Pearl Jam bassist attacked outside Southern Tracks

DeKalb County Police confirmed Wednesday that Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament was assaulted and robbed recently in the parking lot of a Clairmont Road recording studio.

According to a police report, the incident occurred April 27 outside Southern Tracks, where the Seattle-based band is completing its ninth studio album.

Ament and another man were jumped by three assailants waiting in the woods, police said.

Wearing black masks and brandishing knives, the attackers smashed the windows of a rented Jeep and demanded money. Ament was robbed of $3,000, his passport and $4,320 worth of goods, the report said.

The bassist attempted to run away but was knocked to the ground, sustaining a cut on the head that did not require hospitalization. The robbers drove off in a black Nissan Maxima.

A surveillance camera captured the assault but no arrests have been made.

Southern Tracks is the home base of famed producer Brendan O’Brien, who is collaborating with Pearl Jam for a second time. Several major artists have recorded with O’Brien in his Atlanta studio, including Bruce Springsteen (2002’s “The Rising” and 2007’s “Magic”).