Jesse Sublett
Encyclopedia
Jesse Sublett is a musician and writer from Austin, Texas
. As a musician he is best-known for his long-running rock trio, The Skunks
. His essays and journalism have appeared in a wide range of publications, and he is also known for his mystery novels
featuring a bass-playing sleuth named Martin Fender.
, where he was valedictorian at Lyndon B. Johnson High School
. He attended Southwest Texas State University for two years, then moved to Austin in 1974.
in January 1978 with bandmates Bill Blackmon and Eddie Munoz. Soon thereafter, The Skunks and The Violators (a band that included Sublett on bass guitar along with Kathy Valentine
(later of the Go-Go's), Carla Olson, and Marilyn Dean) made their Austin debut at a University of Texas area club called Raul's
, marking the beginning of the punk/new wave scene in Austin.
Sublett left The Violators after six months to concentrate on the Skunks, and the Violators disbanded thereafter, but the Skunks recorded numerous singles, EP's and LP's, and played across the US, including the punk meccas of New York City, CBGB's and Max's Kansas City
. Sublett sang and played electric bass in the band. He also wrote most of the band's original material. Munoz left the band at the end of 1978 to join the Plimsouls. With his replacement on guitar, Jon Dee Graham
, the band saw some touring success as headliners and as opening act for The Clash
, The Ramones, and John Cale
. The band more or less disbanded in 1983 but more recently have performed annual reunion shows at their favorite Austin club, the Continental Club.
Sublett is also credited with naming the "New Sincerity
" movement of alternative rock
bands that arose in Austin from about 1985 to 1990, and who were perceived as reacting to the more ironic outlook of punk rock
and New Wave
bands. He used the phrase during a casual conversation with his friend, local music writer Margaret Moser. Moser began using the term in print, and it ended up becoming the catch phrase for these bands.
Sublett played in numerous other ensembles over the years, including a stint playing with ex-Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor
and Carla Olson, as well as a band called World's Cutest Killers featuring Kathy Valentine, Kelly Johnson (Girlschool
) and Jebin Bruni (Public Image Ltd.
). Sublett currently performs in various club ensembles, variously known as Jesse Sublett's Big Three Trio and The Murder Ballad Show (the latter featuring his longtime collaborator and friend, Jon Dee Graham
). His most recent musical performances feature his upright bass work, a grittier vocal style and an ongoing fascination with the work of Howlin' Wolf
and various jazz, blues and traditional composers.
, critic Marion Winik described the book as "riveting" and chose it for Times list of "most surprising new books". Austin Chronicle
critic Greg Beets described it as "a gripping memoir that never feels forced or emotionally manipulative
. . . . Sublett's prose remains rich, fierce, and humbling."
"Adaptation," Sublett's 2008 piece in The Texas Observer
, chronicles his years-long work researching and writing a book about the Austin underworld of the 1950s-1970s, centered largely upon a group known as "The Overton Gang." Sublett's essays and journalism have also appeared in the New York Times, Texas Monthly
, and elsewhere.
Sublett's adaptation (written with director/producer Stephen Purvis and Tom Huckabee) of the Austin play In the West was produced as a feature film entitled Deep in the Heart (of Texas).
Sublett has also written extensively for non-fiction television, contributing to numerous series on The History Channel such as "The Great Ships," "Search and Rescue," and "Boneyards: The Secret Lives of Machines." A two-hour documentary, "The Killer Storm" (chronicling the so-called Perfect Storm of 1991), which Sublett wrote, aired on The History Channel in 1999 and also premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival
in Austin. An original stage play called Marathon debuted in 2007 with music by Austin-based singer-songwriter Darden Smith. In 2009, however, Sublett asserted his sole authorship of the play and announced that future productions will feature his own original score.
Sublett has also written a history of the Texas Turnpike Authority. His papers are collected in the Southwestern Writers Collection of the Witliff Collections of Alkek Library
at Texas State University–San Marcos
.
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 a musician he is best-known for his long-running rock trio, The Skunks
The Skunks
The Skunks are a three-piece rock band formed in 1977 in Austin, Texas.-History:The band debuted in early 1978 and quickly became a mainstay of the Austin, Texas scene, playing not only venues known for having an open-minded clientele, but clubs whose audiences crossed the spectrum, including the...
. His essays and journalism have appeared in a wide range of publications, and he is also known for his mystery novels
Detective fiction
Detective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...
featuring a bass-playing sleuth named Martin Fender.
Early life
Jesse Sublett was born in Johnson City, TexasJohnson City, Texas
Johnson City is a city in Blanco County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,191 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Blanco County. It was the hometown of President Lyndon Johnson and was founded by James Polk Johnson, nephew of Samuel Ealy Johnson, Sr., cousin to President Johnson....
, where he was valedictorian at Lyndon B. Johnson High School
Johnson City Independent School District
Johnson City Independent School District is a public school district based in Johnson City, Texas .Located in Blanco County, small portions of the district extend into Hays, Llano and Travis counties....
. He attended Southwest Texas State University for two years, then moved to Austin in 1974.
Music career
Sublett founded The SkunksThe Skunks
The Skunks are a three-piece rock band formed in 1977 in Austin, Texas.-History:The band debuted in early 1978 and quickly became a mainstay of the Austin, Texas scene, playing not only venues known for having an open-minded clientele, but clubs whose audiences crossed the spectrum, including the...
in January 1978 with bandmates Bill Blackmon and Eddie Munoz. Soon thereafter, The Skunks and The Violators (a band that included Sublett on bass guitar along with Kathy Valentine
Kathy Valentine
Kathy Valentine is the American bass guitarist for the all-girl rock band, The Go-Go's....
(later of the Go-Go's), Carla Olson, and Marilyn Dean) made their Austin debut at a University of Texas area club called Raul's
Raul's (night club)
Raul's was a live music nightclub at 2610 Guadalupe Street in Austin, Texas in the late 1970s and early 1980s, which specialized in punk rock music...
, marking the beginning of the punk/new wave scene in Austin.
Sublett left The Violators after six months to concentrate on the Skunks, and the Violators disbanded thereafter, but the Skunks recorded numerous singles, EP's and LP's, and played across the US, including the punk meccas of New York City, CBGB's and Max's Kansas City
Max's Kansas City
Max's Kansas City was a nightclub and restaurant at 213 Park Avenue South, in New York City, which was a gathering spot for musicians, poets, artists and politicians in the 1960s and 1970s.-Origin of name:...
. Sublett sang and played electric bass in the band. He also wrote most of the band's original material. Munoz left the band at the end of 1978 to join the Plimsouls. With his replacement on guitar, Jon Dee Graham
Jon Dee Graham
Jon Dee Graham is a musician, guitarist and songwriter from Austin, Texas. He was born February 28, 1959. Graham was named the Austin Musician of the Year during the South by Southwest music conference in 2006...
, the band saw some touring success as headliners and as opening act for The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
, The Ramones, and John Cale
John Cale
John Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
. The band more or less disbanded in 1983 but more recently have performed annual reunion shows at their favorite Austin club, the Continental Club.
Sublett is also credited with naming the "New Sincerity
New Sincerity
New sincerity is a term that has been used in music, aesthetics, film criticism, poetry, literary criticism and philosophy, generally to describe art or concepts that run against prevailing modes of postmodernist irony or cynicism.-New sincerity in music:...
" movement of alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
bands that arose in Austin from about 1985 to 1990, and who were perceived as reacting to the more ironic outlook of punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
and New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
bands. He used the phrase during a casual conversation with his friend, local music writer Margaret Moser. Moser began using the term in print, and it ended up becoming the catch phrase for these bands.
Sublett played in numerous other ensembles over the years, including a stint playing with ex-Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor
Mick Taylor
Michael Kevin "Mick" Taylor is an English musician, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and The Rolling Stones...
and Carla Olson, as well as a band called World's Cutest Killers featuring Kathy Valentine, Kelly Johnson (Girlschool
Girlschool
Girlschool are a British heavy metal band originating out of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal scene in 1978 and frequently associated with contemporaries Motörhead. They are the longest running all-female rock band, still active after more than 30 years...
) and Jebin Bruni (Public Image Ltd.
Public Image Ltd.
Public Image Ltd are an English post-punk band formed by vocalist John Lydon , guitarist Keith Levene and bassist Jah Wobble, with frequent subsequent personnel changes. Lydon is the sole constant member of the band....
). Sublett currently performs in various club ensembles, variously known as Jesse Sublett's Big Three Trio and The Murder Ballad Show (the latter featuring his longtime collaborator and friend, Jon Dee Graham
Jon Dee Graham
Jon Dee Graham is a musician, guitarist and songwriter from Austin, Texas. He was born February 28, 1959. Graham was named the Austin Musician of the Year during the South by Southwest music conference in 2006...
). His most recent musical performances feature his upright bass work, a grittier vocal style and an ongoing fascination with the work of Howlin' Wolf
Howlin' Wolf
Chester Arthur Burnett , known as Howlin' Wolf, was an influential American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player....
and various jazz, blues and traditional composers.
Writing career
Sublett began writing seriously in the 1980s. His first novel, Rock Critic Murders, was published by Viking Penguin in 1987, followed by Tough Baby and Boiled in Concrete. Sublett's 2004 memoir, Never the Same Again: A Rock 'N' Roll Gothic, relates the story of Sublett's girlfriend's murder when he was 22, his career with The Skunks, and his battle with throat cancer. Writing in the Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, critic Marion Winik described the book as "riveting" and chose it for Times list of "most surprising new books". Austin Chronicle
Austin Chronicle
The Austin Chronicle is an alternative weekly, tabloid-style newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demographic...
critic Greg Beets described it as "a gripping memoir that never feels forced or emotionally manipulative
Psychological manipulation
Psychological manipulation is a type of social influence that aims to change the perception or behavior of others through underhanded, deceptive, or even abusive tactics. By advancing the interests of the manipulator, often at the other's expense, such methods could be considered exploitative,...
. . . . Sublett's prose remains rich, fierce, and humbling."
"Adaptation," Sublett's 2008 piece in The Texas Observer
The Texas Observer
The Texas Observer is an American political newsmagazine published bi-weekly and based in Downtown Austin, Texas. The non-profit magazine is nonpartisan, but the publication has historically been an advocate for liberal politics...
, chronicles his years-long work researching and writing a book about the Austin underworld of the 1950s-1970s, centered largely upon a group known as "The Overton Gang." Sublett's essays and journalism have also appeared in the New York Times, 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...
, and elsewhere.
Sublett's adaptation (written with director/producer Stephen Purvis and Tom Huckabee) of the Austin play In the West was produced as a feature film entitled Deep in the Heart (of Texas).
Sublett has also written extensively for non-fiction television, contributing to numerous series on The History Channel such as "The Great Ships," "Search and Rescue," and "Boneyards: The Secret Lives of Machines." A two-hour documentary, "The Killer Storm" (chronicling the so-called Perfect Storm of 1991), which Sublett wrote, aired on The History Channel in 1999 and also premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
in Austin. An original stage play called Marathon debuted in 2007 with music by Austin-based singer-songwriter Darden Smith. In 2009, however, Sublett asserted his sole authorship of the play and announced that future productions will feature his own original score.
Sublett has also written a history of the Texas Turnpike Authority. His papers are collected in the Southwestern Writers Collection of the Witliff Collections of Alkek Library
Alkek Library
The Albert B. Alkek Library is the main central library of Texas State University - San Marcos in San Marcos, Texas. The Wittliff collections of Southwestern Writers and Southwestern & Mexican Photography is located on the seventh floor of the Alkek Library...
at Texas State University–San Marcos
Texas State University–San Marcos
Texas State University–San Marcos is a doctoral-granting university located in San Marcos, Texas...
.
External links
- Jesse Sublett official website
- Jesse Sublett's Little Black Book
- "Jesse Sublett: Never the Same Again: A Rock 'N' Roll Gothic", interview of Jesse Sublett at The WELLThe Well- Titled works :* The Well , 1986 novel by Elizabeth JolleyMusical albums:* The Well , by Waking Ashland* The Well, 2001, by Jennifer Warnes* The Well, a song from the "Come to the Well" album by christian group Casting Crowns...
, June 2004 (retrieved September 18, 2009).