See Bob Mould, Fred Armisen Rock Out on Rendition of Hüsker Dü’s ‘I Apologize’

Bob Mould and Fred Armisen rock out on a rendition of Hüsker Dü’s “I Apologize” in a preview from the duo’s upcoming performance on the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass livestream.

The free and virtual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass fest is set to livestream this Friday, October 1st, with Mould and Armisen — who wrote the foreword for Mould’s upcoming box set Distortion — set to take the stage at 7pm PST.

“I was thrilled when the Hardly Strictly folks asked me to perform for this year’s online series,” Mould said. “They wondered if I had a colleague who might be able to help out on a few songs, and I immediately thought of my good friend, Fred Armisen… and fortunately he was available on ‘tape day.’ Fred drove up from Los Angeles, we rehearsed the entire set at soundcheck and then ran the set a second time for the cameras. I love it when things come together so easily, and we’re both really happy with the performance.”

Armisen previously helped Mould unbox his retrospective set Distortion, which features the 18 studio albums Mould recorded as a solo artist and as the frontman of Sugar, plus four live albums, and two albums of rarities and collaborations.

“I’m a longtime fan of Fred’s work, especially the Portlandia series,” Mould previously said in a statement. “Fred and I have made music together in the past — with my band, with Ian Rubbish, on Late Night with Seth Meyers, and at the occasional birthday party. So, it was a thrill for me to ‘unbox’ the various configurations, geek out on the packaging, and share a handful of fun stories.”

Mould is currently in the midst of a North American tour that wraps up October 24th in Iowa City.