything sounds better with this. And when it was off, it was like, kind of like you're in the dentist's office or you're in, like, a, you know, some kind of exam room or something. I always felt like I was at the doctor's office whenever I tried to sing into a dry microphone. And also what you said about the choir, too, like, my niece is in choir. And that's the biggest difference, too, when you're singing, like, with people, you know, and all the emphasis isn't just on you. That's so powerful to experience. Singing that way with people, too, is so beautiful.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, it's really great. It's so funny, too, just about, like, how you have to, like, commit yourself to this, like, form. And then you find out lessons, like some, because it's like the next lesson in the book. And the other is you just kind of stumble upon it because of, you know, being in the craft.

[Jim James]

I know. I love, I love those happy accidents.

[Seth Meyers]

Can I just. I do want to circle back to Panama beach condo. We feel like we've talked to a lot of guests who did. Like the Florida condo.

[Jim James]

Yep.

[Seth Meyers]

Grandparents. Was it a trip you looked forward to?

[Jim James]

Oh, yeah, because, I mean, I. I remember the. Because we really. Like my mom. My dad was traveling a lot from work, and my mom was really good about taking us to the pet store, taking us to the library, you know, taking us to the pool. But we never had any money and we, you know, we. We couldn't go a lot of places. We. We didn't. I didn't even get on an airplane until I was 21. And we. Yeah. So to go to Panama City Beach, Florida every summer was a huge, you know, a huge thing, you know, and, you know, of course, like just the ocean alone, you know, when you walk up to that as a kid, just the. The power of the ocean, it just takes over your entire consciousness, you know, and you're just so obsessed. And one year we went to. So to ride through, I've tried from Louisville, Kentucky to Panama City Beach, Florida. We had to go through Huntsville, Alabama, where they have a NASA training facility. And we stopped there once and they had this huge tank of water where the side was see through and they had like a spaceship in the water with the astronauts working on it in their suits, so they're weightless in the water, you know. Oh, cool. And I developed this crazy fear of being in the water. Cause I was afraid there was gonna be a spaceship under the water. So I was like, afraid that my feet would, like, would accidentally brush the spaceship or whatever out in the ocean or when I was in the pool. I was just. Even if I could see there's no spaceship in there, I was like, very afraid of that. And still to the point.

[Seth Meyers]

So when they built that and they were like, is there any downside, guys? Nobody was like, I do feel like kids might be afraid of hitting their feet against a spaceship. Like that is. That is an absolutely unpredictable outcome of that.

[Jim James]

I still am kind of a little bit afraid of it. If I'm in a lake or something where I can't see the bottom, I think I'm gonna brush up against some kind of aircraft, some kind of spacecraft.

[Josh Gondelman]

I love that. It's not a fish or like an eel that you might hit or like, oh, there's a shark. It's no. Always spaceship.

[Seth Meyers]

And it really. I mean, what an impossible question to ask the locals if you're like, hey, just a. This probably sounds crazy, but any spaceships ever crash? Like, should I be. Should I wear my aqua socks?

[Jim James]

Yeah, I'm worried about any craft.

[Josh Gondelman]

And were you guys. When you were down at Panama City beach, were you just on the beach pretty much every day or is there a boardwalk in that town? What's. What do you get up to as a. As a kid?

[Jim James]

No, it's pretty simple. I mean, it's just, you know, go down to the pool, go down to the beach, rinse off the beach and the pool, go to the beach, go back to the pool, rinse and repeat. There was a place that had really hot donuts. Like, we never really got donuts in our real life. So I remember when we went to the beach, we would get. There's a place called Thomas's Donut Stand. And they had. The donuts were like so hot and so delicious. I remember we were all just like so thrilled with that, that, you know, special treat. But yeah, it was pretty. Yeah. It's like I was thinking about that when they asked me if I wanted to do this podcast, I was like, I hope I'm not the most boring guest.

[Seth Meyers]

No, no.

[Jim James]

They've ever had on the podcast because, you know, there was never a time that a bear flipped over the car. You know, like something. Something exploded or crazy happened. But it was.

[Seth Meyers]

I love that you think most of our guests have bear stories. That seems to be your takeaway. I was like, yeah, it was. It was. You've joined the bear out room. That was originally. Did you. I will say I have a irrational confidence in how good a donut's going to be if it's at a non chain place that only makes donuts.

[Jim James]

Yep.

[Seth Meyers]

And not like a Brooklyn place that makes like basically just like cake in the shape of a donut. Like a real old school, like where this is assembly line for hot donuts. I'm. I can very.

[Jim James]

Oh, my God. Absolutely.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Jim James]

And I'm sure These donuts were 100% lard. Yeah, they were just only crafted out of lard. Yeah, they were. This is old school, legit place for sure.

[Seth Meyers]

It turns out if the donut's hot, you'll overlook a lot of the ingredients.

[Josh Gondelman]

We grew up going to this like ski, ski mountain in Michigan when we were very little and they had a Hot donut station that like, they could dip it in chocolate or like in the sugar. And I just. To this day, those remain the best donuts I feel like I've ever had in my life. And I had them when I was four years old.

[Jim James]

Yeah, I don't think I've had a donut since.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah, well, I mean, they wouldn't be able to compare.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, what's the point now?

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Also the older you get, you can't, you can't have a cylindrical thing of lard in your stomach all day. Possible to bounce back. Hey, we're going to take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors. Support comes from Laundry Sauce. Hey, Bhaji. Hey Suvi. The holidays are in full swing. Celebrations, gatherings, cozy nights in, and the chaos that comes with the season. One thing that doesn't take a break. Tell me, name one thing that doesn't take a break in holiday season.

[Josh Gondelman]

Pashi.

[Seth Meyers]

No. You take breaks. I watch you take naps. No, man, you go non stop.

[Josh Gondelman]

I go non stop even when I'm napping.

[Seth Meyers]

Well, guess what then. What then your new nickname is Laundry because that also doesn't take a break.

[Josh Gondelman]

Oh, that's true.

[Seth Meyers]

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[Josh Gondelman]

My favorite scent that they have over there is the Siberian pine. It's just lovely.

[Seth Meyers]

You know what scent I was disappointed they don't have?

[Josh Gondelman]

What's that?

[Seth Meyers]

Sufi at rest.

[Josh Gondelman]

Oh, I'm okay with that. You're okay with that?

[Jim James]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Cause you feel like you've gotten your fill over the years.

[Jim James]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Just doesn't.

[Josh Gondelman]

It's not on the top of my list.

[Seth Meyers]

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[Josh Gondelman]

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[Seth Meyers]

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[Jim James]

Here we go.

[Seth Meyers]

So we can shift because obviously you're, you're not short at all obviously on trips in your life. When did you start touring as a musician? And was that the van life that we've all sort of grown to accept is the early days of a van, of a band?

[Jim James]

Yeah, I mean we, so we were, we were all in other bands before My Morning Jacket where, where you would just kind of take whoever had the biggest car and cram everything into it and go play a gig here or there. But then once My Morning Jacket signed our first little indie record deal and there was a book back then, I mean this is all still the Internet existed but it wasn't really useful yet, you know, and I feel like the, this would have been in like the year 2000 or 99. There was a book that used to come out called Book your own life. It was like a punk rock DIY tour guide, you know, and it had all the venues in every state where like you could call them up and try to play there or whatever. So we would like just you know, call some coffee shop, shop in Arizona and you know, ask Bob if we could play, you know, and be like, yeah, so we would like set up these crazy little tours and you know, all pooled our money together to buy a shitty three thousand dollar Dodge van. And we toured around in that van for a couple years and luckily the manifested the energy just kind of kept going, you know, and you drive to Arizona and play for three people and then you drive to Arizona and play for 13 people and then you drive and then there's 30 people, you know, and you're lucky if that. That even happens, you know, it's so hard to, like, get. Get any traction going. But that was always a constant. Just a thrill for us to just like. Again. I'm so lucky that I found people that wanted to do that, that were like. Wanted to go sleep on the van floor, you know, and then, yeah. Wanted to graduate into all cramming into a Motel 6 hotel room together and, you know, those. Those kind of things. It's just like there was that spirit of adventure and, you know, oh, it's over dramatic to say you're willing to die for it, but I feel like in a way, you kind of have to be if you want to make it through. Because I knew a lot of people who weren't willing to do that. Or I had friends in other bands where they're like, man, I wish we could go tour, but so and so won't leave their pizza job and so and so won't leave their other. And I'm like, why are they afraid to leave these shitty jobs? Like, you can just come back and get another shitty job, you know?

[Seth Meyers]

Did you. Do you feel like everybody on those bus like that you all kind of. Even without talking about. Collectively agreed that the arrow is pointing up and like that. Hey, you know, it's. Obviously we're not exploding, but, like, we're. The. The progression is going in the right order.

[Jim James]

We did. It was. It was kind of cool because we would just get little signs, you know, we did a. I did a real aggressive mailing campaign that definitely wouldn't work in today's world. But, like, I sent out demo tapes to people. This was still like, cassette era. And I would put my cassette in, like a giant cardboard box and spray paint it silver and put like a stuffed animal head hanging out of it or just like, whatever I could to get somebody to notice it at the label. So after doing that a while, this label called Darla Records, I sent them a package that was like, wrapped like a valentine. And it was like a love letter to a girl named Darla. And it was like all this stuff. So that got them to even. They were like, we don't. We usually don't even open the manila envelopes that pile up on our desk, but at least they opened mine and then they liked it. So, like, nobody that we knew had ever even gotten like, a little indie record deal or whatever. So I think those little, like, getting a first record deal got everybody excited and kind of Made everybody willing to risk it more than they would have if. If nothing was happening at all. So little things like that luckily kept happening. That kind of made everybody willing to take the chance and get in the van.

[Seth Meyers]

Did your band appreciate that you were taking the extra time to do creative wrapping of the demo tapes?

[Jim James]

Yeah, I think they did. Yeah. There's. There was a. Yeah, we had a lot of fun with it. They helped some, too. Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

My. My comedy partner in my early days, who's a dear friend of Josh as well, this friend of ours named Jill Benjamin, like, she was very much the hustler. And it's incredible how important that is, because I just don't have that hustle the way she does and, like, that ability to, like, know that you put yourself out there a hundred times, to have that one person at that one label, like, open up the box and not. It's a little bit like, you know, getting up and singing for the first time. You're like, oh, well, you know, if you don't get up and sing, nobody's gonna come and, like, tap you on the shoulder. Be like, you look like you can.

[Jim James]

Yeah, we need you. Yeah, totally. We need you to start a rock and roll band.

[Josh Gondelman]

The whole.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Josh Gondelman]

The whole analog nature. That book that about booking your life and then sending those tapes. It's. It's so great how those were. I mean, that putting that book together sounds like such a labor of love for.

[Jim James]

Oh, my God.

[Josh Gondelman]

As a guide for people who wanted to do that. Yeah.

[Jim James]

The whole DIY hardcore scene back then and punk rock scene and I mean, that was just like, how people did it before the Internet. They. Luckily they created those cool books of different club owners. And it's just wild to think that's how so many bands toured back then.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah. Would your sisters or parents or brother come see you on the road?

[Jim James]

Well, in early days, not. Not usually. I mean, they wouldn't travel out to see us or anything, but they were always really supportive in Louisville. And that's the. Yeah, that's the kind of. The cool thing too, because, like, I think everybody. Every musician knows that, like, for so many years, nobody cares, you know, and everybody's kind of like, yeah, sure, you know, have fun, you know, we'll see you at Subway. You know, like, it's like that kind of. But then I think once we kind of started going other places, and the first place the band ever. Talk. Took off was in Holland and Belgium. Strangely enough, that was like, the first place we ever got any real traction. So I think Once we got on a plane, that was the first time I ever got on a plane, was to fly over to the Netherlands to do this tour. And we didn't know they were going to have a camera crew at the airport to film us and stuff. And we were like, is this going to be like the Beatles or whatever? We're going to get off the plane and there's going to be thousands of screaming Dutch fans, you know, and so once we did that, it wasn't like that. You know, it's very, very small. But I think people then people here were like, whoa, what? There's this band from Louisville that is going to Holland or whatever. Like, what? What does that mean? And then people's ears kind of perked up. But that was a really interesting thing of that whole experience of flying to the Netherlands in a pre Internet world where we really didn't know, like, what does this mean? Are we playing for 200 people? Are we playing for 20,000 people? Are you like, what is the scope of this?

[Seth Meyers]

So Josh and I randomly. I mean, not that randomly, but we used to live in Amsterdam, so we got hired for a comedy theater that Americans started in Amsterdam called Boom Chicago. So, and that was pre. I went in 97, Josh went in 99. When was your trip to the Holland?

[Jim James]

The Holland, probably between like 2001 and 2003.

[Seth Meyers]

So that's right when. That's right when Josh was there, we went all over. How did you break through there? Have you ever been able to work backwards and figure out why you broke through there first?

[Jim James]

Well, I mean, I think so. They really liked. So the band has changed a lot over the years. And the first record we put out called the Tennessee Fire is all very, for lack of a better word, kind of lo fi and kind of like slow and there's tons of reverb. And we did it all ourself and it's very moody and. And I think they really liked that sound a lot. And, you know, obviously there. There's. There's no Internet. I don't read or speak Dutch or whatever. And so I'm not like seeing the Dutch magazines. And this promoter from the amazing club that's still there called the Paradiso, that's like.

[Seth Meyers]

Well, no.

[Jim James]

One of the most unbelievable venues in the world, right?

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Jim James]

This. This guy Ben sends me an email. I forget how he got my email. And he's like, did you know that your album is number one on the murder list over here in Holland? I was like, what? And there's like a Critics list. And our album was like, at the top of this list for, I don't know, weeks or months or whatever. And he sent me a picture of it, and it's like, number one, my morning jacket. Number two, R.E.M. number three, Nick. Nick Cave. Number four, Radiohead. You know, we were like, is this like some kind of joke or something? You know, so they really liked it, but it was hilarious because when we came over, we kind of, like, played like a metal band or whatever, you know, we were like, very, very, like. So like, kind of in your face rock and roll that. There were so many people that were like. And their honesty can be so hilarious, too. I'm sure you remember this from me.

[Josh Gondelman]

I'm so familiar with it.

[Jim James]

They were like. They were just like, we really like your album a lot. We do not enjoy your show. They're just like. So it kind of all, like. It was fun and we had a lot of fun, but I think, you know, we didn't even understand the concept of what it all meant or, like, what people want or what it was. It was really interesting because it's almost like. I don't know. Yeah. I mean, it is what it is, but it was just such a. Such a trip. That's so funny because we toured all over the Benelux region. Like, we toured all over Holland and Belgium to. To do this thing.

[Josh Gondelman]

And Luxembourg, if you're. If it's Benelux, let's not forget Luxembourg.

[Jim James]

No, definitely not.

[Josh Gondelman]

I love that you refer. It's been so long since anyone said Benelux.

[Seth Meyers]

We used to drive around. We used to do a lot of traveling shows, and so we would drive all around. We would never go to the Belu. But we were in the net a lot and.

[Jim James]

Yep, yep.

[Seth Meyers]

It is really funny because it's. I mean, it's a beautiful country, but it's also like. I don't know, it's like so much far. It's like such farmland. Like, it feels like ultimately when you're on the road, other than the fact that the cars are weird looking, like you could kind of be anywhere until you get into the city.

[Jim James]

We said that so many times, especially because when our studio was out in Shelbyville, Kentucky, which is like 30 minutes outside of Louisville in the country, and there's so many drives where we're like, we could just be driving to Shelbyville right now. It's like, it really is all. All the same. But yeah, it was such a. And I mean, but Amsterdam. Amsterdam alone is just like, what a city that Is. I know.

[Seth Meyers]

I really. I'm now just, like, retroactively bummed out that we didn't cross paths, because that was. I mean, I. That was when I peaked.

[Jim James]

That is so funny that you. When you pizza.

[Seth Meyers]

Genuinely. I wish I had no shame in saying that, but I will tell you, my best concert experience at the Paradisa was it was a double bill of Sun Volt and the Jayhawks.

[Jim James]

Oh, wow.

[Seth Meyers]

But it was weird because the Sun. Sorry, Sun Volt played downstairs first, and then the Jayhawks played in that bigger room.

[Jim James]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

I don't quite know why they did that, but there was some confusion. And when the Jayhawks came out, there were, like, three songs in, and someone's like, what is Sunville coming out? And they had to be like, oh, they already. Their show's over. It was earlier, and it was like, what, like six people? Super bummed out.

[Jim James]

Yeah. Oh, God.

[Josh Gondelman]

I was. I was at the parody. So when. When Seth. When I found out that Seth got Saturday Night Live, I was at a show there and stepped out to the loading dock because I. He called me and it was. Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Do you remember what show you were seeing?

[Josh Gondelman]

I do not. Yeah, I know. I saw Beck do a show there, and they were just, like, ripping through the first set, and then he did one of his Beck like, splits and popped up and. And he broke his wrist. And that was the end of the show. Yeah. And, like, I was with someone who knew someone in the band, and the. Someone in the band came out and was like, oh, yeah, we're.

[Seth Meyers]

We're done.

[Josh Gondelman]

He broke his wrist. He's going to the hospital.

[Jim James]

Oh, man. Yeah, we saw. It was funny. We saw Wayne at the Paradiso once, and I'll never. It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Like, we came in kind of late. They've probably been on stage for 30 minutes, and, like, you know, the place is packed, sold out. And, like, all we heard was, like, feedback going on. And we, like, went up to one of the balconies and, like, they're all on stage, and one of the guitar. The guitar players, like, laying back in a chair with his leg is broken and it's up on a stool, and his guitar, she's feeding back, and the drummer's back there, like, hitting a sampler pad that, like, makes cricket noises or something. There's just, like, all of this noise going. Then we talk to somebody. We're like, what is going on? And they're like, they always do this. They always get way too High. And then they just go up there and then they just like make these noises. I mean, the noise they were making was pretty. Was pretty great, but it was. It was just hilarious that they were.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah.

[Jim James]

Just let it go that far.

[Josh Gondelman]

And the Paradisa is an old church. Like, it's. Yeah, yeah.

[Jim James]

So beautiful.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Did you. So was that of when you went over there, that's the first time you were on a plane was to go internationally.

[Jim James]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

So did you. Were you like, oh, planes up your sleep or did you know there was only red eyes?

[Jim James]

My. My sleep's always been up. Oh. And I think we connected through New York or whatever. You know what I mean?

[Seth Meyers]

Did your. Was it the first time for most of your bandmates as well, or were you.

[Jim James]

No, they had all been on trips for some reason. We had just my family. We'd never gone anywhere you couldn't drive. You know, we just never had the money to even get a plane ticket or whatever. So I think the. That. Because that was another thing with touring and all that kind of stuff is like, we all just worked at Subway or the coffee shop or whatever, you know, and there was. And that was fascinating that Ben, the guy from the Paradiso, somehow pulled enough together to get us plane tickets to come over to do these shows, you know, it was really, really cool.

[Seth Meyers]

Did you, over the years, have you had a favorite other than the Benelux? Was there a country you went to that was maybe more fun than you would have expected to do concerts at?

[Jim James]

You know, it's just a day by day thing for me. And it doesn't matter what country I'm in or what where I'm at. It's more like a mental kind of health thing, you know, I feel. Because sometimes some days you're. If I'm feeling good and it's a. It's a good day, I can have fun on the darkest day.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Jim James]

In the dreariest place, you know, or vice versa. You know, if I'm like feeling bummed or whatever. You can be whatever at a crazy thing that's supposed to be awesome or whatever, but you're like, you know, battling. Battling the demons or whatever.

[Seth Meyers]

I always feel like I. I'm like, I. I find there's like, sort of the oppressive expectations of a beautiful day in a place that's fun.

[Jim James]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

It's just not for me. Like, I know for a fact the place I would have the least amount of fun is Carnival in Rio. You know what I mean? This is not for me. I can't get my energy up.

[Jim James]

Children's book. You should do a children's book called the Oppressive Expectations of a Beautiful Day.

[Seth Meyers]

It's really just.

[Jim James]

That's a good. That's a good phrase.

[Josh Gondelman]

Do you and the band. Do you ever try to build in sort of a few days at the tail end of a tour where you're somewhere in the world, like, hey, we're finishing in Spain, and then we're just gonna, like, spend five days?

[Jim James]

Yeah. Anytime we end up, like, whenever we go to Japan or Australia or something like that, especially if it's a huge, huge trip, I always take four or five days by myself and just, like, travel around. And Japan is one of my favorite places to go and just, like, get lost there, you know, Just like ride the subway around and ride the Yamanote line around. It's like you can switch the screen to English so easily, and you can get on the circle and ride the train around and get off random places. And I love that feeling of just being like. It's so cool when you're, like, able to get completely lost, you know, in a beautiful way, where you're like, I have no idea even which restroom is the men's or women's. Yes. Like, I don't. Don't know anything about anything. I can't. I can't tell what's going on. And it's nice when you have the time to do that, you know, and just, like, just let yourself kind of get lost in that way.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah. The nice thing in those Japanese toilets is they're always going to have those heated seats.

[Jim James]

Yes. Or the. Or the trough style.

[Josh Gondelman]

Or that.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. It's feast or win. Win.

[Josh Gondelman]

Do you tend to. In Japan, do you tend to stay in cities or have you gone out into the countryside or into the smaller towns?

[Jim James]

We've always usually stayed in cities. And that's one thing. Whenever we go back next, I would love to spend some more time out in the countryside and doing that kind of stuff, but, yeah, usually I've stayed in Tokyo and kind of explored that area. We've gone to Kyoto and some other places, but, yeah, it's usually been pretty metropolitan.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

That's still the bucket list place I most want to go. It's just like three weeks in Japan.

[Jim James]

Have you been at all?

[Seth Meyers]

Never been. I was. My. My wife and I were sort of had circled that we would go to the Tokyo Olympics because of working at NBC. It's always an option. And then that was the COVID Olympics. And so although I have said that to people since, and they've said that would have been the worst time to go, you know, like, if you want. If you want the.

[Jim James]

So difficult. Yeah.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

It's like, I like to. I'm gonna. I'm waiting to go to New Orleans until there's a Super Bowl. Like, it's just like, that's not what.

[Jim James]

You want to go. Yeah.

[Josh Gondelman]

Have your. As your shows, sort of. As your career progressed and you played some more international things in some bigger venues, did your family. Would your family ever travel to. Would you ever say, like, hey, come see us and, you know, they travel a lot.

[Jim James]

My family will travel a lot in the States. They. They like to come to, like, Red Rocks when we play Red Rocks, you know, places like that that are fun kind of destination place, or they'll come to New York or Chicago and hang out and, you know, have some fun and see the sights and explore a little bit. Yeah, that's. They love coming to Red Rocks especially. That's. That's always a really great. Yeah, great.

[Josh Gondelman]

Do they sit? Are they on the side of the stage? Are they out in the audience?

[Jim James]

They kind of can have full reign, you know, especially my parents. I just, you know, we get. I give them passes and tell them to make themselves at home.

[Seth Meyers]

Are they good? Are your parents. Do you ever have any fear that your parents will embarrass you?

[Jim James]

No, they never have, and I don't think they ever would. They're pretty, like, you know, they're pretty quiet people that are sweet and, you know, they're like. And we all kind of have a thing. I think just the way they were raised and the way they raised me. We don't ever want to be in the way. You know, we're always, like, very quickly be like, I'll get out of here. You know, I don't want to be in your way. You know, they're very conscious of that. So, no, they're always great guests.

[Josh Gondelman]

We, myself and my parents are guests on Seth's Thanksgiving show every year. And then our parents will come on this podcast and they will be recognized. Do your fans recognize your parents in crowds? Do you. That's a good.

[Jim James]

Well, sometimes I hear they do. Or somebody will tell them that. That they're my parents or whatever, you know, or they'll be wearing my morning jacket T shirt or whatever, you know, and so, yeah, I know they've had some really sweet interactions with people out in the crowd and stuff.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, so nice.

[Jim James]

Yeah, it is. So. It's so cool. I mean, it's Just like. Yeah. I feel so lucky to have had such supportive parents. You know, it's like, I think that obviously is just, like, you know, for a long time. I think any parents are like, what, you know, you want to play rock and roll? Good luck.

[Seth Meyers]

Well, same things with comedy, you know?

[Jim James]

Yo.

[Seth Meyers]

God.

[Jim James]

I'm sure. Absolutely. Yeah.

[Josh Gondelman]

What.

[Jim James]

What are you trying to do?

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, I. I will. I think our parents supported it quickly, because I do think they were like, what the fuck else are they gonna do?

[Josh Gondelman]

They're not good. They're not good at math.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Jim James]

Oh, my God.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Jim James]

Same for me. Yeah. Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

They don't feel like, oh, America's lost a great doctor.

[Jim James]

Totally. Yeah. Yeah. Jim had a promising career in accounting. Yeah.

[Josh Gondelman]

Subway. He was a sandwich artist.

[Jim James]

I did love working at Subway. That was one of my favorite jobs.

[Seth Meyers]

I worked at a New England sub chain called d', Angelo, and I loved working there as well. Although I remember once going over to a girl I liked house afterwards, and I walked in, and her whole family was like, oh, my God, you smell like onions. I'm like, oh, right, right, right. Definitely go home and shower first.

[Jim James]

Oh, yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

This has been fantastic, and thank you for joining us.

[Josh Gondelman]

Bear stories or no bear stories.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, exactly.

[Josh Gondelman]

We're content.

[Jim James]

Yeah. I'm glad.

[Seth Meyers]

But we would like you to get out in the world and try to at least meet one bear and then come back and report on how it went.

[Jim James]

I did see a bear climb into a dumpster once outside of Levon Helm's house in upstate New York. We were.

[Seth Meyers]

It's incredible that you didn't think this was the story to tell.

[Jim James]

Yeah, I actually. Yeah, that's like. And it was so funny because the bear. They told us there would be bears. They're like, watch out for bears. They're friendly. This is a black bear, not a grizzly bear. But we were in there, and we heard this wham, wham kind of rumbling, and we looked outside and saw this black bear with his claws and head up, peeking into the dumpster, you know, kind of scuttling on the dumpster. And we watched it, and it. Wham, wham, wham, Flipped over the side, fell into the dumpster, and then a couple seconds later, its head came up, and it had a whole wrapped block of, like, deli ham that had expired that they threw away. And it was just the. The cutest picture of it holding up this deli ham.

[Seth Meyers]

That's great.

[Jim James]

Everything about that.

[Seth Meyers]

I mean, I also, like, I can imagine that Levon Helm would be a guy who Would order too much ham. Like, he would just, like, be in the butcher and he'd be like, I think it's gonna be a big ham week for me.

[Josh Gondelman]

And then he's like, yeah, give me two blocks.

[Seth Meyers]

Blocks.

[Josh Gondelman]

Two blocks, please. Like, oh, shoot, we're not gonna.

[Seth Meyers]

Is that. I mean, that must have been pretty special to. I assume that you were friendly with Levon Helm if you were at his house.

[Jim James]

Oh, my God. Well, he had a studio. We had never met him before, and we were. That was our big question. Will we see him? Will we meet him? And we were there for like a day and we hadn't seen him, we hadn't met him. And I don't smoke a lot of weed, but we were recording there and I was like, pretty. Pretty high for some reason. I went out to the bus to get something and I came back in and I heard this voice and I was like, oh, my God. Is that. Is that the voice? I think it is. And I like, round, round the upstairs. And I came upstairs and he's sitting there with the guys, you know, just like blazing a huge joint and gave us, like, I don't know how much weed, but, like a huge pile of weed. And he's like, just like ripping. And he's like, like, you know, reaches over to shake my hand and, like, hands me the joint, you know, and I'm like a one hit Max. And I'm just so, so stoned. And I couldn't. Couldn't turn down the joint from Levon and was just so, you know, just couldn't. Couldn't believe that I was staring at him. And. And. And then he didn't stay long. He just said hi or whatever and left. And then he kept. Every day he would leave a little. Another little pile of weed on the amp or whatever. It's like a little note like, here's some more weed in case you running out or whatever. And it kept growing and growing. It was so sweet. And then we got to play with him a few times after that, and he was the best. He was so, so sweet. Just unbelievable.

[Seth Meyers]

I mean, that's incredible. Like, when you get to, you know, one, meet a hero and two, have him be even more than you could have imagined. Nothing quite like it.

[Jim James]

Yeah.

[Josh Gondelman]

And he does Elf on the Shelf for you. Except with weed.

[Jim James]

Yeah.

[Josh Gondelman]

He's like.

[Seth Meyers]

All right, Josh is going to ask you our speed round questions, all right?

[Josh Gondelman]

You can only pick one of these. Is your ideal vacation relaxing? Adventurous or educational?

[Jim James]

Relaxing.

[Josh Gondelman]

What is your favorite means of transportation?

[Jim James]

Car.

[Josh Gondelman]

If you could take a vacation with any family, alive or dead, real or fictional. Other than your own family, what family would you like to take a vacation with?

[Jim James]

More. The Rolling Stones.

[Josh Gondelman]

Great. If you had to be stranded on a desert island with one member of your family, who would it be?

[Jim James]

That's tough. I can't pick any favorites, so I'm gonna have to pick my parents dog, Gracie.

[Josh Gondelman]

Gracie sounds like a wonderful companion.

[Seth Meyers]

You are from Louisville.

[Josh Gondelman]

If you had to get more families to come visit Louisville, how would you sell them on the city?

[Jim James]

Oh, my God. Louisville is one of the most beautiful places you've ever seen. I mean, Louisville, the way I try to explain to people, it holds a magic similar to New Orleans. You know, it's like a very beautiful, lush, green place filled with like lots of spirits and lots of energy and lots of. There's a lot of magic here and there's a lot of. It's a really kind of swirling. It's near the Ohio river and there's just a really interesting mix of like so many different cultures here and so many different walks of life and so many people from so many different backgrounds kind of all mixing together and. Yeah, it's. It's a really, really beautiful, special place. So much beautiful nature. You know, Muhammad Ali's from here. You know, it's. It's a really, really special place.

[Josh Gondelman]

Yeah, we've both been. We love it.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Jim James]

Nice.

[Josh Gondelman]

And then Seth has our final questions.

[Seth Meyers]

Have you been to the Grand Canyon?

[Jim James]

God, I've only been once. My first girlfriend and I drove out there from Louisville on. On my first road trip. Huge road trip as a 20 year old or whatever. And we stopped, we looked in and we're like sick. And then we headed on to Las Vegas.

[Seth Meyers]

Do you feel like you've left? Is there an itch unscratched? Would you go back?

[Jim James]

Absolutely. I would love to go back and really spend some time there. I would love. Aren't there. I don't know if I have the bravery to like ride a donkey down in there or something, but I would get. If somebody had a program where they had a helicopter that helicopters in like a premium yurt experience, you know, that has like deluxe bed, deluxe hot tub and accommodations, all that kind of stuff that feels like this.

[Seth Meyers]

Feels like this isn't a fit. Yeah.

[Josh Gondelman]

This is a wish list. This is a wish list you keep.

[Seth Meyers]

The more you talk, the less you're describing the Grand Canyon.

[Jim James]

Are you trying to play on a voyage to the Grand Canyon?

[Seth Meyers]

Well, you. Sounds like we certainly can't afford your.

[Josh Gondelman]

Void.

[Seth Meyers]

Or, like, if somebody can, like, fill it in. So it wasn't a hole. It.

[Jim James]

Yeah, put a Starbucks on top.

[Seth Meyers]

Thank you so much for your time, man. It was so cool talking to you, Jim. What a.

[Jim James]

Thanks so much, y'. All. Yeah, let me know if you get back to Louisville sometime.

[Seth Meyers]

We will.

[Josh Gondelman]

We'll do.

[Jim James]

Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for having me.

[Seth Meyers]

All right. Thank you, brother.

[Jim James]

Cheers, y'. All.

[Seth Meyers]

Bye.

[Jim James]

Bye. Thanks.

[Narrator]

Jim James. Jim James grew up in Louisville.

[Jim James]

Moved.

[Narrator]

Out to Georgia and quickly had his.

[Jim James]

Fill.

[Narrator]

Move back, move back to Kentucky again. He watched the Muppet show and made some lifelong friends. Met a chum who still plays the drums in the band early days gigs they'd play Sleeping on the floor but I don't wanted more. But that time in Huntsville still haunts Jim. Cause of that spaceship oh, that spaceship it was inside a tank.

[Seth Meyers]

And Jim.

[Narrator]

Thought, yeah, no thanks. It was a long drive. Something just didn't jive bout that spaceship about that spaceship still has trouble income about those astronauts on that spaceship.

[Jim James]

Florida.

[Narrator]

Heat donuts over hot donuts but that spaceship oh, that spaceship he'd look out from the be wondering what's underneath.

[Jim James]

His.

[Narrator]

Version of seasick was worried he might kick kick a spaceship underwater spaceship even when in a lake it's more than he can take Scared of them spaceships.