#chriswhitley

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Late #vinyloftheday is a rarity. The sole LP from the Belgium-based #NohRodeo , which caught my attention because it's front man was the American #ChrisWhitley. Even though this has a very '80s new wave sound to it in production, the melodic brilliance of Whitley and the lyrical edge were evident even in these early recordings. (at SoFA District) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmqYmscOPwR/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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Somewhere in #sofadistrictsj is yet another quickie #painting for someone to steal if they want. A roughly 4' x 1.5' bit of mostly acrylics and graf markers on a particle board shelf, of one of my favorite musicians, the late Chris Whitley, which I painted while listening to one of my favorite albums of his, "din of ecstasy". It's rough, and messy, much like the music. But while Whitley's music was pristine and amazing this is decidedly less skillful, but the sentiment is there. #art #chriswhitley (at SoFA District) https://www.instagram.com/p/CJVjcznjsZl/?igshid=bpidvf8v3uju

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#sketchbook September 2020. Another #ChrisWhitley #doodle, because his music is always good. . . #art #guitarplayer #natsteel (at SoFA District) https://www.instagram.com/p/CE8zBfxjERo/?igshid=s7rogc55xjvf

[codysummit]

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Here’s my latest version of “I’m Ready” by @aliciakeys ...I’ve been messing around with playing this on resonator for about a year I guess. This is my little boy’s favorite song- it’s nice to be able to play him a tune he actually recognizes...as opposed to obscure murder ballads, depression era left wing folk tunes, or super sad blues songs. I recently had a little “breakthrough” with this tune- which came from listening to Chris Whitely, and then reading about how he tuned his guitar! “What is this tuning magic?”, you ask? You tell me! Of course,I’ll spill the beans anyways- if folks are interested! A big philosophical salute to my reso brother from across the pond @richslideguitar for talking about Chris Whitely all the time! 🤘🏽👍🏼🤛🏼🙏#aliciakeys #imready #chriswhitley #alternatetuning #guessthetuning #resonatorguitar #resophonic #resophonicguitar #thenewsoundofsteel #muleresonator #slideguitar #blues #folkmusic #rnbcover #aliciakeyscover #baltimore #thebmorecreatives #resobrothers #slideguitar #instrumental #guitarinstrumental #rootsmusic #rootsmusician #folkmusician #guitarcover #acousticcover (at Baltimore, Maryland) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5mEqqoHNSi/?igshid=1idty11n8tofb

[faroutchick]

Chris Whitley local TV performance on WVTM NBC 13

This is a TV appearance by Chris Whitley performing Scrapyard Lullaby and Dirt Floor back in the 90's. He was appearing in a music festival in Birmingham, Al...

[milesmorinfineart-blog]

The late Chris Whitley #chriswhitley #late

[jadem-neter]

Love these dragon 🐉 boys to the moon and back. Sitting listening to an ear each of #chriswhitley these #boys have impeccable taste in Music.

[itsbuckdowns]

Chris Whitley,  “Wild Country”

You look at something a dozen times or enough times to lose count, and you think you’ve seen it, then you look again and an item pops out that makes all the other details unspeak what they said and resettle the conversation of looking into a larger field.

The song occupies itself with the futility of male labor: “breaking rocks on the avenue/ it’s hard to unearth anything that’s true”. An old form, one with a whiff of prison about it. The setting for the video is some kind of dam or reservoir, more old labor, holding back the elements.

A few seconds short of the two-minute mark we get a first look at the audience -- the back of a solitary head watching Chris perform from the other end of the space. The distance, the setting, all the ambiance, suggest that we are looking inward at an idea of what could be. Chris is watching himself play from the perspective of someone who he imagines he is, or he is, as his inner self, reviewing his self-presentation in performance.

Either way, the reveal comes about thirty seconds later: Chris’s unacknowledged auditor is a young tomboy;’ her muss embodies the “wild country” of the song. Other details start to realign themselves: the bowler hat, the wife beater, the National guitar an assemblage of vintage male signerie to counter the delicacy of the song and its disavowal of male labor, the jackhammers and wasted miles.

There is Chris’s problem, and then there is Chris’s practice. As in the paintings of Paul Cadmus, watching men and women present themselves is a lifelong practice that prepares the art; it is also a search for clues on how to deal with the problem, that of being situated in a distinctly male body that insists on dreaming instead of working.