Jandek
Encyclopedia
Jandek is the musical project of an anonymous outsider music
ian who operates out of Houston, Texas
. Since 1978, Jandek has self-released over 60 albums of unusual, often emotionally dissolute folk
and blues songs without ever granting more than the occasional interview or providing any biographical information. Jandek often plays a highly idiosyncratic and frequently atonal
form of folk and blues music, often using an open and unconventional chord structure
. Jandek's music is unique, but the lyrics closely mirror the country blues
and folk
traditions of East Texas
. The name "Jandek" is most commonly used to refer specifically to the main—often sole—performer, rather than to the project.
, keeping a Houston post office box so fans can write to Corwood for a typewritten catalogue and order Jandek’s albums, usually at inexpensive prices. Many of his albums feature pictures of a certain man at various ages; although it seemed likely, it was not until Jandek's live debut in 2004 that it became certain that the man depicted on the album covers was the principal performer.
Jandek now often performs live with other musicians, but these collaborations remain the extent of his engagement with the public.
Although never formally confirmed, it is widely accepted that Jandek's real name is Sterling Richard Smith (probably born October 26, 1945); a review of Ready for the House
in OP magazine, the first ever national press given to Jandek, refers to the artist as Sterling Smith, checks written to Corwood come back endorsed by Smith, and Smith is listed as the claimant in the copyright records for Jandek's albums at the Library of Congress
. Despite this evidence, Corwood never uses the name in connection with Jandek, and, in turn, many of Jandek's fans respectfully maintain this separation. He is widely believed to live in the area of Houston, Texas, as this is the location of the post office box (No. 15375) which has been used by Corwood from the beginning. There is also a telephone number for Corwood Industries listed in the phone book for the area. Corwood happens to share the number with "Sterling Smith Corporation", which appears to be a stock and securities broker.
publishers. Aside from that anecdote, virtually nothing is known about his life. He is rumored to have grown up, or at least spent time, in Providence
, Rhode Island
. This suggestion is not baseless – a handful of early Jandek songs mention either the state itself or the Rhode Island town of Point Judith
. It has also been suggested that he is well traveled, as several album sleeves depict locations that have been formally identified as being outside the United States. This, however, presumes that all pictures that do not depict Smith were taken by him.
In one of his just two known interviews (given in 1985 to John Trubee for Spin
Magazine), Jandek mentioned that he was working at that time as a machinist.
, though obviously a solo work, was originally credited to a band called The Units. As explained in an interview in the first issue of Spin, Smith was forced to change the name by an identically named Californian group
already in possession of a copyright. All reissues of this first album and all subsequent Corwood releases have been credited to "Jandek". In Trubee's interview, Smith claims he came up with the name Jandek while on the telephone with a person named Decker during the month of January. Smith's initial use of a plural band name (and Corwood's curious tendency to refer to Jandek as "a representative from Corwood Industries") has led some fans to suggest that the reclusive artist intended his oeuvre to be perceived as the work of an anonymous collective rather than that of a single man. Indeed, though roughly two-thirds of his records are solo affairs, the other third have variably featured female vocalists, different male vocalists, bass guitar, electric guitar, drums, and accordion. These contributions are usually credited to outside collaborators, but in the Spin interview as well as a letter to DJ Irwin Chusid
the artist admitted to having overdubbed parts himself on occasion, such as on the album The Rocks Crumble
. No proper credits list has ever appeared on an album, but song titles have included "Nancy Sings" and "John Plays Drums", though those pieces are two different versions of the same song.
One early theory suggested that all the music was recorded in a single, feverish, possibly manic phase and that after 19 albums the releases would stop. This appeared, for a moment, as if it might have some validity - the 21st album, Lost Cause
, finished with a sidelong piece called "The Electric End", a crazed instrumental featuring shouted vocals, electric guitar, and microphone feedback. Instead, this seems to have marked the end of the "first band phase." Then the 22nd album arrived and returned to the acoustic and vocal sound that is found on most of the first six Corwood albums (often referred to as "the first acoustic phase"). This continued unabated for seven albums until, in 1999, The Beginning
was released, which featured a side-long work of instrumental piano. This ushered in the most controversial period of albums in Corwood's history - three albums of unaccompanied voice. Seemingly recorded on a voice-activated tape recorder, these "spoken word songs" ran up to half an hour in length and taxed even the most devoted followers. After these albums, though, the direction changed again and Jandek returned to a voice and guitar (with occasional harmonica
) mixture, though things were different. The guitar was often electric and the voice was decidedly older than that on the previous albums. Further albums have continued the solo approach, though the instrument used has occasionally been a fretless bass, and the songs have stretched progressively longer and the lyrics have become even more personal. Though Corwood still releases albums like this (the most recent is What Was Out There Disappeared), they are now alternated with releases of the live band shows, which are remarkably different and feature unusually tight playing. He currently records at Houston's Sugar Hill studios.
Some of Jandek's allure stems from his small but devoted fan base that includes Sonic Youth
, Bill Callahan, Mike Watt
, John Darnielle
of The Mountain Goats
, Low
, Ben Gibbard
of Death Cab for Cutie
, Matt Cameron
of Pearl Jam
, Bright Eyes and K Records
founder Calvin Johnson. In the 1980s and 1990s most fans stumbled into the world of Jandek after hearing his music on college radio or freeform stations like WFMU
and WCBN-FM, but as the 21st century approached Jandek was just as likely to catch fans through the internet. An "unofficial Jandek website" was founded by Seth Tisue in 1997. It includes complete descriptions of each album and concert and the archives of the Jandek Discussion List.
article in 1985. In it, he admitted to having had 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 '80s drew to a close, the magazine proclaimed him to be one of the Most Important Artists of the 1980s in a special end-of-decade issue. Outsider music expert Irwin Chusid
conducted the second interview and brought quite a bit of attention to Jandek by including an account of his own dealings with Corwood Industries
in his book Songs in the Key of Z: The Curious World of Outsider Music
, the accompanying album featuring a track from Ready for the House after Jandek called him in response to Chusid's request for information. Texas Monthly
reporter Katy Vine tracked down the "Corwood Representative" and gave an account of her experiences in the August 1999 issue. At Jandek's request Vine kept his name and address a secret.
In 2004 Unicorn Stencil Productions released the first documentary on Jandek, entitled 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. In October of the same year Jandek stunned the alternative music scene by playing live for what was probably the first time (see live performances section below for details).
In September 2006, author Danen Jobe announced the completion and publication of the first part of his Corwood-sanctioned novel Niagara Blues, released through Scottish publishers Single Cell Press. The book, representing Jobe's imagination of a possible biography of the artist, is almost entirely fictional; its protagonist shares with Jandek only his stage name, song catalog, and a few other facts. British publishers Halfcut Publications announced they would be releasing the complete version of the book in July 2011.
There have been a handful of live shows each year since 2004, and Corwood intends to release all of them on CD in addition to its studio albums. In fact, Corwood puts out more Jandek releases now than ever in its history, releasing five albums in 2005 alone. Summer 2006 saw the release of the first Corwood DVD, a video version of Glasgow Sunday
, Jandek's first live performance.
Duality of Self, a record of Jandek's performance in Toronto in September 2006 was premiered at the SXSW Music Festival and Film Festival in March 2007. Produced by Colin Brunton, Jim Mauro, Gary Topp and "The Representative from Corwood", the two hour concert film was directed by Brunton and editor Ryan Noth, using a five camera set up.
The second camp take up the opposite stance: they believe that Jandek is an artistic persona bearing little to no resemblance to any specific person. For them the questions regarding Jandek's "true identity", such as whether or not he is Smith, are completely irrelevant. Instead of seeing the Corwood catalogue as a "diary", these fans see it as the work of a self-conscious artist, its lyrics closer to fiction than autobiography. Many of Jandek's newer fans prefer some degree of this stance, and usually prefer to call him "the Representative from Corwood Industries" or "the Rep" for short, rather than Jandek.
For its part, Corwood has stated many times that the listener's impression of Jandek's music is far more important and interesting to the principal performer than his original intent for it.
, Scotland. This was Jandek's first known live appearance and he performed with Richard Youngs
(bass) and Alex Neilson
(drums). The man on stage was obviously the same man who appears on the album covers. As per Corwood's stipulations, the performance was not publicized in advance, nor was it identified as it happened or at any point afterwards. This performance, and all the subsequent performances up to the All Tomorrow's Parties
one, seem to have been initiated and organised by Barry Esson, whose company Arika stages music festivals in Scotland, including INSTAL and Music Lovers' Field Companion. David Tibet of Current 93
, who had headlined the festival the previous day, advised fans not only that none of the other artists knew of the performance but also that the word "Jandek" was never used, the man who performed alongside Youngs and Neilson being identified only as "a representative of Corwood Industries" (the full text of Tibet's messages to the Jandek mailing list can be read at Seth Tisue's website, linked below).
In May 2005, however, Jandek made 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 Glasgow show found Jandek playing piano with Youngs on bowed contrabass and Neilson on percussion. It later transpired that, as rumored at the time, this performance was a single song in many parts titled "The Cell". It lasted around 90 minutes and has been described as lacking the dissonance often associated with Jandek, instead being gentle and melodic with many of the piano parts resembling Erik Satie
. These first shows have since been released as Glasgow Sunday
, Newcastle Sunday
, and Glasgow Monday
.
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 United States, and he performed with Nick Hennies (drums), Chris Cogburn (drums), and Juan Garcia (bass); this performance has been released by Corwood under the title Austin Sunday
. He also did two nights of gigs in New York City. The first night has been released as the double CD "Manhattan Tuesday
". He was scheduled to play in New Orleans, Louisiana
on September 2, 2005 but the show was canceled due to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
. A Chicago
show was announced only two days in advance, then cancelled the next day because Hurricane Rita
was approaching Houston.
In October 2005, Jandek played three sets on two different days at Instal 2005 in Glasgow (including a collaboration with Loren Connors and a set with Youngs and Neilson, the latter being released in 2008 as Glasgow Friday
) and also performed alone in London
, accompanying himself with an acoustic guitar - to date, this is the only engagement the "Corwood Representative" has undertaken without additional musicians. In November, he played in Hasselt
, Belgium
and in Helsinki
. On March 10, 2006, he made his (unannounced) first performing appearance in his hometown of Houston, backing Loren Connors and Alan Licht
on bass and harmonica during their second set at Live Oak Friends Meeting House.
He also performed on guitar with a full backing band on April 20, 2006 at the Hollywood Theater in Portland, Oregon
, with Sam Coomes
of the band Quasi
on bass and Emil Amos from Grails
playing drums, plus backing vocalists Liz Harris ("Grouper") and Jessica Dennison. He returned to the UK in May to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival at Camber Sands
as well as playing two sets in one night in Bristol
and making a low-key, short notice return to Glasgow, once again in the company of Youngs and Neilson. A further London show was canceled without explanation.
Jandek performed twice in September 2006. The first show, in Toronto
, was performed at a renovated circus rehearsal space and continued the semi-classical/jazzy aspects of Glasgow Monday
, this time using a unique lineup of cymbals, double bass and a guitar played more for sound patterns than melody. The artist himself played the Korg keyboards again (as he had in Manhattan), and the performance was one extended piece. By contrast, three days later he played a high-amped rock set at the Empty Bottle in Chicago
with bassist Josh Abrams and Tortoise
drummer/producer John McEntire
that featured lyrics recounting a prison stay. Jandek played a show in Seattle, Washington
at On the Boards
on October 27, 2006 with the same lineup as the Portland performance earlier that year, and he ended 2006 with a concert in Indianapolis
on December 9, 2006 in a church sanctuary attached to the Harrison Center for the Arts. That show included Nathan Vollmar of the band Rivulets on drums, and a female vocalist who also played viola and sang lead on a few tracks and a flute player, a first.
Reeds were experimented with more in Atlanta and Richmond, Virginia. At the former, he returned to piano, but was backed by violin, percussion and bass clarinet. At one point the group played a lengthy free-jazz song, with the Corwood Representative attacking the piano before slowing down, performing a song, and then returning to the free jazz. Richmond returned to a bluesier sound, but added saxophone. There were also (intentional) props at this show representing a living room and featuring items from Corwood covers (a mannequin, a guitar case, a gaudy couch, etc.). Jandek performed at the 2007 SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas on March 17, 2007 to a sold-out audience of 500 at Central Presbyterian Church.
On June 8, 2007, Jandek performed at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston at a show arranged by local curatorial entity The Critique of Pure Reason. For this performance, Jandek played fretless bass guitar, and was supported by local improvisational musicians Greg Kelley (trumpet), Jorrit Dijkstra (alto saxophone, lyricon
), and Eli Keszler (percussion). This was the first live performance where Jandek played the bass. The show was sold out, with an audience of over 300 witnessing the two-hour-long performance.
Jandek performed at the Rose Marine Theater in Ft. Worth, Texas on July 21, 2007, with Texas musicians Will Johnson of Centro-matic
(drums), Ryan Williams of Baptist Generals (bass), pedal steel player Susan Alcorn
and Austin banjo player Ralph White. This Cowtown line-up also performed on Saturday March 15, 2008 at Austin's Central Presbyterian Church as part of a SXSW showcase of Houston-based experimental music curated by Signal To Noise magazine.
Jandek performed in Ann Arbor, Michigan
on May 17, 2008 at Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre with James Cornish (trumpet
) and Christian Matjias (harpsichord
) in a free concert event curated by WCBN-FM. The Corwood representative played hollow-body electric bass guitar. This performance was the first to feature a modern improvisational dancer, Biba Bell. On Friday June 13, 2008, Jandek performed a solo acoustic set in the Douglas Hyde Gallery
in Dublin, Ireland
. The performance was accompanied by an exhibition of Jandek album covers and a catalogue published by the gallery. On July 25, 2008, Jandek performed at the Bug Theatre in Denver, Colorado
, his first-ever in the state and one of the few in the west.
On October 10, 2008, Jandek performed in Columbus, Ohio
at The Wexner Center for the Arts. The lineup featured Jandek (rumored to be playing a Korg synthesizer
), C. Spencer Yeh on violin, Derek Dicenzo on elec. bass, and Ryan Jewell on percussion. This was his first-ever show in Ohio. On December 1 that same year, he made his first appearance in Florida
at the Hippodrome State Theatre in Gainesville
, performing on bass and harmonica alongside Rob Rushin on guitar and Chad Voight on drums.
On April 5, 2009, Jandek performed in Houston, Texas
at his first-ever public performance in his hometown. His only other appearance in Houston was a walk-on with improvisational duo Loren Connors and Alan Licht
in 2006. The performance was a matinee show held at Rudyard's Pub and was coordinated by Andy Bradley, chief engineer of Sugar Hill Recordings. Andy paired Jandek with two session musicians for the live event which consisted of a bass and drum funk improvisation accompanying Jandek's guitar and vocals. Jandek used a black pearl Godin
Freeway SA electric guitar directly into a Line 6 Spider 2x10" combo amplifier.
Jandek performed with David Keenan on drums and Heather Leigh on bass in four venues across Northern Ireland
in July 2009. Billed as Jandek's "first ever tour", it took place in Larne
, Bangor
, Belfast
and Derry
, with Christina Carter providing support.
On September 19, 2009, Jandek performed solo at the Incubate
festival in Tilburg
, Netherlands
.
On December 8, 2009, Jandek performed on electric guitar with Jeffrey Allport (drums), Wendy Atkinson (electric bass), Josh Stevenson (EMS Synthi AKS), and Rachael Wadham (zither) in Vancouver, British Columbia. On December 9, 2009, Jandek performed with Dave Chokroun (double bass) and Jeremy van Wyck (drums, also in Shearing Pinx
) in Victoria, British Columbia. Local duo Forms (Will Ballantyne on guitar and drums, Ethan Lustig on drums and piano) opened.
He performed again with Murray and Keenan at the Gaelic Club and the Mu-Meson Archives in Sydney
as part of his Australian tour in March 2010.
On August 5, 2010, Jandek performed at the Pittsburgh Center For The Arts in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was accompanied by Dean Cercone on guitar, Andrew McKeon on percussion, and Spat Cannon on double bass.
On November 12, 2010, Jandek performed at the Davis Veterans Memorial Theatre in Davis
, California. He was accompanied by Christian Kiefer on guitar, Alex Jenkins on drums, and Greg Brucker on double bass.
On January 8, 2011, Jandek performed at the Crystal Cove Auditorium at UC Irvine in Irvine
, California. He was accompanied by Mike Watt
on bass and BJ Miller (of HEALTH
) on drums.
On April 26, 2011, "A Representative from Corwood Industries" performed two songs, LIVE on-the-air on KTRU Radio, 91.7 FM, Houston, Texas (Rice University Radio), with just vocals and acoustic guitar. For the first time ever, he addressed his listeners directly and introduced the two songs ("Prelude from a Tear" and "For Emma"), both of them written specifically for the occasion, before playing them.
Outsider music
Outsider music, a term coined by Irwin Chusid in the mid-1990s, are songs and compositions by musicians who are not part of the commercial music industry who write songs that ignore standard musical or lyrical conventions, either because they have no formal training or because they disagree with...
ian who operates out of Houston, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. Since 1978, Jandek has self-released over 60 albums of unusual, often emotionally dissolute folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and blues songs without ever granting more than the occasional interview or providing any biographical information. Jandek often plays a highly idiosyncratic and frequently atonal
Atonality
Atonality in its broadest sense describes music that lacks a tonal center, or key. Atonality in this sense usually describes compositions written from about 1908 to the present day where a hierarchy of pitches focusing on a single, central tone is not used, and the notes of the chromatic scale...
form of folk and blues music, often using an open and unconventional chord structure
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
. Jandek's music is unique, but the lyrics closely mirror the country blues
Country blues
Country blues is a general term that refers to all the acoustic, mainly guitar-driven forms of the blues. It often incorporated elements of rural gospel, ragtime, hillbilly, and dixieland jazz...
and folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
traditions of East Texas
East Texas
East Texas is a distinct geographic and ecological area in the U.S. state of Texas.According to the Handbook of Texas, the East Texas area "may be separated from the rest of Texas roughly by a line extending from the Red River in north central Lamar County southwestward to east central Limestone...
. The name "Jandek" is most commonly used to refer specifically to the main—often sole—performer, rather than to the project.
Identity
Only a handful of people claimed to have successfully contacted Jandek before he began regularly playing in public (see below). He releases albums through his own record label Corwood IndustriesCorwood Industries
Corwood Industries is a Houston, Texas-based company whose only output would appear to be the music of Jandek. It is not known what other ventures, if any, that Corwood Industries may be involved with....
, keeping a Houston post office box so fans can write to Corwood for a typewritten catalogue and order Jandek’s albums, usually at inexpensive prices. Many of his albums feature pictures of a certain man at various ages; although it seemed likely, it was not until Jandek's live debut in 2004 that it became certain that the man depicted on the album covers was the principal performer.
Jandek now often performs live with other musicians, but these collaborations remain the extent of his engagement with the public.
Although never formally confirmed, it is widely accepted that Jandek's real name is Sterling Richard Smith (probably born October 26, 1945); a review of Ready for the House
Ready for the House
Ready for the House is the debut album by Jandek, and was released in 1978 by his own Corwood Industries label, with the catalog number #0739. The artist has said in letters that the number was meaningless. Corwood Industries reissued the album three times on CD, first in 1999, then sometime in the...
in OP magazine, the first ever national press given to Jandek, refers to the artist as Sterling Smith, checks written to Corwood come back endorsed by Smith, and Smith is listed as the claimant in the copyright records for Jandek's albums at the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
. Despite this evidence, Corwood never uses the name in connection with Jandek, and, in turn, many of Jandek's fans respectfully maintain this separation. He is widely believed to live in the area of Houston, Texas, as this is the location of the post office box (No. 15375) which has been used by Corwood from the beginning. There is also a telephone number for Corwood Industries listed in the phone book for the area. Corwood happens to share the number with "Sterling Smith Corporation", which appears to be a stock and securities broker.
Personal history
Smith has kept his personal history an almost absolute secret, revealing only one story about his pre-Corwood years: he wrote seven novels but burned them upon rejection from New YorkNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
publishers. Aside from that anecdote, virtually nothing is known about his life. He is rumored to have grown up, or at least spent time, in Providence
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
, Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
. This suggestion is not baseless – a handful of early Jandek songs mention either the state itself or the Rhode Island town of Point Judith
Point Judith
Point Judith is a village and a small cape, on the coast of Narragansett, Rhode Island, on the western side of Narragansett Bay where it opens out onto Rhode Island Sound....
. It has also been suggested that he is well traveled, as several album sleeves depict locations that have been formally identified as being outside the United States. This, however, presumes that all pictures that do not depict Smith were taken by him.
In one of his just two known interviews (given in 1985 to John Trubee for Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
Magazine), Jandek mentioned that he was working at that time as a machinist.
Music
Jandek's first album, Ready for the HouseReady for the House
Ready for the House is the debut album by Jandek, and was released in 1978 by his own Corwood Industries label, with the catalog number #0739. The artist has said in letters that the number was meaningless. Corwood Industries reissued the album three times on CD, first in 1999, then sometime in the...
, though obviously a solo work, was originally credited to a band called The Units. As explained in an interview in the first issue of Spin, Smith was forced to change the name by an identically named Californian group
The Units
The Units are a defunct, early electronic music/punk rock/New Wave/synthpunk band founded in San Francisco in 1978 and active until 1984.One of America's first electronic New Wave bands, they are widely cited as pioneers of a genre now known as "synthpunk." The Units were notable for their use of...
already in possession of a copyright. All reissues of this first album and all subsequent Corwood releases have been credited to "Jandek". In Trubee's interview, Smith claims he came up with the name Jandek while on the telephone with a person named Decker during the month of January. Smith's initial use of a plural band name (and Corwood's curious tendency to refer to Jandek as "a representative from Corwood Industries") has led some fans to suggest that the reclusive artist intended his oeuvre to be perceived as the work of an anonymous collective rather than that of a single man. Indeed, though roughly two-thirds of his records are solo affairs, the other third have variably featured female vocalists, different male vocalists, bass guitar, electric guitar, drums, and accordion. These contributions are usually credited to outside collaborators, but in the Spin interview as well as a letter to DJ Irwin Chusid
Irwin Chusid
Irwin Chusid is a journalist, music historian, radio personality and self-described "landmark preservationist." His stated mission has been to "find things on the scrapheap of history that I know don't belong there and salvage them." Those "things" have included such previously overlooked but...
the artist admitted to having overdubbed parts himself on occasion, such as on the album The Rocks Crumble
The Rocks Crumble
The Rocks Crumble is the eighth Jandek album, released as Corwood 0746. It is his third release of 1983, and is the first Jandek album to feature extensive use of drums and electric guitar...
. No proper credits list has ever appeared on an album, but song titles have included "Nancy Sings" and "John Plays Drums", though those pieces are two different versions of the same song.
One early theory suggested that all the music was recorded in a single, feverish, possibly manic phase and that after 19 albums the releases would stop. This appeared, for a moment, as if it might have some validity - the 21st album, Lost Cause
Lost Cause (album)
Lost Cause is the twenty-first album by Jandek, and his only of 1992. Corwood Industries release #0759, it marks the end of the "electric phase" and, really, of an era...
, finished with a sidelong piece called "The Electric End", a crazed instrumental featuring shouted vocals, electric guitar, and microphone feedback. Instead, this seems to have marked the end of the "first band phase." Then the 22nd album arrived and returned to the acoustic and vocal sound that is found on most of the first six Corwood albums (often referred to as "the first acoustic phase"). This continued unabated for seven albums until, in 1999, The Beginning
The Beginning (Jandek album)
The Beginning is the twenty-eighth album by Jandek. It was released in 1999, and was given Corwood Industries release number 0766. It is considered the final album of Jandek's "second acoustic phase".- Track listing :#"It's February"...
was released, which featured a side-long work of instrumental piano. This ushered in the most controversial period of albums in Corwood's history - three albums of unaccompanied voice. Seemingly recorded on a voice-activated tape recorder, these "spoken word songs" ran up to half an hour in length and taxed even the most devoted followers. After these albums, though, the direction changed again and Jandek returned to a voice and guitar (with occasional harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
) mixture, though things were different. The guitar was often electric and the voice was decidedly older than that on the previous albums. Further albums have continued the solo approach, though the instrument used has occasionally been a fretless bass, and the songs have stretched progressively longer and the lyrics have become even more personal. Though Corwood still releases albums like this (the most recent is What Was Out There Disappeared), they are now alternated with releases of the live band shows, which are remarkably different and feature unusually tight playing. He currently records at Houston's Sugar Hill studios.
Some of Jandek's allure stems from his small but devoted fan base that includes Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
, Bill Callahan, Mike Watt
Mike Watt
Michael David Watt is an American bassist, singer and songwriter.He is best known for co-founding the rock bands Minutemen, dos, and Firehose; , he is also the bassist for the reunited Stooges and a member of the art rock/jazz/punk/improv group Banyan as well as many other post-Minutemen...
, John Darnielle
John Darnielle
John Darnielle is an American musician, best known as the primary member of the American band The Mountain Goats, for which he is the writer, composer, guitarist, and vocalist.-Places Darnielle has lived:...
of The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats is an American indie rock band formed in Claremont, CA by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. For many years, the sole member of the Mountain Goats was Darnielle himself, despite the plural moniker....
, Low
Low (band)
Low is an American indie rock group from Duluth, Minnesota, formed in 1993. As of 2010, the group is composed of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker , both founding members, and Steve Garrington ....
, Ben Gibbard
Ben Gibbard
Benjamin "Ben" Gibbard is an American musician known as a member of several successful indie rock bands. He is the lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service, and is also known for his project ¡All-Time Quarterback! and his first band, Pinwheel.-Personal life and career:Gibbard was...
of Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie is an American alternative rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1997. The band consists of Ben Gibbard , Chris Walla , Nick Harmer and Jason McGerr ....
, Matt Cameron
Matt Cameron
Matthew David "Matt" Cameron is an American musician who serves as the drummer for the American rock bands Pearl Jam and Soundgarden...
of Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
, Bright Eyes and K Records
K Records
K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington, co-founded, owned, and operated by Calvin Johnson, formerly of the bands Cool Rays, Beat Happening, The Go Team, The Halo Benders and presently in the bands Dub Narcotic Sound System and The Hive Dwellers...
founder Calvin Johnson. In the 1980s and 1990s most fans stumbled into the world of Jandek after hearing his music on college radio or freeform stations like WFMU
WFMU
WFMU is a listener-supported, independent community radio station headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States, broadcasting at 91.1 MHz FM, presenting a freeform radio format...
and WCBN-FM, but as the 21st century approached Jandek was just as likely to catch fans through the internet. An "unofficial Jandek website" was founded by Seth Tisue in 1997. It includes complete descriptions of each album and concert and the archives of the Jandek Discussion List.
In the media
Jandek has given only two phone interviews in his entire career, the first conducted by fellow outsider artist John Trubee, for the aforementioned SpinSpin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
article in 1985. In it, he admitted to having had 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 '80s drew to a close, the magazine proclaimed him to be one of the Most Important Artists of the 1980s in a special end-of-decade issue. Outsider music expert Irwin Chusid
Irwin Chusid
Irwin Chusid is a journalist, music historian, radio personality and self-described "landmark preservationist." His stated mission has been to "find things on the scrapheap of history that I know don't belong there and salvage them." Those "things" have included such previously overlooked but...
conducted the second interview and brought quite a bit of attention to Jandek by including an account of his own dealings with Corwood Industries
Corwood Industries
Corwood Industries is a Houston, Texas-based company whose only output would appear to be the music of Jandek. It is not known what other ventures, if any, that Corwood Industries may be involved with....
in his book Songs in the Key of Z: The Curious World of Outsider Music
Songs in the Key of Z
Songs in the Key of Z is the title of a book and two compilation albums written and compiled by Irwin Chusid. The book and albums explore the field of what Chusid coined as "outsider music"...
, the accompanying album featuring a track from Ready for the House after Jandek called him in response to Chusid's request for information. Texas Monthly
Texas Monthly
Texas Monthly is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Austin, Texas. Texas Monthly is published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. and was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, Texas Monthly chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the environment, industry, and education...
reporter Katy Vine tracked down the "Corwood Representative" and gave an account of her experiences in the August 1999 issue. At Jandek's request Vine kept his name and address a secret.
In 2004 Unicorn Stencil Productions released the first documentary on Jandek, entitled Jandek on Corwood
Jandek on Corwood
Jandek on Corwood is a documentary about veteran reclusive folk/blues artist Jandek. Unlike most popular music documentaries, the subject himself is not seen in the film in any way; instead, various critics, disc jockeys and journalists, many of whom have had some contact with the notoriously...
. 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
Gary Pig Gold
Gary Pig Gold is a singer-songwriter, record producer, filmmaker and author. His fanzine was Canada’s first independently-published music magazine, and among the recording artists he has worked with are Pat Boone, Dave Rave, Endless Summer, Simply Saucer and Shane Faubert.-History:He formed his...
, 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. In October of the same year Jandek stunned the alternative music scene by playing live for what was probably the first time (see live performances section below for details).
In September 2006, author Danen Jobe announced the completion and publication of the first part of his Corwood-sanctioned novel Niagara Blues, released through Scottish publishers Single Cell Press. The book, representing Jobe's imagination of a possible biography of the artist, is almost entirely fictional; its protagonist shares with Jandek only his stage name, song catalog, and a few other facts. British publishers Halfcut Publications announced they would be releasing the complete version of the book in July 2011.
There have been a handful of live shows each year since 2004, and Corwood intends to release all of them on CD in addition to its studio albums. In fact, Corwood puts out more Jandek releases now than ever in its history, releasing five albums in 2005 alone. Summer 2006 saw the release of the first Corwood DVD, a video version of Glasgow Sunday
Glasgow Sunday
Glasgow Sunday is the second of four albums released in 2005 by musician Jandek on Corwood Industries, as . His 41st overall, it was recorded live on October 17, 2004 at The Arches, Glasgow, as part of the Instal festival...
, Jandek's first live performance.
Duality of Self, a record of Jandek's performance in Toronto in September 2006 was premiered at the SXSW Music Festival and Film Festival in March 2007. Produced by Colin Brunton, Jim Mauro, Gary Topp and "The Representative from Corwood", the two hour concert film was directed by Brunton and editor Ryan Noth, using a five camera set up.
Interpretations
Since Corwood persistently declines to provide any further information, Jandek's fanbase has become fertile ground for various interpretations of both his music and persona. The range of different theories and beliefs are impossible to sum up, but they tend to fall on a spectrum between two extremes. The first see Jandek's persona as entirely transparent – not really a persona at all. They view his albums as a sort of "musical diary", contending that the feeling in his music is too personal, guileless, and extreme in its emotions to be entirely or even (for the stalwarts) partially imagined. As a result these fans are more likely to be interested in the artist's biographical information and are more likely to believe that he is Sterling R. Smith, and that a conceptual separation between the two is largely meaningless. This stance was more popular earlier in Jandek's career.The second camp take up the opposite stance: they believe that Jandek is an artistic persona bearing little to no resemblance to any specific person. For them the questions regarding Jandek's "true identity", such as whether or not he is Smith, are completely irrelevant. Instead of seeing the Corwood catalogue as a "diary", these fans see it as the work of a self-conscious artist, its lyrics closer to fiction than autobiography. Many of Jandek's newer fans prefer some degree of this stance, and usually prefer to call him "the Representative from Corwood Industries" or "the Rep" for short, rather than Jandek.
For its part, Corwood has stated many times that the listener's impression of Jandek's music is far more important and interesting to the principal performer than his original intent for it.
Live performances
The mystery of Jandek's identity was partially resolved in October 2004 when he performed live at the Instal 04 music festival in GlasgowGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland. This was Jandek's first known live appearance and he performed with Richard Youngs
Richard Youngs
Richard Youngs is a British musician with a prolific and diverse output, including many collaborations. Based in Glasgow since the early 1990s, his extensive back catalogue of solo and collaborative work formally begins with Advent, first issued in 1990...
(bass) and Alex Neilson
Alex Neilson
Alex Neilson is an English drummer, percussionist and singer who is currently based in Glasgow but grew up in Leeds. He has performed alongside a large number of bands and artists including Lucky Luke, The One Ensemble Of Daniel Padden, Ashtray Navigations, Alastair Galbraith, Isobel Campbell,...
(drums). The man on stage was obviously the same man who appears on the album covers. As per Corwood's stipulations, the performance was not publicized in advance, nor was it identified as it happened or at any point afterwards. This performance, and all the subsequent performances up to the All Tomorrow's Parties
All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)
All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....
one, seem to have been initiated and organised by Barry Esson, whose company Arika stages music festivals in Scotland, including INSTAL and Music Lovers' Field Companion. David Tibet of Current 93
Current 93
Current 93 is an eclectic British experimental music group, working since the early 1980s in folk-based musical forms. The band was founded in 1982 by David Tibet .-Background:Tibet has been the only constant in the group, though Steven Stapleton has appeared on...
, who had headlined the festival the previous day, advised fans not only that none of the other artists knew of the performance but also that the word "Jandek" was never used, the man who performed alongside Youngs and Neilson being identified only as "a representative of Corwood Industries" (the full text of Tibet's messages to the Jandek mailing list can be read at Seth Tisue's website, linked below).
In May 2005, however, Jandek made appearances at the Music Lovers’ Field Companion festival in Gateshead
Gateshead
Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England and is the main settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. Historically a part of County Durham, it lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne opposite Newcastle upon Tyne and together they form the urban core of Tyneside...
, 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 Glasgow show found Jandek playing piano with Youngs on bowed contrabass and Neilson on percussion. It later transpired that, as rumored at the time, this performance was a single song in many parts titled "The Cell". It lasted around 90 minutes and has been described as lacking the dissonance often associated with Jandek, instead being gentle and melodic with many of the piano parts resembling Erik Satie
Erik Satie
Éric Alfred Leslie Satie was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde...
. These first shows have since been released as Glasgow Sunday
Glasgow Sunday
Glasgow Sunday is the second of four albums released in 2005 by musician Jandek on Corwood Industries, as . His 41st overall, it was recorded live on October 17, 2004 at The Arches, Glasgow, as part of the Instal festival...
, Newcastle Sunday
Newcastle Sunday
Newcastle Sunday is the 45th release by avant-folk/blues singer/songwriter Jandek, released by Corwood Industries. It is a recording of his second ever live performance, recorded at The Sage Gateshead, England....
, and Glasgow Monday
Glasgow Monday
Glasgow Monday is the 47th release, third live album, and second-ever double album release, from avant-folk/blues singer/songwriter Jandek. It is his fifth release of the year and features "The Corwood Representative" on piano and vocals, along with the same rhythm section he performed with at...
.
On August 28, 2005 he performed in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
(as scheduled) at the Scottish Rite
Scottish Rite
The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry , commonly known as simply the Scottish Rite, is one of several Rites of the worldwide fraternity known as Freemasonry...
Theatre and Temple to a sold-out audience. It was notably his first time ever to appear on stage in the United States, and he performed with Nick Hennies (drums), Chris Cogburn (drums), and Juan Garcia (bass); this performance has been released by Corwood under the title Austin Sunday
Austin Sunday
Austin Sunday is the 48th release overall and fourth live album by avant-folk/blues singer/songwriter Jandek. It is his sixth release of the year and documents Jandek's first ever American live performance, which took place in Austin, Texas on August 28, 2005...
. He also did two nights of gigs in New York City. The first night has been released as the double CD "Manhattan Tuesday
Manhattan Tuesday
Manhattan Tuesday is a live album by Jandek released in 2007, and is the 50th album released by Corwood Industries since 1978. It was recorded at the Anthology Film Archives in Manhattan on September 6th 2005...
". He was scheduled to play in New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
on September 2, 2005 but the show was canceled due to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
. A Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
show was announced only two days in advance, then cancelled the next day because Hurricane Rita
Hurricane Rita
Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 2005...
was approaching Houston.
In October 2005, Jandek played three sets on two different days at Instal 2005 in Glasgow (including a collaboration with Loren Connors and a set with Youngs and Neilson, the latter being released in 2008 as Glasgow Friday
Glasgow Friday
Glasgow Friday is a live album by Jandek released in 2008. It is Jandek's 53rd release. The album was recorded on 14 October 2005 at The Arches in Glasgow. Jandek was performing as part of the Instal festival, the same festival and venue at which he had made his unannounced live debut in 2004...
) and also performed alone in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, accompanying himself with an acoustic guitar - to date, this is the only engagement the "Corwood Representative" has undertaken without additional musicians. In November, he played in Hasselt
Hasselt
Hasselt is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital of the Flemish province of Limburg...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
. On March 10, 2006, he made his (unannounced) first performing appearance in his hometown of Houston, backing Loren Connors and Alan Licht
Alan Licht
Alan Licht is an American guitarist and composer, whose work combines elements of pop, noise, free jazz and minimalism. He is also a writer and journalist.-Biography:Licht was born in New Jersey in 1968...
on bass and harmonica during their second set at Live Oak Friends Meeting House.
He also performed on guitar with a full backing band on April 20, 2006 at the Hollywood Theater in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, with Sam Coomes
Sam Coomes
Samuel J. Coomes is an American musician, and currently one-third of the Portland-area indie band Quasi, along with drummer and ex-wife Janet Weiss and bassist Joanna Bolme...
of the band Quasi
Quasi
Quasi is an American indie rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1993 by ex-husband and wife Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss . Since 2007 the group has been a trio, following the addition of bassist Joanna Bolme.-History:In 1990 , Coomes, Weiss, and Brad Pedinov formed the band Motorgoat...
on bass and Emil Amos from Grails
Grails (band)
Grails is an American instrumental rock band from Portland, Oregon.-Biography:Initially going by the name "Laurel Canyon", guitarist Alex Hall, drummer Emil Amos and second guitarist Paul Spitz garnered positive reactions following their first show, played on a whim...
playing drums, plus backing vocalists Liz Harris ("Grouper") and Jessica Dennison. He returned to the UK in May to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival at Camber Sands
Camber Sands
For historical information on the area, see Camber articleCamber Sands is a beach at the village of Camber , East Sussex, England...
as well as playing two sets in one night in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
and making a low-key, short notice return to Glasgow, once again in the company of Youngs and Neilson. A further London show was canceled without explanation.
Jandek performed twice in September 2006. The first show, in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, was performed at a renovated circus rehearsal space and continued the semi-classical/jazzy aspects of Glasgow Monday
Glasgow Monday
Glasgow Monday is the 47th release, third live album, and second-ever double album release, from avant-folk/blues singer/songwriter Jandek. It is his fifth release of the year and features "The Corwood Representative" on piano and vocals, along with the same rhythm section he performed with at...
, this time using a unique lineup of cymbals, double bass and a guitar played more for sound patterns than melody. The artist himself played the Korg keyboards again (as he had in Manhattan), and the performance was one extended piece. By contrast, three days later he played a high-amped rock set at the Empty Bottle in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
with bassist Josh Abrams and Tortoise
Tortoise
Tortoises are a family of land-dwelling reptiles of the order of turtles . Like their marine cousins, the sea turtles, tortoises are shielded from predators by a shell. The top part of the shell is the carapace, the underside is the plastron, and the two are connected by the bridge. The tortoise...
drummer/producer John McEntire
John McEntire
John McEntire is an American recording engineer, drummer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best-known for being in Tortoise and The Sea and Cake, as well as being a highly in-demand producer and engineer....
that featured lyrics recounting a prison stay. Jandek played a show in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
at On the Boards
On the Boards
On the Boards is a non-profit contemporary performing arts organization in Seattle, Washington, founded in 1978. Originally located at Washington Hall in the Central District, the organization moved in 1998 to their current location in Lower Queen Anne...
on October 27, 2006 with the same lineup as the Portland performance earlier that year, and he ended 2006 with a concert in Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
on December 9, 2006 in a church sanctuary attached to the Harrison Center for the Arts. That show included Nathan Vollmar of the band Rivulets on drums, and a female vocalist who also played viola and sang lead on a few tracks and a flute player, a first.
Reeds were experimented with more in Atlanta and Richmond, Virginia. At the former, he returned to piano, but was backed by violin, percussion and bass clarinet. At one point the group played a lengthy free-jazz song, with the Corwood Representative attacking the piano before slowing down, performing a song, and then returning to the free jazz. Richmond returned to a bluesier sound, but added saxophone. There were also (intentional) props at this show representing a living room and featuring items from Corwood covers (a mannequin, a guitar case, a gaudy couch, etc.). Jandek performed at the 2007 SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas on March 17, 2007 to a sold-out audience of 500 at Central Presbyterian Church.
On June 8, 2007, Jandek performed at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston at a show arranged by local curatorial entity The Critique of Pure Reason. For this performance, Jandek played fretless bass guitar, and was supported by local improvisational musicians Greg Kelley (trumpet), Jorrit Dijkstra (alto saxophone, lyricon
Lyricon
The Lyricon is an electronic wind instrument, the first wind controller to be constructed.Invented by Bill Bernardi , it was manufactured by a company called Computone Inc in Massachusetts...
), and Eli Keszler (percussion). This was the first live performance where Jandek played the bass. The show was sold out, with an audience of over 300 witnessing the two-hour-long performance.
Jandek performed at the Rose Marine Theater in Ft. Worth, Texas on July 21, 2007, with Texas musicians Will Johnson of Centro-matic
Centro-Matic
Centro-Matic is an alternative country band based in Denton, Texas. It started in 1995 as a side-project for Will Johnson. It released a few singles that year and grew into a full-fledged group in 1997. The initial 60 songs recorded in a Millstadt, Illinois studio supplied the material for the...
(drums), Ryan Williams of Baptist Generals (bass), pedal steel player Susan Alcorn
Susan Alcorn
Susan Alcorn is an American composer, improvisor, and pedal steel guitarist active in contemporary music and free improvisation.-Life:...
and Austin banjo player Ralph White. This Cowtown line-up also performed on Saturday March 15, 2008 at Austin's Central Presbyterian Church as part of a SXSW showcase of Houston-based experimental music curated by Signal To Noise magazine.
Jandek performed in Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
on May 17, 2008 at Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre with James Cornish (trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
) and Christian Matjias (harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
) in a free concert event curated by WCBN-FM. The Corwood representative played hollow-body electric bass guitar. This performance was the first to feature a modern improvisational dancer, Biba Bell. On Friday June 13, 2008, Jandek performed a solo acoustic set in the Douglas Hyde Gallery
Douglas Hyde Gallery
The Douglas Hyde Gallery is a publicly-funded contemporary art gallery situated within the historical setting of Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.When the Gallery opened in 1978, it was for a number of years Ireland's only public gallery of contemporary art...
in Dublin, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. The performance was accompanied by an exhibition of Jandek album covers and a catalogue published by the gallery. On July 25, 2008, Jandek performed at the Bug Theatre in Denver, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, his first-ever in the state and one of the few in the west.
On October 10, 2008, Jandek performed in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
at The Wexner Center for the Arts. The lineup featured Jandek (rumored to be playing a Korg synthesizer
Korg
is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instruments, audio processors and guitar pedals, recording equipment, and electronic tuners...
), C. Spencer Yeh on violin, Derek Dicenzo on elec. bass, and Ryan Jewell on percussion. This was his first-ever show in Ohio. On December 1 that same year, he made his first appearance in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
at the Hippodrome State Theatre in Gainesville
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
, performing on bass and harmonica alongside Rob Rushin on guitar and Chad Voight on drums.
On April 5, 2009, Jandek performed in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
at his first-ever public performance in his hometown. His only other appearance in Houston was a walk-on with improvisational duo Loren Connors and Alan Licht
Alan Licht
Alan Licht is an American guitarist and composer, whose work combines elements of pop, noise, free jazz and minimalism. He is also a writer and journalist.-Biography:Licht was born in New Jersey in 1968...
in 2006. The performance was a matinee show held at Rudyard's Pub and was coordinated by Andy Bradley, chief engineer of Sugar Hill Recordings. Andy paired Jandek with two session musicians for the live event which consisted of a bass and drum funk improvisation accompanying Jandek's guitar and vocals. Jandek used a black pearl Godin
Godin (Guitar Manufacturer)
- History :Godin started building Robert Godin's guitars in 1972 in La Patrie, Quebec.Godin Guitars' head office is located in Montreal, and they build their instruments in six factories in four different locations, three in Quebec and one in New Hampshire....
Freeway SA electric guitar directly into a Line 6 Spider 2x10" combo amplifier.
Jandek performed with David Keenan on drums and Heather Leigh on bass in four venues across Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
in July 2009. Billed as Jandek's "first ever tour", it took place in Larne
Larne
Larne is a substantial seaport and industrial market town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland with a population of 18,228 people in the 2001 Census. As of 2011, there are about 31,000 residents in the greater Larne area. It has been used as a seaport for over 1,000 years, and is...
, Bangor
Bangor, County Down
Bangor is a large town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is a seaside resort on the southern side of Belfast Lough and within the Belfast Metropolitan Area. Bangor Marina is one of the largest in Ireland, and holds Blue Flag status...
, Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
and Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
, with Christina Carter providing support.
On September 19, 2009, Jandek performed solo at the Incubate
Incubate (festival)
Incubate is a multidisciplinary arts festival in Tilburg, the Netherlands. On June 16, the festival changed it name into Incubate after a request by the Austin, US based festival SXSW to change its name. Between 2005 and 2008 the festival was called ZXZW....
festival in Tilburg
Tilburg
Tilburg is a landlocked municipality and a city in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of Noord-Brabant.Tilburg municipality also includes the villages of Berkel-Enschot and Udenhout....
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
On December 8, 2009, Jandek performed on electric guitar with Jeffrey Allport (drums), Wendy Atkinson (electric bass), Josh Stevenson (EMS Synthi AKS), and Rachael Wadham (zither) in Vancouver, British Columbia. On December 9, 2009, Jandek performed with Dave Chokroun (double bass) and Jeremy van Wyck (drums, also in Shearing Pinx
Shearing Pinx
Shearing Pinx are an Experimental/Punk rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Formed in 2005, the band is made up of Nic Hughes and Jeremy Van Wyck ....
) in Victoria, British Columbia. Local duo Forms (Will Ballantyne on guitar and drums, Ethan Lustig on drums and piano) opened.
He performed again with Murray and Keenan at the Gaelic Club and the Mu-Meson Archives in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
as part of his Australian tour in March 2010.
On August 5, 2010, Jandek performed at the Pittsburgh Center For The Arts in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was accompanied by Dean Cercone on guitar, Andrew McKeon on percussion, and Spat Cannon on double bass.
On November 12, 2010, Jandek performed at the Davis Veterans Memorial Theatre in Davis
Davis, California
Davis is a city in Yolo County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, California. He was accompanied by Christian Kiefer on guitar, Alex Jenkins on drums, and Greg Brucker on double bass.
On January 8, 2011, Jandek performed at the Crystal Cove Auditorium at UC Irvine in Irvine
Irvine, California
Irvine is a suburban incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated on December 28, 1971, the city has a population of 212,375 as of the 2010 census. However, the California...
, California. He was accompanied by Mike Watt
Mike Watt
Michael David Watt is an American bassist, singer and songwriter.He is best known for co-founding the rock bands Minutemen, dos, and Firehose; , he is also the bassist for the reunited Stooges and a member of the art rock/jazz/punk/improv group Banyan as well as many other post-Minutemen...
on bass and BJ Miller (of HEALTH
HEALTH (band)
Health is an American noise rock band from Los Angeles, California. The band's 2007 release with Crystal Castles charted at position nine in the UK indie singles chart.- History :...
) on drums.
On April 26, 2011, "A Representative from Corwood Industries" performed two songs, LIVE on-the-air on KTRU Radio, 91.7 FM, Houston, Texas (Rice University Radio), with just vocals and acoustic guitar. For the first time ever, he addressed his listeners directly and introduced the two songs ("Prelude from a Tear" and "For Emma"), both of them written specifically for the occasion, before playing them.
Discography
This is the discography of Corwood Industries Corwood Industries Corwood Industries is a Houston, Texas-based company whose only output would appear to be the music of Jandek. It is not known what other ventures, if any, that Corwood Industries may be involved with.... ; the record company releases only albums by Jandek.
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External links
- http://www.corwoodindustries.com/ Corwood Industries homepage
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0902294/ details on feature DVD Duality of Self
- Guide to Jandek by Seth Tisue
- Jandek on Corwood, a documentary film
- Single Cell Press publishers of "Niagra Blues: Slingerland" by Danen D. Jobe
- "JANDEK: The Great Disconnect" by Irwin Chusid
- 1999 interview with Texas Monthly
- Playing with Jandek, an interview with backing musicians on Dallas music blog We Shot J.R.
- Jandek on NPR, December 10, 2007