Pitchfork

He's a moody storyteller with a jones for the acoustic guitar. His music sounds great when it's raining outside.

Are we talking about Damien Jurado or Nick Drake? Or BOTH? Hear the men intertwine into one, as Jurado covers several Drake tunes: "Which Will", "Rider on the Wheel", "Place to Be" and "Parasite", all available below for your downloading pleasure.

And get ready for an onslaught of Jurado in the near future. A long, long time ago (last February), Jurado posted a message on his website announcing that he was working on not one, but two albums which he claimed to be the "best ones yet." One was slated for a fall 2006 release, with the other following in early 2007. Well, things are looking good; the dude kept at least 50% of his promise!

The first, And Now That I'm in Your Shadow will land on Secretly Canadian come October 10. The other release is expected this spring, according to a recent story on Billboard.com

Billboard reported that the two are divided stylistically, with Shadow the "sadder" of the pair. Both feature Jurado's first-ever full-time band, which is comprised of cellist/vocalist Jenna Conrad and, as previously reported, multi-instrumentalist Eric Fisher.

"They write their parts and I can't say a thing about it," Jurado told Billboard. "I trust them, and whatever they come up with is so great. We all split the money three ways and each have our own responsibilities. 'We' are Damien Jurado."

The And Now That I'm in Your Shadow track "What Were the Chances" can be heard as an MP3 by clicking here; the track "There Goes Your Man" is available on his MySpace page.

Jurado kicks off a U.S. tour tonight in Utah. After a few dates with Amy Millan, he'll join up with Rosie Thomas. Then it's off to Europe to round out the year.

Follow the adventures of Damien Jurado (both the band and the man) on his audio blog. He tells you that he loves you a lot.

And Now That I'm in Your Shadow:

01 Hoquiam
02 Denton, TX
03 I Had No Intentions
04 Hotel Hospital
05 And Now That I'm in Your Shadow
06 What Were the Chances
07 Shannon Rhodes
08 There Goes Your Man
09 I Am Still Here
10 Gasoline Drinks
11 Survived by Her Husband
12 Gas Station
13 Montesano

Dates:

09-26 Provo, UT - Velour
09-27 Denver, CO - Marquis Theatre
09-29 St. Paul, MN - Turf Club *
09-30 Chicago, IL - Park West *
10-01 Ferndale, MI - Magic Bag *
10-03 Toronto, Ontario - El Mocambo
10-04 Montreal, Quebec - La Salla Rossa %
10-05 Cambridge, MA - T.T. the Bear's #
10-06 New York, NY - Knitting Factory #
10-07 Hoboken, NJ - Maxwell's #
10-08 Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live #!
10-09 Washington, DC - Black Cat Backstage #
10-10 Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle #
10-11 Atlanta, GA - The Earl #
10-13 Austin, TX - Emo's #
10-14 Denton, TX - Hailey's #$
10-16 Phoenix, AZ - Modified #^
10-17 Tucson, AZ - Plush #
10-18 San Diego, CA - The Casbah
10-19 Los Angeles, CA - Hotel Cafe
10-20 San Francisco, CA - Swedish American Hall
10-28 Seattle, WA - Paradox
11-14 Arhus, Denmark - Voxhall &
11-16 Bergen, Norway - Garage
11-17 Oslo, Norway - Garage
11-18 Goteborg, Sweden - Woody's at Pusterviksbaren &
11-19 Stockholm, Sweden - Sodra Teaterns Kagelbana &
11-20 Lund, Sweden - Majeriet &
11-21 Hamburg, Germany - Haus 73
11-22 Amsterdam, the Netherlands - Club 3voor12 / VPRO Radio
11-23 Eindhoven, the Netherlands - Effenaar
11-25 Utrecht, the Netherlands - EKKO
11-26 Haarlem, the Netherlands - Roots of Heaven Festival
11-28 Paris, France - Le Batofar &
11-29 Leuven, Belgium - Stuk
11-30 Brighton, England - Prince Albert &
12-01 Kilkenny, Ireland - Cleere's
12-02 Galway, Ireland - Cuba Live
12-03 Tullamore, Ireland - Heartbeat Live at Rugby
12-04 Dublin, Ireland - Whelan's
12-05 Manchester, England - Night and Day &
12-06 Glasgow, Scotland - Barfly &
12-07 Newcastle, England - Cluny
12-08 Norwich, England - Norwich Arts Centre &
12-09 Leicester, England - Musician &
12-10 London, England - Luminaire &

* with Amy Millan
% with Two Gallants
# with Rosie Thomas
! with Eef Barzelay
$ with David Bazan
^ with Oakley Hall
& with J. Tillman