Next Tuesday (11/12), New West Records will release a 28-track benefit record for Replacements guitarist Slim Dunlap, featuring contributions from Lucinda Williams, Jakob Dylan, the Hold Steady’s Craig Finn, Steve Earle, and many more. Titled Rockin’ Here Tonight, the double-disc set follows a number of Record Store Day singles, monthly auctions, and other products by the Songs For Slim project, a non-profit raising funds to support Dunlap’s long-term expenses after he suffered a debilitating stroke in 2012. The album can be purchased on iTunes or Amazon next week; for more info click here.
Today brings an official preview that premiered on Monday via Philadelphia’s WXPN: Jeff Tweedy, with his son Spencer (drums/guitar) and others, covering Slim’s “The Ballad of the Opening Band,” a 1993 standout from his The Old New Me solo LP. Recorded at Wilco’s Chicago studio, the Loft, Tweedy & Co. have offered up a moving folk-rock take, faithful and reverent to the original. Hear it above.