Information AboutJandek |
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Jandek is a musician, presumably from Houston, Texas . Since 1978 , he has self-released 46 albums of unusual, often emotionally dissolute Folk and Blues songs without ever granting a real interview (but see documentary below for a phone interview early in his career) or providing any biographical information. Jandek plays a very strange and frequently atonal form of folk and blues music, often using an open and unconventional Chord Structure . Jandek's music is unique, but his lyrics closely mirror the Country Blues and Folk traditions of Eastern Texas. Barely a handful of people claim to have contacted Jandek, whose steadfastness in Anonymity is legendary. Without any conventional attempts at promotion, he releases albums through his own record label Corwood Industries , which is addressed at a Houston post office box. Fans can write to Corwood for a typewritten catalogue and order Jandek’s albums, usually at inexpensive prices. Jandek’s work has been available on vinyl and on compact discs. Many of his albums feature pictures of the same young man (seen above) at various ages; in light of Jandek's live performances it is almost entirely certain that the person featured on the album covers is Jandek himself. While not verified, it is believed that Jandek's real name is Sterling Richard Smith, that he is currently in his mid-fifties, and that he lives somewhere in the Houston area or an outlying area. (A review of '', 1952 (according to government copyright archives, however, it could be said that he was born sometime in late 1945...the most likely year of Smith's birth). Witnesses have seen him purchasing Darjeeling tea at a local Whole Foods Market. On the Jandek discussion group , fans often fondly refer to the singer/songwriter as either "Mr. Smith," "The Corwood Representative," or simply "Janky". Jandek’s first album, '' Ready For The House '' ( 1978 ), was first accredited to a band called “The Units” but it was obviously a solo work. Jandek presumably plays acoustic guitar and has recorded much of his work apparently unaccompanied (assuming that the person singing is also the person playing guitar). However many other songs feature female vocals and/or different male vocalists. Others feature bass guitar, electric guitar and/or drums, presumably played by collaborators. No proper credits list has ever appeared on an album, but song titles have included "Nancy Sings" and "John Plays Drums". Some of Jandek’s allure stems from his small but devoted fan base that includes Sonic Youth frontman Thurston Moore , Kurt Cobain , and K Records founder Calvin Johnson . Jandek has only given one phone interview in his entire career, conducted by fellow outsider artist John Trubee , for an early issue of '' Spin '' magazine in 1985 . In it, Jandek admitted to having musical training earlier in life, and refuted an ''OP Magazine'' reviewer praising "May he never tune his guitar!" by stating that he did indeed tune his guitar, albeit usually to open tunings of his own devising. The ''Spin'' article was Jandek's first major press; as the 80's drew to a close, the magazine proclaimed him to be one of the Most Important Artists of the 1980's in a special end-of-decade issue. tracked down a "Jandek-like person" and gave an account of her experiences in the August 1999 issue of '' Texas Monthly ''. While Vine knew the man's name and address, she kept them secret at his request. Vine reported that she was almost certain that the man she spoke to was Jandek, and that he is the man pictured on Jandek's album covers. In 2004, a documentary on Jandek was released, '' Jandek On Corwood .'' It was directed by Chad Freidrichs , and produced by Freidrichs and Paul Fehler . Amongst the extras on the DVD release of the documentary is the entire unedited tape of the John Trubee-conducted ''Spin'' interview. No one from Corwood Industries is represented on screen, but the label did suggest several people to be interviewed for the movie, including music critics Phil Milstein and Gary Pig Gold, and Katy Vine. Corwood's recommendation of Vine for the documentary is seen as essentially endorsing the contents and confirming the authenticity of the ''Texas Monthly'' interview. LIVE PERFORMANCES The mystery of Jandek's identity was partially resolved in October 2004 when Jandek performed live in Scotland, at the Instal 04 music festival in Glasgow. This was Jandek's first known live appearance and performed with Richard Youngs (bass) and Alex Neilson (drums). The man on stage was obviously the same man who appears on the album covers. Corwood stipulated that the performance was not publicized in advance. In May 2005 however, Jandek made announced appearances at the Music Lovers’ Field Companion festival in Gateshead, England and at the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow, Scotland again with Youngs and Neilson. The Gateshead performance was another guitar/bass/drums trio similar to the performance as Instal '04 while the Music Lovers' Field Companion performance found Jandek playing piano with Youngs on bowed contrabass and Neilson on quiet drums. The performance was reportedly titled "The Cell" and lasted 90 minutes and has been described as being much more gentle than anything Jandek has done before with many of the piano parts resembling a strange version of Erik Satie . On August 28, 2005 he performed in Austin, Texas (as scheduled) at the Scottish Rite Theatre and Temple to a sold-out audience. It was notably his first time ever to appear on stage in the US and performed with Nick Hennies (drums), Chris Cogburn (drums), and Juan Garcia (aka Juandek) (bass). He also did two nights of gigs in New York City. He was scheduled to play in New Orleans, Louisiana on September 2, 2005 but the show was cancelled due to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina . A Chicago show was announced only two days in advance, then canceled the next day because Hurricane Rita was approaching Houston. In October 2005, Jandek played twice at Instal 2005 in Glasgow and once in London. In November, he played in Hasselt , Belgium and in Helsinki. On March 5, 2006 it was announced that Jandek will play at All Tomorrow's Parties Festival in the UK on May 21, 2006. Jandek will perform April 20th, 2006 at the Hollywood Theater in Portland, Oregon. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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