Pitchfork

Pixies man Frank Black is a pretty huge fan of Larry Norman, the Christian Rock trailblazer who passed away on Sunday at the age of 60. As mentioned in our obituary yesterday, Black had joined Norman onstage before. He had also covered Norman's songs, and a press release on Norman's death quotes Black as saying in eulogy, "Larry was my door into the music business and he was the most Christlike person I ever met."

But Black's ties to Norman go beyond immense respect, covers, and guest appearances. As it turns out, at the time of his death, Larry Norman was working on a record with Black, Larry's brother Charles Norman (who records as Charles Normal), and Modest Mouse's Isaac Brock. That record is indeed the previously mentioned re-working of Lee Hazlewood's Trouble Is a Lonesome Town. It will feature Black, Brock, and Norman each singing three songs, while Guards of Metropolis vocalist Kristin Blix sings the tenth. Guards of Metropolis serve as the backing band. Charles Normal (who also plays in Guards of Metropolis) produced the disc, and it's due later this year on Guards' Slackertone imprint.

As previously reported, Larry Norman: The Anthology arrives May 27 on Arena Rock.