It's time to delve into '6 Degrees of Kevin Shields' again.
This time we work our way towards Kevin Shields, starting from Chicago indie legend, Jason Narducy. He has his own fantastic band, Split Single (if you haven't yet heard them - go immediately to your streaming platform of choice and check them out), but has also worked with the likes of Robert Pollard, The Pretenders, he is currently an integral part of the Bob Mould Band and also......
(See below for a bonus edit)
Jason Narducy has been the touring bass player with North Carolinian indie legends, Superchunk, since 2013 - replacing Laura Ballance out on the road, as she no longer tours because of her hyperacusis.
Ballance and Superchunk bandmate Mac McCaughan launched Merge Records in 1989. That label has been the home of a wide range of artists over the years, including Arcade Fire, Camera Obscura, Neutral Milk Hotel and American Music Club.
American Music Club is the main vehicle for musician and songwriter, Mark Eitzel. But Eitzel also has a number of solo albums, one of which, West, he co-wrote with REM's Peter Buck in 1997. One of the guest musicians on that LP was legendary guitarist Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, who appears on the track Fresh Screwdriver.
As well as being a mainstay with Pearl Jam, McCready has had a number of side projects over the years, with the likes of Duff McKagan (Guns n Roses) and Jaz Coleman (Killing Joke) - but two of them, the Levee Walkers and Walking Papers also featured Barrett Martin.
Martin is perhaps best known as being a drummer with psych grunge band, The Screaming Trees. He first appeared on their sixth studio album, 1992's Sweet Oblivion, when he replaced Mark Pickerel and played with them until they disbanded in 2000.
Back to Sweet Oblivion though, which was released in September 1992 and was produced by Don Fleming. Fleming played in a number of bands himself over the years, and he and his fellow Velvet Monkey Jay Spiegal, were very briefly in Dinosaur Jr., appearing on the 1991 single The Wagon, from the album Green Mind (1990).
Dinosaur Jr.'s seventh album, Hand It Over, came out in 1997, with several vocal tracks being laid down (and some record production) by one KEVIN SHIELDS.
PS: This week you get a bit of a bonus - as Kevin's My Bloody Valentine colleague, Bilinda Butcher, also sings on one track on this album.
PPS: I got a message on Twitter today from Jason himself - who provided a rather briefer connection between him and Kevin Shields: In 2008/09, the Bob Mould Band (of whom Narducy has been a member since around 2005) played a few shows with My Bloody Valentine. He shared this photo of he and Kevin - I hope he doesn't mind me sharing it here.
