The band, Tres Mts. have just released their debut album entitled "Three Mountains" on March 8th. The members of Tres Mts. are Jeff Ament (Pearl Jam) on bass, Dug Pinnick (King's X) on guitar and vocals, Richard Stuverud (The Fastbacks) on drums along with guitar help from Pearl Jam's Mike McCready.
Jeff Ament believes that King’s X invented grunge. They were doing the dropped D tuning thing slightly ahead of everyone else, so maybe he’s onto something. With Tres Mts, Jeff’s new collaboration with dUg Pinnick of King’s X and Richard Stuverud of Fastbacks, (with an assist from Mike McCready), the point becomes moot. dUg is now forever immortalized in grunge (or at this point post-grunge) history by simply making a record with Pearl Jam’s bassist and co-lead guitarist. Tres Mts isn’t simply grunge though. It’s the perfect amalgamation of the best aspects of grunge, blues, funk, and an all around meaty guitar, bass, and drums sound. Musically, the group’s first offering is loaded with such. At a glance, one might think that Jeff simply joined or formed a King’s X knock off group, but Tres Mts goes beyond anything that King’s X or Pearl Jam has ever done by bringing not just the hard driving grunge riffs and soulful singing, but some real muddy and sludgy blues. With McCready’s love of Stevie Ray Vaughn type guitar blues this is no surprise.
As reported at pearljam.com, ever since Jeff saw King’s X in concert in 1989 and subsequently invited them to open for Pearl Jam a few years later, Jeff repeatedly joked to dUg, “when are we going to make that heavy R&B record, you and me?” With dUg joining him, Stuverud and McCready at Jeff’s yearly song writing sessions at his Montana studio, first in 2001 and later in 2004, the guys finally managed to put together the “baker’s dozen songs that make up Tres Mts.” It’s a shame that it took so long. There’s still time though for this project to make music for years to come, and based off of what we’re hearing off their first album, hopefully this will be the case.
Click to listen 30 seconds preview of each songs
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Tres Mts, unlike Jeff’s other major side project Three Fish, is a much more commercially viable offering. This also shouldn’t detract though from the album’s appeal. It’s a bunch of guys making and playing the music and instruments that they love. That’s how the whole grunge thing got started anyway, and Tres Mts is definitely keeping that sacred aspect of grunge alive in the face of the manufactured bile on the radio today.
Pearl Jam have plenty on tap for 2011 — they're celebrating their 20th anniversary by releasing reissues of Vs. and Vitalogy and planning an outdoor summer festival — but Ament and his band have managed to slot in a few Tres Mts. gigs: They'll perform on Fallon March 24, and play a handful of shows across the country, where they'll be joined by PJ guitarist Mike McCready. Check out dates below.
Tres Mts. Tour Dates
3/16, Seattle, WA (Showbox at the Market)
3/19, Austin, TX (Stubb's BBQ)
3/21, Washington, D.C. (Black Cat)
3/23, Philadelphia, PA (Theatre of the Living Arts)
3/26, New York, NY (Gramercy Theater)
3/27, Boston, MA (Paradise Rock Club)
STAY CONNECTED with Tres Mts.
Official Site http://www.tresmts.com/
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/tresmts
PURCHASE the album online at pearljam.com
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