The Third Mind's new four-track Spellbinder! LP is drawn from recordings made during the Right Now! sessions with remixes by Tchad Blake.
Here's the scoop...
Psych-rock collective The Third Mind have just released Spellbinder!, a companion album to last year's critically praised Right Now! It returns the band to the free-flowing improvisational spirit at the heart of the concept that first brought the members together: spontaneous musical conversation.
A companion piece to the album, Right Now!, this collection contains additional recordings from those sessions, as well as Tchad Blake remixes and reworkings of songs from Right Now! All recordings, except for “Reap What You Sow,” have never been released. The psychedelic supergroup featuring Dave Alvin, Victor Krummenacher, David Immerglück, Michael Jerome, and Jesse Sykes continues to defy expectations and genre.
Steam the Spellbinder! album and pick up your copy at thethirdmind.lnk.to/Spellbinder. The Third Mind are currently on tour – check their site https://www.thethirdmind.net/for a show near you... if you happen to live in northern California or Reno, Nevada.
The Third Mind - Spellbinder!
1. Spellbinder (Tchad Blake Mix) 8:39
2. Reap What You Sow 6:43
3. Before We Said Goodbye (with strings) 5:44
4. Darkness, Darkness/The Creator Has a Master Plan (Tchad Blake Remix) 14:50
Watch a Third Mind performance of "Darkness, Darkness/The Creator Has A Master Plan" shot at Garcia's in Chicago last year.
Hot off the presses, Dave Alvin's latest Third Mind album "Right Now!" will be released Friday via Yep Roc Records.
Writes Dave Alvin...
"This is me and Victor Krummenacher getting giddy seeing our new album cover for The Third Mind for the first time. I know the music is great, but I was also blown away by the fantastic cover! Hell, I would buy this record even if I didn’t know how cool the music is."
Right Now! sleeve art by Lou Beach, layout by Victor Krummenacher.
The Third Mind – Right Now!
While The Third Mind may be a supergroup—the band consists of Grammy-winning singer/songwriter/guitarist Dave Alvin (The Blasters), bassist Victor Krummenacher (Camper Van Beethoven, Cracker), drummer Michael Jerome (Richard Thompson, John Cale), guitarist David Immergluck (Counting Crows, John Hiatt), and singer/songwriter Jesse Sykes—the quintet’s mesmerizing new album, Right Now! (out Friday, September 19 via Yep Roc Records), is as ego-less a record as you’ll find. Captured over four days in LA, the collection is a masterclass in being present, in letting go of control and embracing the thrill of collaboration. The recordings represent a singular moment—completely unscripted, completely unrehearsed—and the performances are as unpredictable as they are engrossing, blurring the lines between psychedelic rock, folk, blues, and soul on tunes from artists as diverse as Elizabeth Cotton and Pharoah Sanders.
Jesse Sykes is out front managing most of the vocals on this album. Dave Alvin joins Jesse on “Reno, Nevada,” which will be the single serviced to radio (watch the video below). Sticking with the tradition the band has established, the album includes cover songs including: “Shake Sugaree” (written by Elizabeth Cotten), “Reap What You So” (originally recorded by Otis Rush), “Darkness, Darkness” (originally recorded by The Youngbloods), “The Creator Has A Master Plan,” by Leon Thomas. “Before We Said Goodbye,” is an original written by Dave Alvin and Jesse Sykes. The album cover includes artwork from Lou Beach (who did the cover for Dave Alvin's first solo album, and the last two Third Mind albums).
Inspired by the improvisational albums of Miles Davis, Alvin and Krummenacher started the band as an experiment, inviting some of their most talented friends for a free-form session that would become The Third Mind’s self-titled 2020 debut. American Songwriter hailed the result as “a captivating, often enthralling journey,” while the New York Times triangulated its sound between “Appalachia, the Byrds, and John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme.” The band returned with The Third Mind 2 in 2023, and captured dates on their subsequent US tour for 2025’s sprawling Third Mind Live, featuring guitarist Mark Karan (Ratdog, Phil Lesh).
You can get a copy of The Third Mind's new album "Right Now!" via Bandcamp right here: https://ffm.to/rightnowalbum. Check out the video for The Third Mind's "Reno, Nevada" along with an audio clip of their cover of "Darkness, Darkness" sung by Jesse Sykes followed by some performance footage recently shot at HopMonk Tavern in Novato, California.
Dave Alvin, Michael Jerome and crew will be playing songs from The Third Mind "2" starting in Portland on January 11.
Here's the scoop on The Third Mind 2...
Featuring an all-star eclectic ensemble of like-minded musicians–Jesse Sykes (acoustic guitar, vocals); Dave Alvin (electric guitar); Victor Krummenacher (bass guitar/harmonium/mellotron); David Immerglück (guitar); and Michael Jerome (drums/percussion)– The Third Mind 2 reflects the band members varied musical histories with a “no safety parachute” recording approach using free-form studio techniques, no rehearsals, no preconceived arrangements, and recording spontaneous group improvisations live in studio.
The six-song set, which runs the length of three LP sides, showcases songs written in the 1960s including, “Groovin’ is Easy,” “Why Not Your Baby,” “Sally Go Round The Roses,” among others, and an original composition, “Tall Grass,” written by Jesse Sykes and Dave Alvin for the album. Available for pre-order on CD, Digital and LP formats, the fourth LP side features The Third Mind Mandala etching by Tony Fitzpatrick.
Produced by The Third Mind, the album was recorded by Will Golden at Sir Tiger Studio in Los Angeles, CA, mixed by Craig Parker Adams at Winslow Court Studios in Los Angeles, and mastered by David Glasser at Airshow Mastering.
Get a copy of The Third Mind 2 via your platform of choice right here. Grab tickets while you can for the The Third Mind's show a Portland's Mississippi Studios on January 11th following clips of The Third Mind's performance at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival.
The Third Mind on tour
JAN 11 Mississippi Studios @ 8:00pm Portland, OR
JAN 12 The Crocodile @ 8:00pm Seattle, WA
JAN 13 WOW Hall @ 8:00pm Eugene, OR
JAN 18 Mystic Theatre @ 7:30pm Petaluma, CA
JAN 19 Moe's Alley @ 8:00pm Santa Cruz, CA
JAN 20 The Chapel @ 8:00pm San Francisco, CA
JAN 31 Belly Up @ 8:00pm Solana Beach, CA
FEB 1 Pappy & Harriet's @ 8:00pm Pioneertown, CA
FEB 2 The Troubadour @ 7:00pm West Hollywood, CA
FEB 3 Ventura Music Hall @ 7:00pm Ventura, CA
Get tickets for The Third Mind show at Portland's Mississippi Studios on January 11 right here.
Dave Alvin's new psych project The Third Mind – coming soon to a Toronto club near you – take on the Butterfield Blues Band's classic "East West".
THE THIRD MIND is a new band featuring an all-star line-up of players: Dave Alvin (guitar, vocals), Victor Krummenacher (bass, vocals), David Immerglück (guitar, keyboards, vocals), and Michael Jerome (drums, percussion) with special guest Jesse Sykes (guitar, vocals).
Their self-titled debut album – out now – features one original composition and five covers, including Paul Butterfield Blues Band's "East West" and Alice Coltrane's Journey in Satchidananda. Get ‘The Third Mind’ album right here
"Many years ago I’d been reading John Szwed’s excellent biography of Miles Davis, “So What”, and was fascinated by his thorough descriptions of how Mr. Davis and his producer, Teo Macero, created some of his classic electric albums like Bitches Brew and Jack Johnson. Basically, Miles would gather great musicians in a studio, pick a key and a groove and then record everything live over several days. Then he and Mr. Macero would edit and shape these improvisations into compositions. Having never recorded like that, I had a fantasy to try it someday if the fates ever allowed." — Dave Alvin
“Dave Alvin loves Mike Bloomfield, and Immy owned one of Bloomfield’s old Telecasters. With Dave wanting to stretch out, Paul Butterfield Band’s "East West" seemed like the perfect song for The Third Mind project to dig in to. It was the first thing we recorded on the first day we were ever all in a room at the same time. It went better than I could have imagined." – Victor Krummenacher
"What was sent to me for mixing sounded amazing but the band was looking for something different on the remix. I took my cue from the guitars and thought that slowing the whole thing down could really instill a whole different body language, make more space for the playing, and create a bigger, more psychedelic tone. I think it worked!!” – Tchad Blake on the Remix of East West.
The Third Mind on tour Monday, April 6 SAN DIEGO, CA The Casbah Tuesday, April 7 MORRO BAY, CA The Siren Wednesday, April 8 SANTA CRUZ, CA Moe’s Alley Friday, April 10 PORTLAND, OR Mississippi Studios Saturday, April 11 NORTH VANCOUVER, BC The BlueShore Sunday, April 12 SEATTLE, WA The Crocodile Wednesday, April 15 SAN FRANCISCO, CA The Chapel Thursday, April 16 WINTERS, CA The Palms Playhouse Friday, April 17 LOS ANGELES, CA The Troubadour Saturday, April 18 PIONEERTOWN, CA Pappy & Harriet’s
