Jamily Matters

Pearl Jam is through two legs of their 2022 tour! What are the trends we've seen so far? 

Varied openers!
No Covers shows!
Tighter song rotations!

It's been a topsy turvy ride and we are barely halfway through the tour.

To help make sense of what we've seen so far and with Billie Jean "on assignment". Roche speaks with Randy Sobel of the Live On 4 Legs podcast about U....

Jamily Matters is back and so is Pearl Jam! 

It's been over two years but the band is finally back on the road for a full fledged tour! Roche and Billie discuss the first four dates of the tour to see if they can spot any trends, give some setlist highlights, and overall impressions of the beginning of the 2022 Pearl Jam tour. They also reveal what shows they hope to attend and how they got tickets. 

Then, it...

Billie Jean and Roche catch up on Pearl Jam news including the release of Eddie Vedder's solo album, Earthling, a new song from Stone Gossard's band, Painted Shield, and the announcement that Pearl Jam's next album will be produced by Andrew Watt (26:55). Then, Billie had a chance to see Eddie Vedder's Earthling Tour and gives a recap of the show.

Click here to listen to Painted Sheild's song, &qu...

Vinyl is back!

The format is fast becoming THE physical alternative to streaming. Even young people, who never had vinyl in the house as kids, are embracing vinyl.

But Pearl Jam never left the vinyl bandwagon. They have been supporters of vinyl from the beginning of their career and continued through to Gigaton.

In this episode of Jamily Matters, Billie Jean and Roche are joined by Jon Landman, managin...

For a seemingly "sullen" band, Pearl Jam has a surprising number of Christmas songs, covers and originals. Billie and Roche discuss some of their favorites PJ holiday tunes and wonder if the band would ever tackle a Hanukkah song.

But first, Roche gives an update on the song rankings project and he and Billie give their thoughts on Eddie Vedder's new band, The Earthlings. 

Merry Christmas and Happy ...

Yield is Pearl Jam's masterpiece.

Is that opinion or fact? Roche and Billie Jean make their case for why it's a fact in the latest episode of Jamily Matters. 

It's the album that they've been most excited and most nervous to rank because it is unquestionably their favorite.  After waxing poetic about this amazing work of art, they begin the difficult task of ranking the songs of Yield. 

It's late 2002 and Pearl Jam have just released their last album of new material for Epic Records. The record deal they signed pre-Ten had finally been concluded (The compilation albums Lost Dogs and Rearviewmirror would be released over the next two years to officially wrap up the deal) and the band would soon become free agents for the first time in their career. 

The world is their oyster. 

But what do the...

Billie Jean and Roche mark the 30th anniversary of Ten as well as the 25th anniversary of No Code on this edition of Jamily Matters. It's been fun reading and listening to the band reminisce about the most important album in its history and the crew point out some of their favorite interviews with the band over the last few months. They also discuss the importance of No Code in the Pearl Jam catalogue. Then, they give their th...

Five years ago this month, Pearl Jam played a now legendary secret show at Third Man Records.  Third Man Records co-founder Ben Blackwell joins Roche and Billie to reminisce  about that special night in PJ lore. Ben gives us a history of Third Man Records including some great stories of the early days of The White Stripes and Jack White's vision for the building in Nashville. Then, Ben gives the backstory on how Pearl Jam ende...

Much like everything else during the pandemic, our first listen to new music is unlike anything we've ever experienced before. How much of that has shaped your opinions of the songs on Gigaton? That's a question Roche and Billie Jean tackle on this episode of Jamily Matters. From the heartbreak of "Comes Then Goes" to the brilliance of "Seven O'Clock"  to the invention of "Dance Of The Clairv...

Pearl Jam releases over 180 live shows as part of the DEEP Immersive Experience and Roche and Billie are overwhelmed (in a great way) by it. Billie gives some behind the scenes insight on the daunting task for a musician to put 5000+ songs on each streaming service and the exhaustive work that goes into it. Did the DEEP drop ruin 6 years of Roche's work on a project? Yes and no. He explains that and why he was happy to see Ed ...

We kick off our "My PJ Experience..." feature with Brad White who is the Assistant Program Director of the legendary KBCO in Boulder, CO. After getting some background on Brad, the AAA format in radio, and the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheater, Billie Jean and Roche ask Brad about his love of Pearl Jam (17:12). Brad shares some great stories about the famous Soldier Field show, his love of Vitalogy, and what the band has mean...

For a band with as many albums (which include a Greatest Hits album and a double album of rarities and B sides) as Pearl Jam has released, there are a surprising number of orphaned tracks. Songs that have not appeared on an official studio album (anniversary editions aside). On this episode of Jamily Matters, Roche and Billie Jean go through the 2000s studio songs that didn't find their way on to a Pearl Jam album and rank the...

We've all got treasured memorabilia from our beloved band that we love to exhibit. That's the thought behind this new feature on Jamily Matters. Our first guest for the "PJ Merch" series is the morning show host for Minneapolis' CITIES 97.1  (and HUGE PJ fan), Paul Fletcher. After Paul and Roche discuss some behind the scenes radio stuff (2:37), Billie Jean joins them in showing off about some of their favo...

Let's talk live music! 

Since we haven't been able to see live music in almost a year (and counting), Billie Jean and Roche are thirsty for live Pearl Jam. If you are an iPhone user (like Billie), you know all about PJ Stat Tracker. If you are an Android user (like Roche), you have a vague awareness of PJ Stat Tracker. This episode of Jamily Matters is all about the greatness of PJ Stat Tracker and gives everyone...

For a band with as many albums (which include a Greatest Hits album and a double album of rarities and B sides) as Pearl Jam has released, there are a surprising number of orphaned tracks. Songs that have not appeared on an official studio album (anniversary editions aside). On this episode of Jamily Matters, Roche and Billie Jean go through the 90s studio songs that didn't find their way on to a Pearl Jam album and rank them....

On the 18th anniversary of its release, we celebrate the "European dining experience" of Pearl Jam albums, Riot Act. And yes, it's a celebration despite Roche's initial thoughts on the album. He and Billie Jean discuss their extensive live history with the album, Riot Act's place in the overall PJ story (the end of a chapter), and the realization that Riot Act is a unique piece of work in Pearl Jam's c...

Loosegroove Records co-founder Regan Hagar joins Billie Jean and Roche on this special episode of Jamily Matters. Regan participated in the rise of the Seattle scene in the late 80s/early 90s and shares some wonderful stories from that time. He (along with Stone Gossard) launched Loosegroove Records to showcase other musicians and recently relaunched the label with the same mission. He discusses the past, present, and future of Loo...