Before we left for the Pitchfork Festival in July, I had Aug. 2 circled on my calendar because Pete Yorn was playing a show in Scottsdale. Somewhat surpisingly, that sold out weeks before the date (and before we got tickets), a rare occurrence in the Valley. Anyway, he also was slated to play an in-store at Zia Records in Chandler, which, if you live in Phoenix like I do, is a bit out of the way.

Because we had just returned from the festival, we decided we were too tired and music-weary to hike over to Chandler. Figured I’d catch him the next time around. But, ah, as fate would have it, I don’t have to regret missing it anymore. I was perusing my local Zia yesterday when I found an official CD release of that session. Apparently, Yorn recorded each of the in-store shows for a series in which individual CDs would be sold at the location at which it was performed (Lawrence Journal-World). The Arizona disc was a bargain at $2.98 with about five songs.

Pretty excellent marketing strategy, to boot. My guess is die-hard Yorn fans (hello, Heather) will want to collect all of these. But I have no clue how many are in the series. (Didn’t Pearl Jam do something like this with a string of live CD releases?) But aside from that, it’s a great way for Yorn to reach out to fans on a personal level and make them feel a part of these performances.

Here’s the track listing for the Zia Chandler CD from Aug. 2, 2006:
1. Intro
2. Undercover
3. For Nancy (Cos it Already Is)
4. Don’t Mean Nothing
5. Vampyre
6. When You See the Light

If anyone is really dying to get their hands on this, I’d be willing to go snap up a few at Zia. (Heather, you’re already spoken for.) So just holler at me.

In the meantime, here’s an acoustic taste of one of my favorite Yorn songs.

Pete Yorn | For Nancy (Cos it Already Is)
Acoustic, live at Zia Records (Chandler), 8/2/06

Related:
Pete Yorn tour dates (Oct. 23 at Rialto Theatre in Tucson).