Vic Chesnutt (born 1964 in Jacksonville, Florida) is a singer-songwriter resident in Athens, Georgia. He is, perhaps unfortunately, best known as a rare example of a paraplegic professional musician. Chesnutt performs in a wheelchair and cannot walk without much assistance.
His songs often deal with his clinical depression, though usually from a somewhat humorous and self deprecating perspective. His lyrics can occasionally be elliptical to the point of surreal, which is partly the result of Chesnutt's interest in poetry and poetic forms of expression. He is particularly fond of the late British poet Stevie Smith and has recorded two of her poems, including the well-known Smith poem, Not Waving but Drowning.
Though much of Chesnutt's music is autobiographical, he has also recorded many songs concerning entirely fictional characters and situations. It is not always clear which is which and listeners and reviewers have often mistaken an entirely fictional story-based song as representing Chesnutt's own experiences.
There is a distinctively Southern accent to his voice. He is fond of incoporating idiomatically Southern folksy turns of phrase in his lyrics. Chesnutt is often praised for his distinctive phrasing, in which, for effect, he often draws out individual syllables for unusually long periods during a song.
His music is at times obviously influenced by famous folk rock artists such as Bob Dylan and Neil Young. It is also possible to detect strong country music and punk music influences.
He has several times recorded with other groups and artists. Most notably he has made two albums with the rock group Widespread Panic, under the name of Brute. The 1998 album The Salesman and Bernadette was recorded with alt-country group Lambchop as the backing band and the 2005 album Ghetto Bells features famed guitarist Bill Frisell. He has also been associated with Michael Stipe of R.E.M., who produced several of his early albums. In 1996 the tribute album Sweet Relief II: Gravity Of The Situation was released with proceeds going to the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund. The album consisted of Chesnutt covers by famous musicians including Madonna and R.E.M..
Chesnutt's wife, Tina Chesnutt, frequently plays bass on Chesnutt's albums. His niece, and fellow songwriter, Liz Durrett also appeared on the Ghetto Bells album.
Chesnutt is an atheist and has composed several songs about his atheism and his rejection of mystical/theological explanations.
An adoptee, Chesnutt was raised in Zebulon, Georgia, where he first started writing songs at the age of five. His disability results from a 1983 car accident after driving whilst drunk landed him in a ditch. After recovery he left the somewhat redneck insular small-town lifestyle of Zebulon and moved to the more cosmopolitan city of Athens Georgia, which he felt was more compatible with his increasingly liberal bohemian and atheistic outlook. There he joined a band, The La Di Das before moving on to performing solo in a regular spot at the 40 Watt Club, where he was spotted by Michael Stipe who encouraged Chesnutt to record his first album, the sparse Little (1990).
Chesnutt's first four albums were released on the independent Texas Hotel label. He then recorded About to Choke for Capitol, which was his first and only major record label recording. His most recent albums have been released on the New West Records label. In 2004 New West also rereleased the early Texas Hotel recordings including expanded liner notes and extra tracks.
He has been known as a fairly serious drug and alcohol user, though he appears to have largely abandoned this in recent years. The 1993 Drunk album was recorded mostly in the condition of drunkenness. Chesnutt has also been a supporter of medical marijuana [1], which he claims helps with his medical problems. He contributed the track Weed to the Rescue to the 1998 Hempilation II charity album , with proceeds going to NORML, the national organization for the reform of marijuana laws.
In 1992 Chesnutt was the subject of a PBS documentary, Speed Racer. He also made a brief appearence in the 1996 Billy Bob Thornton movie Sling Blade.
Chesnutt is commonly misspelt on websites and in the press as the near homonym Chestnut (or Chestnutt).
Discography
- 2005 Ghetto Bells (Released on March 22nd)
- 2003 Silver Lake
- 2001 Left to his Own Devices
- 2000 Merriment
- 1998 The Salesman and Bernadette
- 1996 About to Choke
- 1995 Is the Actor Happy?
- 1993 Drunk
- 1991 West Of Rome
- 1990 Little
With Widespread Panic as Brute
Quotes
- Other people write about the bling and the booty. I write about the pus and the gnats. To me, that's beautiful. From a New York Daily News article [2].