In the fall of 2017, indie rock vets Built to Spill were tapped to be cult singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston's backing back for a couple of shows in the Pacific Northwest.
During rehearsals, Built to Spill frontman Doug Martsch decided to record their interpretations of Johnston's songs — but he never really had the intention of releasing them. "They were live versions for ourselves and our friends -- that's what I thought," he told Billboard recently from his home in Boise, Idaho.
That seedling of an idea did come to fruition though; a year later after the short Johnston jaunt, Martsch and the band went into the studio to work on new originals but ended up returning to the Johnston material. "We had a week off between shows and decided to