Jason Narducy is an accomplished solo artist (billed as Split Single). He’s also part of Bob Mould’s band, the touring bassist for Superchunk, and part of the Michael Shannon/Jason Narducy & Friends tours showcasing R.E.M. albums. Oh, and he’s written a book of stories about his life as a “band person” called Mostly the Van (Volume 1) and has a second volume coming out soon.
But wait, there’s more: his first band Verböten (which he formed when he was 10) is credited by Dave Grohl as the “origin story” for his musical journey. Learn more about Jason’s early years, how the R.E.M. “pop-up band” came to be, and why he enjoys doing solo “house show” tours.
Jason formed his first band (Verböten) when he was 10 – his dad would drive them to gigs around Chicago.
Later he was in the aptly-named duo Jason & Alison, which added more members to become the band Verbow. That group released albums on Epic in 1997 (Chronicles)and 2000 (White Out).
Jason joined Bob Mould’s band as bassist/backing vocalist in 2005 and has performed on most of Bob’s releases since then.
He started touring with Superchunk in 2013, and has been performing with actor Michael Shannon since 2014.
Here are Jason and Michael Shannon on Late Night with Seth Meyers in 2024 talking about the Murmur tour.
Their 2025 tour led to this magical moment in Athens, GA, with all four members of R.E.M. on stage with Jason and Michael and the band.
As we talked about in the podcast, Mike Mills joined the band at their tour stop in Bloomington, Indiana this spring to sing on several tunes.
And Mr. Mills also sang the band’s praises after the show.
The supergroup also include Jon Wurster (Bob Mould, The Mountain Goats, formerly of Superchunk) Dag Juhlin (The Slugs, Poi Dog Pondering), John Stirratt (Wilco) and keyboardist/composer/arranger Vijay Tellis-Nayak.
Jason’s doing a house show tour that kicks off October 1.
And his book Mostly the Van (Volume One) is “a collection of stories involving some of the peculiar, awkward, and sometimes inspiring moments in his music life.”
We have two signed copies of the book that we’ll be giving away as prizes at the 97Xtravaganza on October 10th at The Columbia.
Mostly the Van (Volume Two) will be out in mid-November. You can order copies of both at Porchlight Books.
Check out links to all of Jason’s music and other content at his Split Single linktree.