Going up at Easy Street Records in Seattle. (Via their Twitter feed.)

This is all so strange …

also: the cover art comes up in this Q&A on Billboard.com.

Tell me about the artwork that Tom Tomorrow made for “Backspacer.”

Vedder: … We just happened to be talking at the time this came around, and we thought, “We’ll give it a shot and we’ll remain friends if it doesn’t work.” What he did was phenomenal. He put so much thought into it, to the point where we had so many conversations about each drawing, that I said, “Look, I just need a week to write lyrics” (laughs). At the same time, it was invigorating. Certain ideas came from him as far as the overall scope: the randomness, but also the detail. It’s really a cool piece of art.

I’ll be appearing at the Brooklyn Book Festival to read from and sign copies of my new kid’s book on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. in the Children’s Area tent.

Also in case you missed the earlier post, there are new sample pages up on the Very Silly Mayor site. And of course, the book can be ordered here (and is already shipping, well ahead of schedule). I went with a very small publisher on this one and they did a great job — the book turned out beautifully. But because they are small, every copy sold has a real and direct impact on their lives and on mine, much moreso than with any other book I’ve ever put out. They did right by me and I’m hoping to not lose them money in return. So if you have kids, or know anyone who does, please consider picking it up …

And: tell your friends! There’s no marketing budget for this — word of mouth is all we’ve got …