Comments on: Vic Chesnutt :: Left To His Own Devices

By: Charles Cicirella

Charles Cicirella — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 09:53:23 +0000

I just recently got introduced to Vic Chesnutt and all I can say is I miss him. I truly miss him.

By: SadSackSuperman

SadSackSuperman — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:51:35 +0000

I saw the man open a Bob Mould show, at the old 9:30 Club (DC), in 1991. I was in college, high and wasted and perhaps a bit too quick to judge. I had never heard of Vic Chesnutt, and when he wheeled out under the lights, I said to my friend something like, “This dude better be able to rock that guitar, because if he’s only as good as me (admittedly lousy beyond belief), he won’t get any sympathy over being in that chair.”

I think he opened with what I now know to be “Miss Prissy,” and when he sang about “knuckles against a cheese grater,” I probably made another off-color remark. I was there to party. This guy was a downer.

Flash forward almost twenty years. I’ve long-since reassessed my opinion of Vic Chesnutt’s music. I now spend a lot of time in a wheelchair myself, and it isn’t this fact alone that has me reflecting deeply on the loss of one of Our Recent Greats.

I’d be a fool to draw some fatefully ironic conclusion here. I’m just sayin’.

R.I.P. Mr. Chesnutt. The world is worse off without you.

By: r.carver

r.carver — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:33:00 +0000

just saw Vic in October at Bowery. i’ve seen him a bunch of times. one very rare beautiful songwriter of our times. very sad

By: Rene Saller

Rene Saller — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 20:12:36 +0000

Thanks for writing this; very nicely put. I wish he were still around. I wrote a little tribute piece on Boogie Woogie Flu that contains a few links to rare-ish live Vic performances, if you’re interested in more grief porn. http://boogiewoogieflu.blogspot.com/2009/12/of-loss-and-longing-and-sloppy-satori.html

By: Nigel Smith

Nigel Smith — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 10:45:05 +0000

Nice piece. I first saw Vic in London in the mid 90s. There were some shambolic shows for sure but two, one with Lambchop and another as part of a Howe Gelb curated event were pure magic. I've written about them on my blog, Carnival Saloon, if you want to read more and hear further MP3s.

By: Glenn

Glenn — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 04:44:53 +0000

I first heard about Vic Chesnutt from the band LIVE they sang one of his songs
and I was floored. I always applauded his abilty musically and to overcome his disabilty he will be missed.

By: Ed

Ed — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 20:28:33 +0000

I first heard Vic on a compilation CD from magazine in the mid 90′s. He’s always been so unique and hauntingly enjoyable to disappear into the ether with. His death has hit me strangely. I purchased Skitter on Take-off on 12/18 and had been listening to it only all week. Then I read about his death, Christmas night. Somehow I and his work were connected deeply for that week not knowing what was to come.
Such a huge loss. I hope he has peace.
Peace to his family and friends.
Ed

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:36:47 +0000

I have had the honor of seeing Vic through the 90′s at various clubs in Boston. He was without a doubt a fantastic and gifted storyteller, but we must never forget the fact that he was f****** hilarious! He would crack the room up with his banter and then gut them with songs like Panic Pure, Betty Lonely, Free of Hope and Isadora Duncan. I missed his last tour and could kick myself for that. I am sorry he was in so much pain. I hope he is free at last.

By: aprudy

aprudy — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 16:21:59 +0000

The first words I ever read about Vic were in Option, in 1994 I think… in the essay, the reviewer noted the pain in Vic’s lyrics and her immediate identification with them (and her need to head to Athens to express her hope that he never succeed at suicide). I couldn’t not follow up and immediately bought Drunk, West of Rome and Little… it made so much sense that Vic was playing with Giant Sand, then about to record their album-of-devastation, Glum, at the Backyard Barbecue Broadcast at WFMU… from 1998′s The Salesman and Bernadette to 2005′s Ghetto Bells, I connected less with Vic than I had previously, and then North Star Deserter… omigod, what a record… played it almost non-stop for a month of hour long commutes to and from work. This is devastating news.

By: j. neas

j. neas — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 16:16:43 +0000

@Kaley – Thank you so much for sharing that story and video. Having seen that band and even that song performed just a few weeks before you did here in North Carolina, I can certainly imagine what an amazing experience it must have been to see that in a house show setting. I do hope that sees a DVD release at some point. That tour desperately needs to be documented.

I too have had an odd time dealing with my feelings about this – I didn’t know-know the man. But I did interview him for AD back in August and found him so disarmingly genuine in the way he spoke so openly about himself that it was hard not to want to be the same. When he related the story of the song “Granny,” that he had dreamed the whole thing while dreaming of his late grandmother, I shared with him a similar story from my own life about dreaming of my late grandfather and having it affect me in a similar way. The way he listened to me tell the story and responded in kind made the whole interview seem like just a good conversation between two people. All of my favorite interviews for this site have been exactly the same way, but this one in particular stuck out to me.

I only met Vic in person twice – once in Austin, Texas in 2003 at a restaurant after seeing him play a show earlier in the day at SXSW and then again on Halloween this year while seeing him and that amazing band play. Both times he was just a lovely person, easily approachable and disarmingly humble. We are so much richer for having had him and so much poorer for having lost him.

By: Funky Rutabaga

Funky Rutabaga — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 15:52:28 +0000

I had a great Christmas, but when I heard Chesnutt died, melancholia was added to my holiday euphoria. While I haven’t checked out much of Chesnutt’s work, I remember listening to Dark Developments and feeling a sense of authenticity – replicated in “Degenerate”, which just popped up – that is unmatched and frequently absent in modern music. Chesnutt will truly be missed, and this piece on Chesnutt is unmatched.

By: zenm

zenm — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 12:04:26 +0000

he seemed to be able to conjure an endless stream of not merely good, but great, songs out of nowhere – each memorable and unique, delivered in that sonically immense voice, and hinting always at that brokenheartedness that hovers at the edge of all of our lives – courageous, unflinching, darkly comic and by all accounts a real gentleman – a great loss

By: Kaley

Kaley — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 11:05:02 +0000

a few months ago i bought a ticket to see vic at a local bar/restaraunt/venue. i bought the ticket as soon as they went on sale knowing it was going to be an experience, not just a concert. i had been a fan for years, but living in the middle of nowhere (western canada) offers little in the the way of opportunity to see such persons. then, merely days before the show, i read on a chalkboard how it had been moved to a secret location. one phonecall and i was in the know. it had been relocated to a house and was set to be filmed for a television show. i rode my bike with six beer in my backpack and headed inside. among thirty or so people, mostly strangers, i was transported. needless to say, i left a changed person. the show was life affirming/changing, and i was fortunate enough to share words with vic afterwords. next to seeing tom waits, it was the greatest “show” i’ve ever witnessed, and in the past day i’ve been coming to terms with my feelings over his passing and its affect on my memories of this one evening. i’m feeling terribly bittersweet about things, but oh so thankful for the stars aligning. obviously many albums were spun, and tears shed.

rip vic. i hope you find that peace that’s evaded you for far too long. all my best to those you’ve touched throughout the years (friends, family, fans, and beyond).

oh, and here’s an apparently “rough” video from that evening just over a month ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rPyQFmGmb4. i’ve got a hunch it might turn out to be more than just an hour of programming on scn.

By: liz

liz — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 06:03:47 +0000

i knew who he was, i just didn’t take the time to listen. but when i heard that he had attempted suicide and was in a coma, i went to the computer and started listening and couldn’t stop. i haven’t stopped. i’m a seventeen year old girl stuck in the suburbs of kansas but something in his music produces a visceral reaction inside me. i’m truly devastated by the loss of vic and i wish i had taken the time to listen when his name popped up before but at least i have him now. i wish i would have had the chance to see him live, sounds like his shows had the possibility to be supernatural. i’m so grateful to have stumbled upon vic, someone whose music will be with me for the rest of my life, i just wish it didn’t have to be in this circumstance.