Just after Canada Day, this week’s Listening Booth features a little something for our friends in the South. Even after his unfortunate passing this past Christmas, Vic Chesnutt is an American treasure. He has inspired hundreds of writers, musicians and artists with his sincere and passionate articulation of ordinary events, much like he does in this clip (with Guy Picciotto from Fugazi on guitar!) where he re-defines the term “Independence Day.”
Chesnutt’s obituary from the London Telegraph lends some insight into his life: “Having become almost completely paralysed after a drunken car crash in 1983 in which he broke his neck, he rediscovered his musical abilities while under the influence of LSD. Eventually, Chesnutt developed a limited but uniquely soft strumming style on guitar and began to sing his eccentric, engaging songs in a high, wobbly, croaking moan.
During a residency at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, Georgia, he was “discovered” by the REM singer Michael Stipe, who recorded the very next day what became Chesnutt’s debut album, Little. Its release in 1990 launched Chesnutt on an unlikely 20-year career in which he toured the world in a wheelchair and released another 15 albums; these ranged from acoustic alternative country and folk to indie rock.”
Stephen McGrath is Soundboard Editor and Media Relations Manager at Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall
Comments on this entry are closed.