Impressive Guests On New Album From The Minus 5

12/09/05 6:30pm

Young Fresh Fellow Scott McCaughey has assembled another stellar cast of contributors for the latest addition to The Minus 5 canon.

The eponymous album reunites McCaughey with R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, features two tracks recorded in Chicago by Wilco, and boasts a guest list that includes John Wesley Harding, Kelly Hogan, Colin Meloy and John Moen from the Decemberists, and Sean Nelson from Harvey Danger and The Long Winters.

In addition to Young Fresh Fellows and The Minus 5, which are McCaughey's babies, he's also been a major contributor to R.E.M. and Tuatara for the past 10 years. With these groups, he's made numerous records that have sold from 450 copies up to five million. He's performed in front of audiences ranging in size from eight to 125,000 people.

McCaughey originally formed The Minus 5 with Buck and Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer from The Posies, and the band have had a somewhat fluid membership through eight subsequent records since the 1994 release of the Hello EP. The last album, 2003's Down With Wilco, was recorded with the group that the disc was named after and a handful of other folks.

The Minus 5 will be playing U.S. shows with Robyn Hitchcock in February and early March, and will be part of the Yep Roc Records showcase at the South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas later that month. More dates are expected to follow.