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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 incorporating 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 , 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 generally avoided outright political lyrics and has even written several songs explicitly critical of idealistic liberals of the sort that undoubtedly compose a portion of his audience. Recently however, Chesnutt has recorded two songs which can be interpreted as attacking the George W. Bush administration. 'Little Caesar' from the 'Ghetto Bells' album is generally viewed as a criticism of Bush's style of leadership. Also, 'Iraq' from the 'Extra Credit' E.P. can be seen as a satire of the current military action in Iraq. In the song, Chesnutt makes an allegorical comparison of the American actions to a rapist who has deluded himself into imagining that he is a hero for saving a woman from an abusive husband, not realizing that his raping her is also an act of abuse. He has been known as a fairly serious drug and ''Hempilation II'' charity album , with proceeds going to NORML , the national organization for the reform of marijuana laws. Chesnutt was also a self-confessed Shoplifter , a topic he has sung about and referred to in interviews. In 1992 Chesnutt was the subject of a PBS documentary, ''Speed Racer''. He also made a brief appearance in the 1996 Billy Bob Thornton movie Sling Blade . ''Chesnutt'' is commonly misspelled on websites and in the press as the near Homonym '' Chestnut '' (or ''Chestnutt''). DISCOGRAPHY
With Widespread Panic as Brute QUOTATIONS
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