As he did in July at New York’s Saint Vitus, Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard threw an intimate party last night (Oct. 6) at Los Angeles’ Peppermint Club to salute the rebirth of Loosegroove Records, the Seattle-based record label he launched in 1994 with longtime friend and Brad bandmate Regan Hagar. The event was highlighted by a tribute to the late Chris Cornell via cover of Audioslave‘s “I Am the Highway,” with Loosegroove artists Jonny Polonsky and Zoser on vocals and Gossard on guitar.
Gossard and Cornell were close friends in the pre-grunge days of the Seattle music scene, and later banded together to record an album as Temple of the Dog following the 1990 overdose death of Mother Love Bone frontman Andy Wood. Following Cornell’s 2017 suicide, Gossard saluted his comrade by tackling lead vocals on a cover of Soundgarden’s “Hunted Down,” which was released on Pearl Jam’s annual fan club single the following year. He was also instrumental in organizing the star-studded 2019 Cornell tribute concert at the Forum in Los Angeles.
At the Peppermint Club last night, Gossard also covered the Stooges’ “No Fun” with Loosegroove signees James and the Cold Gun, the members of whom doffed their shirts to play their instruments on the venue’s bar. Other label artists who graced the stage were Brittany Davis, who is a member of Gossard’s side band Painted Shield and played last night with Weapon of Choice principal Lonnie Marshall, as well as U.K. rock trio Tigercub.
Gossard and Hagar ran Loosegroove until 2000, with the then-unknown Queens of the Stone Age’s 1996 self-titled debut album its most notable release. The pair revived the label in 2020 and signed a distribution deal with the Orchard, whose VP of promotion/artist development Billie Jean Sarullo is also a partner.
As for Gossard’s primary band, Pearl Jam is gearing up for the 2024 release of its as-yet-untitled 12th studio album, which was produced by Andrew Watt.
