• Blog Post by: Jon Bream
• April 19, 2011 - 5:06 PM

My Morning Jacket's Jim James

Does it really matter who headlines Rock the Garden? The indie-rock festival has sold out the past three years to members of Walker Art Center and the 89.3 the Current, the sponsoring organizations. The 11,000 tickets will get gobbled up right away this year for the June 18 outdoor concert at the Walker.

My Morning Jacket, one of the most beloved live bands in the indie-rock world, will headline the ninth annual outdoor fest, to be held from 3 to 10:30 p.m. outside the Walker. Also appearing will be local heroes Tapes N Tapes, indie darling singer-songwriter Neko Case, and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Booker T, who will lead his own rock band (not his classic MG’s of "Green Onions" fame).

With its new "Circuital" album due May 31, Kentucky’s My Morning Jacket will play a couple of spring festivals and then hit the road in earnest in June, opening the main portion of its tour on June 17 in Chicago. Live-wire frontman Jim James’ main band last appeared in the Twin Cities in 2008 at the Orpheum Theatre. James performed with his side project, Monsters of Folk, at the Orpheum in 2009.

Booker T made his 2009 "Potato Hole" album with the Drive-By Truckers; he will release "The Road from Memphis" on May 10, featuring Jim James, the Roots, Lou Reed, Sharon Jones and the National. Case is not on tour this summer but agreed to play only a couple of shows, according to Walker performing-arts curator Philip Bither.

Since the Current became a co-sponsor of this event four years ago, the lineup has featured three nationally known acts and one local artist. Last year, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, the vintage soul practitioners, stole the show from headlining rockers MGMT. Other previous Rock the Garden performers include the Decemberists, Andrew Bird, Bon Iver, Calexico, David Byrne, the Bad Plus and Wilco.

Rock the Garden tickets are on sale now for Walker and the Current members via www.walkerart.org and www.thecurrent.org. If there are remaining tickets, they will go on sale May 3.