We are loathe to speak ill of the dead. In some cases, the dead suffered untold indignities while living, and picking on them, now that they can’t hit back, is just mean, so let’s say nice things. (A certain one-gloved pop-star eccentric comes to mind.) In others, the artist's death, and our forced acceptance thereof, can reveal new, awe-inspiring dimensions of the artist’s work. Vic Chesnutt is one of the latter cases.

Vic was an artist who never gave an inch.

He OD’d on drugs. He was an alcoholic. He was depressed. Suicidal, even. America’s hopelessly tangled health care system killed him. Bullshit. Vic Chesnutt is dead. He has become part of the mystery he sang about all his life. Keep your pat interpretations—like his music, Vic’s death is not a puzzle to be solved, but a blunt, unapologetic reality to be accepted. As an artist, Chesnutt farmed hope on the most forbidden terrain. A quadriplegic since age 18, he rejected every manifestation of pity. Physically cut off from the odd, jazzy guitar chords he had loved, he rendered his worst nightmares as simple “folk” songs. Michael Stipe took notice, and, in an

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–Vic Chesnutt, paraphrasing his adoptive parents, on NPR's "Fresh Air"

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Featuring Producer/Engineer Russ Randolph and Producer/Vocalist/Guitarist Zion Rock Godchaux, BoomBox draws their inspiration from the roots of the area

Guitar lessons, coffeehouse concert

18, Zion Baptist Church, 807 Piedmont St., Reidsville. Presented by Reidsville Chamber of Commerce, Reidsville NAACP and Reidsville Human Relations

Vic Chesnutt, Singer and Songwriter, Dies at 45

(blog) included Guy Picciotto of Fugazi and members of the Montreal indie-rock group Thee Silver Mt. Zion. Because of Mr. Chesnutt's fondness for simple guitar RIP Vic Chesnutt: We Pay Our RespectsVic Chesnutt Dead After Overdose, ComaMichael Stipe, Patti Smith and Jeff Mangum Remember Vic Chesnutt After Tragic all 560 news articles »

Preview calendar: Clubs and concerts for Jan. 7-13

Quarteto Vivace Brasil ---- Fallbrook Music Society presents this guitar, flute and percussion ensemble performing works from the baroque and Romantic eras and more »