White, Jim -& Mama Lucky-
Permanent Stranger
Early on in Jim White's touring days, an erstwhile young man in Seattle introduced himself, saying he was a fan of Jim's debut record, Wrong Eyed Jesus. That young fan turned out to be a musician, engineer and producer by the name Tucker Martine. Tucker would, in the coming years, transform into a Grammy nominated producer, working with acts like The Decemberists, Bill Frisell, Sufjan Stevens, Laura Veirs and many many more. Right out of the gate Tucker and Jim struck up a fast musical friendship, and so when Jim mentioned his desire to record a side project album of obscure songs that he'd written that didn't really fit his primary oeuvre, Tucker jumped in, offering his services free of charge. With that Tucker flew to Jim's home town and the recording commenced, the end result being Permanent Stranger, recorded under the band name Mama Lucky. They enlisted Panhandle blues legend Linda Delgado to handle main vocals, plus a cast of local musicians, then Tucker took the tracks home to Seattle, tapping his crew of stellar studio cats, the likes of Eyvind Kang and Steve Moore. The end result was a dreamy sonic freak show. Permanent Stranger was never released due to a variety of issues, and so slipped into the realm of mythological lost recordings.