Vic Chesnutt RIP

This extraordinarily gifted songwriter took himself from this world Christmas day at the age of 45; if you want to inform yourself on the man's remarkable life and tragic passing, here's quite a thorough obit from the LA Times. 

I myself had never heard about Vic Chesnutt until the news came out of his death, but after being riveted by a couple of videos I downloaded one of his albums (and will probably download more).  His was a spare, melancholy aesthetic spiced with dashes of eccentric humour -- a minimalist Americana that brings to mind (my mind, at least) the film Paris, Texas, among other things.  Some of his work is as profound as it gets -- like the above, which brought chills to my spine and tears to my eyes.  His work was rare -- particularly for the US -- in that it confronted the darkest realities head on.   He will be missed -- but left behind a considerable body of music to explore and savour.