Richmond Fontaine, "The Gits" from Graciously: A Gulf Relief Compilation (Funzalo Records)

While down in Tucson recording its next album at Wavelab Studios, Richmond Fontaine was asked to contribute a track to a Hurricane Katrina relief compilation being put together by the studio called Graciously. You would expect the Americana band to throw down an afterthought b-side or a hokey theme-based track, but Richmond Fontaine does neither. "The Gits" its a heartfelt remembrance of leadman Willy Vlautin's first week in Portland, when he went to the Pine Street Theater, got wasted and witnessed a show by the Gits, the infamous Seattle group featuring the late (and great) Mia Zapata. Vlautin touches on the singer's tragic death, but mostly this song, a rattling rocker, is a tribute the band's life and how it helped define Vlautin.