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From The Desk Of Jason Narducy: Bob Mould

Since having formed a punk quartet (Chicago’s Verbӧten, featuring Dave Grohl’s cousin Tracey Bradford on vocals) as a precocious 10-year-old, multi-instrumentalist Jason Narducy has kept busy with other bands (most notably Verbow) and as an in-demand sideman with the likes of Bob Mould, Superchunk and Robert Pollard. He’s also releasing his first solo record under the Split Single moniker, Fragmented World (Inside Outside). Narducy will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with him.

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Narducy: After Pete Townshend, Bob Mould is my favorite songwriter/singer/guitarist. I started going to Bob’s acoustic shows starting in 1990. He would hammer away at that 12-string, scream, sweat, cry and overwhelm his audiences with power. I could hear glorious ’60s-influenced pop songs underneath the volume, and I was transfixed by Bob’s talent. He would wear loose pajama-style pants, a large gray T-shirt, a tight black-string necklace and shiny, heavy-soled shoes. He looked like someone who had recently escaped an asylum, which is how I felt most of the time, running from a lonely childhood.

Bob produced my band Verbow’s first record in 1997 (Chronicles), I toured with him many times as his opening act, and in 2005 he asked me to join his band as bassist. I’ve been in his band for nine years now, longer than any other for either of us. It’s an honor and a true joy to work with Bob. He is a national treasure. I play bass on his upcoming record, Beauty & Ruin (Merge), out June 3. Lots of Bob Mould Band tours coming soon.