Video Premiere: James Apollo, “You And Me And Him”

If you missed James Apollo’s show at an abandoned mental institution somewhere outside of Seattle, we’re sorry to hear that. We’ve been told it was creepy. And quite good. And we’ve got a brand new video to prove it.

This live performance of “You and Me and Him” was recorded in the daytime, before Apollo and his newly-expanded band — a large, sprawling ensemble capable of churning out everything from rafter-reaching roots rock to cabaret-influenced pop noir — played their nighttime set. Still, it’s plenty scary, the perfect setting for a minor-key song about the things that happen when a love triangle goes awry.

“The boys and I have been putting on shows in strange places and decided to document that,” Apollo says, “so as we were going to be throwing a secret concert at an abandoned mental institution that night, I figured we may as well show up early and film it before the place got too creepy. And it did. Get very creepy. All the old cans of beans and giant furnace we’re standing in front of — that’s all how we found it. It’s like there was some revolt in the ‘30s and they just gassed the whole joint. For a bit of an angry time-out-of-place tune, the place fits right in.”

Look for the studio version of “You and Me and Him” on Little War, Little Less, which was produced by fellow offbeat folkie Damien Jurado.

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