Decemberists Working With R.E.M.'s Peter Buck

On 2009's concept opera 'Hazards of Love,' Colin Meloy's Decemberists recruited Lavender Diamond's Becky Stark, My Brightest Diamond's Shara Worden and My Morning Jacket's Jim James to help out on vocals. Now the group is back in the studio, this time getting some guitar work from none other than R.E.M.'s Peter Buck.

With R.E.M. currently in a holding pattern and Meloy seemingly never wanting to rest, this should prove to be a very fruitful endeavor. As Pitchfork reports, Meloy recently tweeted about a practice session, writing, "First official day of #6 practice; made Peter Buck play my fake-R.E.M. riffs and he didn't seem perturbed. Nor litigious."

Meloy's also been busy in other endeavors, namely working on two children's books with his wife Carson Ellis, as well as gearing up for two benefit show later this month -- a solo outing at Portland, Ore.'s Ace Hotel on April 29 and a full-on Decemberists gig the at the Liberty Theater in Astoria, Ore. on April 30.

In related R.E.M. news, Athens, Ga. is gearing up this weekend for 30th anniversary celebration of the hometown band's first gig. A film retrospective is showing all weekend long, and a tribute concert is scheduled for Friday at the Melting Pot that includes the B-52s' Cindy Wilson, John Keane and other local bands.