Vic has played with many different bands and collaborators throughout his career, including Lambchop, Widespread Panic, Bill Frisell and Van Dyke Parks, Elf Power and most recently, Guy Picciotto (Fugazi) and Thee Silver Mt. Zion.
New record out 09/22/09 is
AT THE CUT.
Available in custom gatefold paperboard CD edition and deluxe 180gLP edition.
AT THE CUT is Vic's second album with Picciotto and Mt. Zion and his second for Constellation Records, following the critically-acclaimed NORTH STAR DESERTER record from 2007. Tracks from both of these are featured on this page as of 09/18/09 and will stay up through the end of 2009 as Vic hits the road in USA with this band and features songs from these two records most prominently in the live set.
10/23 Ottawa ON CA Mavericks
10/24 Montreal QC CA Ukrainian Federation
10/25 Cambridge/Somerville MA US Somerville Theater
10/26 New York NY US Bowery Ballroom
10/27 Brooklyn NY US Music Hall of Williamsburg
10/28 Philadelphia PA US First Unitarian Church
10/29 Baltimore MD US Ottobar
10/30 Washington DC US Black Cat
10/31 Wilmington NC US The Soapbox
11/01 Atlanta GA US The Earl
11/02 Athens GA US 40 Watt Club
11/04 Newport KY US Southgate House
11/05 Chicago IL US Lincoln Hall
11/06 Detroit MI US Detroit Institute of Arts
11/07 Toronto ON CA Lee's Palace
11/19 Minneapolis MN US Cedar Cultural Center
11/20 Winnipeg MB CA West End Cultural Centre
11/21 Sasktoon SK CA Amigos
11/22 Edmonton AB CA McDougall United Church
11/23 Calgary AB CA Knox United Church
11/25 Victoria BC CA Lucky Bar
11/26 Vancouver BC CA Red Room
11/27 Seattle WA US Crocodile
11/28 Portland OR US Mississippi Studios
11/30 San Francisco CA US Great American Music Hall
12/01 Los Angeles CA US Echoplex
12/02 Tuscon AZ US Club Congress
12/04 Denton TX US Hailey's
12/05 Austin TX US Central Presbyterian Church
VIC'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY
born jax fla. 1964
adopted
moved to georgia age 5
favorite song kawliga
started writing songs
maternal grandfather played country guitar and wrote songs and grandmother wrote lyrics
favorite song garden party
started playing trumpet age 9
mentor band director randy edgar
favorite song night the lights went out in ga. and delta dawn, and night chicago died
age 13 felt the need to listen to rock’n’roll
ordered 8tracks for a penny, styx, kiss, doobie brothers, taped steve martin over kiss
went to town to buy a rock’n’roll record
sgt. peppers
bought a uke from sears catalog age 15
learned beatles songs
leonard cohen
bob dylan
age 16 playing trumpet in cover band called sundance with 30 year olds
parents gave guitar for christmas 1980 to help vic get over lennon’s murder
sang whip it on stage with sundance
velvet underground
king crimson
coma
tape to tape home recordings
age17 meet johnny cash
just before graduation discovered the new music, elvis, jam, nick lowe, clash, pistols, rem, replacements
gordon junior college
play rhythm guitar in new wave band called random factor
open for baby and the pacifiers in atl.
fired because refused to tuck in shirt
start a new band with todd from dashboard saviors
plays keyboards in proto-industrial electronica duo
sees pil 1982
car crash
can’t play guitar or trumpet but discovers a whole new understanding of music
sells trumpet buys arp synthesizer
writing vacuous pop songs
starts strumming
coma
shoplifts norton anthology of modern poetry it’s footnotes were eureka
stevie smith, wallace stevens, etc.
kafka, great gatsby, salenger
“art feeling”
songs take on adult form
moves to athens to study english
meets the bohemian types
sings at a party where deanna varagona hears him, gets him a gig the next night before the band’s soundcheck
suddenly a solo artist
opening for local bands
listens to the roches
goes to nyc for the first time
hands and legs go numb
after operation can’t play guitar
learned maternal grandfather dies
forms folk-rock band la-di-das
listens butthole surfers, husker du, local bands
free form hard rock jamming
bass in acid rock band angle lake
quits la-di-das
athens folk music and dance society
records “little”
father dies
off to california
meets harry dean stanton, victoria williams, giant sand, bob neuwirth, van dyke parks, etc.
marries tina
paternal grandmother dies
opens 100 shows for bob mould
band with tina and drummer jeffrey(hazeldine)
“west of rome”
speed racer documentary
tours with victoria williams
opening tour for soul asylum (and goo-goo dolls)
“drunk”
allen ginsberg calls vic an idiot
opening tour for live (and angelfish)
mom dies
"brute" with widespread panic
tours europe with giant sand
“is the actor happy”
funny conversations with james dickey
coma
"slingblade"
more european tours
sees nina simone perform
signs with capital
meets joni mitchell
sweet relief
“about to choke”
from the edge, BBC
the end of violence soundtrack duet with michael stipe
"salesman and bernadette"
meets kevin coyne
sessions at w.54th street
conan o’brien
“merriment”
soundtrack for "rough south of larry brown"
“left to his own devices”
coma
"Josiah Meigs and Me"
meets wim wenders
"co-balt brute"
“silver lake”
The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn
produced liz durett’s first record, "husk"
hal wilner’s randy newman tribute project
meets bill frisell
re-released first 4 albums on new west with 28 extra tracks
"ghetto bells"
produced liz durett’s "mezzanine"
blogged on huffingtonpost.com
undertow orchestra
open shows for rickie lee jones
daniel johnston tribute queen elizabeth hall concert
cowboy junkies trinity session 20 year anniversary project
conference for the book, Ole Miss
song on "Just One More, A Musical Tribute to Larry Brown"
dropped from New West
"North Star Deserter"
"Dark Developments"
honored to play guitar and Turkish pop songstress Nazan Öncel's album 7'n Bitirdin
composed soundtrack to director Sebastian Schipper's "Mitte Ende August"
Carnegie Hall R.E.M. tribute
on Dangermouse/Sparklehorse album "Dark Night of the Soul"
"At The Cut"
VIC BIO FROM 2006
Vic was born in 1964 in Jacksonville, FL and was raised in Zebulon, GA. He loved music from an early age and, in fact, started writing songs when he was only five years old. He played trumpet in a high school cover band. As he got older and began buying records, his first favorites were Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan and The Beatles. After a car accident in 1983 that left him partially paralyzed and the recuperation period that followed, Vic came to "a whole new understanding of music. The first results were what he describes as vacuous pop songs But when he discovered a book called The Norton Anthology Of Modern Poetry (its footnotes were eureka!) Vic had, for the first time, what he describes as that art feeling. It was then that his songs began to take on adult form. In the middle 80s, Vic moved to Athens, GA to study English. He formed a group called The La Di Das and began playing the clubs around town. In 1988 he quit the band and started playing solo shows, including a summer-long residency at The 40 Watt. It was then that Michael Stipe saw Vic, repeatedly, and was moved to invite him into a recording studio. They recorded the songs that became his debut album, Little and Vics career effectively began. Vic has made 10 albums to date as well as 2 albums in collaboration with Widespread Panic under the name Brute. He was the subject of a documentary in 1992 entitled Speed Racer directed by noted indie filmmaker Peter Sillen. In 1995 he had bit part in Billy Bob Thornton's film Slingblade. In 1996, Columbia Records put together Sweet Relief II: Gravity Of The Situation - The Songs of Vic Chesnutt, a benefit album to assist musicians with medical and financial hardship. It featured Vics songs covered by the likes of Madonna, Smashing Pumpkins, Soul Asylum, Garbage & R.E.M. In 2000, The Georgia House Of Representatives passed a resolution, honoring Vic for his off-beat musical genius and other purposes. In 2001 he wrote and performed the music for Josiah Meigs and Me, a puppet play done at St. Annes Warehouse in Brooklyn. In January of 2004, Vic participated in the Randy Newman Tribute at UCLAs Royce Hall along with Victoria Williams, Bill Frisell, Rip Torn and many others. In June of this year, he was invited to share the bill with Rickie Lee Jones for two concerts at the prestigious Century Of Song Festival in Essen, Germany. Over the last few years he has also been speaking on songwriting and creative writing at Berklee School Of Music, Brown University and The University Of Georgia. Vic continues to tour extensively all over the world and has shared stages with the likes of R.E.M., Laura Nyro, Patti Smith, Lou Reed, John Cale, Mo Tucker, The Jayhawks, Allen Toussaint, P.J. Harvey, Wilco, Billy Swan, Giant Sand, Calexico and The Sadies.
Reference: 2006 New West Records LLC. http://www.newwestrecords.com/vicchesnutt.php
Debriefing live in Munich (thanks francepo)
I was a latecomer to your music, but your integrity and artistry really resonated with me when I saw you last month...now you will sing for the angels, Vic. You will be missed.
I always thought that even if I lived to 120 you would outlive me. It's bloody terrible that you've gone. In a delicious irony that you would probably point out before I do, an outspoken advocate of atheism dies on Christmas Day. We still have the records and the memories. RIP Vic.
Rest in Peace Vic! I loved seeing you live -- such an amazing spirit. You played Styrofoam and told me you made up the story to Band Camp. Your music lives on and so do you in the next one.
I'm extremely sad to hear about Vic's passing. "Soft Picasso" is one of the truest songs I've ever heard. And everyone who ever met him or saw him perform will always remember his incredible voice, his unfailing insight, and his heart full of compassion.
Here is a great interview / performance of Vic from early last year on Mountain Stage doing what he does best. Vic has been on the show a handful of times including a Mountain Stage show in Athens, GA a few years ago.
I'm doing a tribute show to Vic tonight, 8-10pm Oz Eastern Summer Time on BLU FM 89.1 & streaming live on the net. Not a very user-friendly time for US West Coast, I'm afraid... slightly better as you go further east. I'll be playing a bunch of personal faves, with some other stuff thrown in... just my way of saying 'thanks' to a musical friend-in-spirit. cheers- Francis.
I'm so sad today. I've got drunk alone and happy, listening at "About to chocke", the night just after my daughter borned. Your music is following me since years. Your concerts in Nantes and St Malo are forever in my memory.
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