When Modest Mouse kick off their tour Friday night in Eugene, OR, the part of guitarist Johnny Marr will be played by ex-Grandaddy guitarist Jim Fairchild. OK, so that might be the kind of thing they say on Broadway, but in rock 'n' roll, we just call it a lucky break. "I don't want to be too all 'Aw shucks' about it, but it's dope playing with these guys," Fairchild told Spinner this week during a rehearsal break. By his estimate, he's been practicing with Modest Mouse for the past six or seven weeks, often for six to eight hours at a clip.

Following Grandaddy's low-key break up in 2006, Fairchild has been hard at work on his All Smiles project featuring contributions from familiar talent, including Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney). Several releases, including a full-length CD entitled 'Oh, For the Getting and Not Letting Go,' are expected to drop this summer.

"The Modest Mouse stuff has taken up a lot of time lately," explains Fairchild. "So unfortunately I've just been really busy with that -- I should say 'fortunately' actually. Playing with [singer] Isaac [Brock] is a rad challenge and I can't imagine a better bass player than Eric Judy. It's really exciting to play with them." Well Jim, if you still don't want to say it, then allow us: Aw, shucks!