About 10 years ago, actor Michael Shannon and veteran band member Jason Narducy threw an impromptu covers set in Chicago. The two quickly bonded over a shared love of alternative rock and found themselves doing yearly shows where they would play entire albums. They covered Bob Dylan, T-Rex, and The Modern Lovers. They would play these one off shows every year for kicks and a chance to get like minded music enjoyers together. Then, about two years ago they debuted an R.E.M. set and quickly found themselves touring and playing Murmur all over the country. Two years later the band is performing Life’s Rich Pageant for its 40th anniversary.
“It really wasn’t planned out but we’re really enjoying it,” Narducy tells me. The Illinois guitarist is no stranger to touring, he started the band Verboten at the age of ten. He cut his teeth with his adolescent punk band before partaking in a variety of groups ranging from acoustic guitar/cello duos to being a member of the Bob Mould Band. He has played huge clubs and bedrooms, from his hometown of Chicago down to Richmond. It was here that Narducy began to play at the Chilton House.
The Chilton House is the home of a pair of music lovers. They open up their living room to have musicians perform. They offer them a place to stay and hot food. They offer them a place to stay and hot food and I can safely say some of the most impactful shows I have ever seen have been hosted at this home. Narducy has played there multiple times and described how after years of touring he started to see the city in a new light: “It just felt like the restaurants, the coffee, everything kind of just improved! I love Richmond.” That neon lit living room created a Richmond that Narducy wanted to return to. Though he is going from one of the smaller rooms in Richmond to one of the biggest, he will feel that same welcome.
Narducy and Shannon are currently on a tour across American rock clubs, with their March 2nd stop being at The National. “I think it says a lot about R.E.M.’s legacy,” he says. “People hold this band so dear. It is one of my favorite bands and it is cool to see other people feel the same.” Narducy was first introduced to them by a high school freshman in 1985. “He went to see them on the Fables tour and played either “Driver 8” or “Can’t Get There From Here”. Whichever song it was, Narducy was eager for more. Soon after he got a copy of Document and fell in love with the writers of “Finest Worksong.” This tour sees the group play Life’s Rich Pageant, which Narducy describes as the R.E.M. album he has listened to the most. “I think it’s the strongest top to bottom and it’s sequenced very well for a rock concert.” When he set out to start covering the band, he had a chance to meet with Peter Buck, founding R.E.M. member and guitarist. “Once you see how the master does it,” it opens up doors to try and ride that jangly wave of college rock guitar.
There may be no better way to honor R.E.M. than with two lifelong fans dedicating themselves to these songs. For many listeners in the mid ’80s, that music felt personal and immediate, something to grow up with and hold onto. Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy have built a show not as imitation, but as celebration. It is a chance for the generation shaped by the writing of Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Bill Berry to come together in one room and sing those songs again.
Main photo by Nathan Keay
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