Vic Chesnutt is a singer-songwriter resident in Athens, Georgia, who writes witty alt-country music.

Vic Chesnutt was born in Jacksonville Florida, USA in 1964 … Adopted … Moved to the state of Georgia aged 5. His favourite song was “Kawliga” (by Hank Williams ). He started writing songs … Maternal grandfather played country guitar and wrote songs while his grandmother wrote lyrics … Favorite song; “Garden Party” by Rick Nelson … Started playing trumpet age 9 … Mentor was band director Randy Edgar … New favourite songs; “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia” (written by Bobby Ressell), “Delta Dawn” (by Larry Collins and Alex Harvey) and “The Night Chicago Died” (by Peter Robin Callander).

At age 13 Vic felt the need to listen to rock’n’roll…Ordered 8-tracks for a penny: Styx, Kiss, Doobie Brothers, taped Steve Martin over Kiss … Went to town to buy a rock’n’roll record … ‘Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band’ … Bought a ukulele from the Sears catalogue age 15 … Learned Beatles songs, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan … Age 16 played trumpet in a cover band called Sundance with a bunch of 30 year olds … Parents gave Vic a guitar for Christmas in 1980 to help him get over John Lennon’s murder … Sang “Whip It” by Devo on stage with Sundance … Velvet Underground … King Crimson … Coma … Tape to tape home recordings … Age 17 meets Johnny Cash … Just before graduation discovered the new music, Elvis Costello, Jam, Nick Lowe, Clash, Pistols, REM, Replacements … Gordon Junior College … Played rhythm guitar in a new wave band called Random Factor and opened up for Baby And The Pacifiers in Atlanta, Georgia … Fired from his job because of refusal to tuck in shirt … Starts 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 an ARP synthesizer. … Writes vacuous pop songs … Starts strumming … Coma … Shoplifts ‘Norton Anthology Of Modern Poetry’ (its footnotes were eureka) … Stevie Smith, Wallace Stevens, etc … Kafka, ‘Great Gatsby’, Salinger … “art feeling” … Songs begin to take on an adult form … Moves to Athens, Georgia to study English … Meets the bohemian types … Sings at a party where Deanna Varagona hears him, she 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 to Butthole Surfers, Husker Du, local bands … Free form hard rock jamming … Bass in acid rock band Angle Lake … Quits La-di-das … Attends Athens folk music and dance society …

1990 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 … Starts a band with Tina and drummer Jeffrey (Hazeldine) … Records the album ‘West Of Rome’ … Peter Sillen makes the documentary ‘Speed Racer: Welcome To The World Of Vic Chesnutt’ … Tours with Victoria Williams … Opening tour for Soul Asylum (and Goo-Goo Dolls) … 1993 ‘Drunk’ is recorded … Allen Ginsberg calls Vic an idiot … Opening tour for Live (and Angelfish) … Mother dies … Records ‘Brute’ with Widespread Panic … Tours Europe with Giant Sand … Records ‘Is The Actor Happy’ … Funny conversations with James Dickey … Coma … ‘Slingblade’ released followed by more European tours … Sees Nina Simone perform … Signs a deal with Capital Records … 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 West. 54th street … Conan O’Brien … ‘Merriment’ … Soundtrack for ‘Rough South Of Larry Brown’ … ‘Left To His Own Devices’ comes out, featuring a collection of Vic’s rarities, outtakes, and demos … Coma … ‘Josiah Meigs And Me’ … Meets Wim Wenders … ‘Co-balt Brute’ … ‘Silver Lake’ … Craig Kilborn … Produces Liz Durett’s first record, ‘Husk’ … Hal Wilner’s Randy Newman tribute project … Meets Bill Frisell … Re-releases first four albums on New West with 28 extra tracks … ‘Ghetto Bells’ … Produces Liz Durett’s ‘Mezzanine’ album … Blogged on Huffingtonpost.com … Undertow orchestra … Opens shows for Rickie Lee Jones … Takes part in the Daniel Johnston tribute concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall … Cowboy Junkies trinity session 20 year anniversary project … Conference for book ‘Ole Miss’ … Song on ‘Just One More’, a musical tribute to Larry Brown” And this brings us up to speed with the release of possibly Vic Chesnutt’s finest recording to date, ‘North Star Deserter’.