My Morning Jacket Pay Tribute To The Band And Ready Live Releases

My Morning Jacket met one of their musical idols when they recently went to Woodstock, N.Y. to record "It Makes No Difference" for an upcoming album paying tribute to The Band.

The Louisville, Ky. group recorded the song at a studio owned by Band drummer Levon Helm and, while they were thrilled to connect with him, the experience was bittersweet.

"It was one of the highest honours our band will ever receive, but we were very aware of the potential pain he [Helm] would feel from hearing that song recorded by someone else," MMJ drummer Patrick Hallahan told Billboard.com. "[Late Band members] Rick Danko and Richard Manuel were amongst the purest musicians to ever grace the art, and to conjure up their loss was something we feared and respected."

MMJ began featuring "It Makes No Difference" in their live sets as they opened for Pearl Jam this past spring. But selecting a Band song to contribute to the tribute album wasn't that easy.

"Picking a song from their catalogue was like looking at your group of close friends and deciding which one is the closest," said Hallahan. "You will find that they're all -˜the closest' in their own relative way.

"It's not only one of the saddest love songs ever written, but more importantly highlights the beauty of Rick Danko. His delivery on that song is one of the first reasons I fell in love with The Band in the first place."

Other artists who are contributing to the still untitled album, which will be released by Savoy Jazz in January, include Jack Johnson, Los Lobos, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Rosanne Cash, Joe Henry and Bruce Hornsby. Death Cab For Cutie covered "Rocking Chair," while Gomez took a shot at "Up On Cripple Creek."

MMJ have just been added to the Lollapalooza festival taking place next month in Chicago. They'll rejoin Pearl Jam as an opening act for 11 European dates in September.

MMJ are releasing a live album and DVD this fall. The two-CD Okonokos will come out on Sept. 26, while the DVD will hit stores on Oct. 31 and will also be screened at select U.S movie theatres.

Here are the tracks on Okonokos:

Disc one:
"Wordless Chorus"
"It Beats 4 U"
"Gideon"
"One Big Holiday"
"I Will Sing You Songs"
"Lowdown"
"The Way That He Sings"
"What A Wonderful Man"
"Off The Record"
"Golden"
"Law Low"

Disc two:
"Dondante"
"Run Thru"
"At Dawn"
"Xmas Curtain"
"O Is The One That Is Real"
"Hell"
"Steam"
"Dancefloors"
"Anytime"
"Mahgeeta"