My Morning Jacket Takes Over Fox's American Dad

Seth MacFarlane’s American Dad is about to find out what a wonderful man Jim James is.

“My Morning Straitjacket,” to air Nov. 22, has Stan obsessing over the band’s Tennessee Fire (or Z, as leaked photos tend to indicate) before he decides to become a groupie. Jim and the rest of the My Morning Jacket gang will also lend their own voices to the episode, which also features six MMJ songs. Also appearing as an MMJ super-fan will be comedian Zach Galifianakis. (It’s a role that shouldn’t be too difficult for the hirsute funnyman to pull off.) ATO Records will release a digital EP on iTunes with the featured songs plus clips of dialogue.

For James, the American Dad guest role just adds to his already busy year. He and the remaining Monsters of Folk will finish a U.S. tour this week, only to start its European trek immediately after.

And for Fox, My Morning Jacket just adds to its evening of musical guest stars, with Hall and Oates appearing on The Cleveland Show the same night.

The genesis for the episode happened one rain-soaked night in Manchester, Tenn. “Honestly, it was an organic evolution,” says the show’s co-creator Mike Barker. “I was at Bonnaroo in the summer of 2008, watching MMJ play their guts out in the rain at 4 a.m. when the idea for the episode struck me. I pitched the idea to the guys the next day and thankfully they were on board.”

And while Kiss remains the unofficial band of Family Guy, Barker would like to go one better with My Morning Jacket and American Dad. “Hell, let’s just make them the official band.”

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