Daniel Dale Johnston
(born January 22, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and artist. Johnston was the subject of the 2006 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston.
He currently lives in Waller, Texas.
Johnston has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. [1] [2] [3] One critic writes that Johnston's recordings range from "spotty to brilliant." [4]
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DANIEL JOHNSTON TICKETS
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Biography
Early life
Johnston was born in
Sacramento, California, and grew up in the northern panhandle of
West Virginia between
Ohio and
Pennsylvania near
Chester, West Virginia.
Johnston began recording
Beatles-inspired music in the late 1970s on a $59
Sanyo monaural Boombox, singing and playing
piano and
chord organ.
Following graduation from
Oak Glen High School, Johnston spent his first year away from home at
Abilene Christian University in West Texas. Later he attended the
East Liverpool branch of
Kent State University, which was closer to his hometown.
Music career
Johnston's musical work gained some notoriety when he moved to
Austin, Texas. Johnston began to attract the attention of the local press and gain a following augmented in numbers by his habit of handing out tapes to people he met. Live performances were well-attended and hotly anticipated.
[5]
His local standing led to him being featured in a 1985 episode of the
MTV program
The Cutting Edge
featuring performers from Austin's "
New Sincerity" music scene.
[6] Subsequently he performed at the 1985 Woodshock music festival in Austin, where he was featured in a short documentary of the festival,
Woodshock
.
Interest in Johnston increased when
Kurt Cobain was regularly photographed wearing a t-shirt featuring the cover image of Johnston's
Hi, How Are You
album. In spite of Johnston being resident in a
mental hospital at the time, a bidding war to sign him ensued.
Atlantic Records won and released
Fun
, produced by
Paul Leary of
Butthole Surfers in 1994.
[7]
Also in the mid-1990s, Johnston contributed two songs to the soundtrack for
Larry Clark's controversial film
Kids
, produced by
Folk Implosion and
Sebadoh's frontman,
Lou Barlow. Johnston later covered ''
Schoolhouse Rock!s "Unpack Your Adjectives" for a compilation of the popular education songs called
Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks'' in 1996.
In 2004, he released
The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered
, a two-disc compilation. The first disc featured
Jad Fair,
Eels,
Bright Eyes,
Calvin Johnson,
Beck,
Death Cab for Cutie,
Sparklehorse,
The Flaming Lips and
Tom Waits covering songs written by Johnston. The second disc featured Johnston's original recordings of the songs.
In 2005, Texas-based theater company
Infernal Bridegroom Productions received a Multi-Arts Production/
MAP Fund grant
[8] to work with Johnston to create a
rock opera based on his music, titled
Speeding Motorcycle
.
A 2005,
Dutch documentary about Johnston for the TV series
R.A.M.
was followed in 2006 by
The Devil and Daniel Johnston
. Jeff Feuerzeig's documentary, four years in the making, collated some of the vast amount of recorded material Johnston (and in some case, others) had produced over the years to portray his life and music. The film won high praise, receiving the Director's Award at the 2005
Sundance Film Festival. The film also inspired more interest in Johnston's work and his pull as a touring artist.
In 2006, Johnston's own Eternal Yip Eye Music label released his first greatest hits compilation,
Welcome to My World
.
[9] He also appeared as the musical guest on
The Henry Rollins Show
on which he performed "Mask" and "Care Less" (the latter was exclusive to the internet).
Through the next few years Johnston toured extensively across the world, and continued to attract press attention. In 2008, Dick Johnston, Daniel's brother and manager, revealed that "a movie deal based on the artist's life and music had been finalized with a tentative 2011 release."
[10] He also said that a deal had been struck with the
Converse company for a "signature series" Daniel Johnston shoe.
Later, it was revealed by Daniel's brother Dick Johnston that Converse had dropped the plan.
[11] In late 2008, Adjustable Productions released Johnston's first concert DVD,
The Angel and Daniel Johnston - Live at the Union Chapel
, featuring a 2007 appearance in
Islington,
London.
[12]
On January 31, 2009, Daniel Johnston joined the band
The Swell Season on a broadcast of
Austin City Limits
(previously recorded on September 28, 2008) to perform the song "Life in Vain".
His latest album, "Is and Always Was," is set to be released early this October.
Art career
thumb,
Texas
Johnston's work is often made up of nightmarish mixtures of cartoon images making glib statements, drawn with felt tip pens on paper. Established characters such as Casper the Friendly Ghost and Captain America often sit side by side with his own creation on the page. Johnston has also produced more detailed work, including sketches and water paintings.
Johnston's visual art became increasingly highly regarded during the nineties and in to the new millennium. Johnston's work can now command high prices and has been exhibited around the world, including prestigious events such as in the 2006
Whitney Biennial. His artwork is shown in galleries around the world, including exhibits in London's
Aquarium Gallery and New York's
Clementine Gallery. both in 2006, and the 2008
Liverpool Biennial. Currently his work is being exhibited as "The Museum of Love" at Verge Gallery in Sacramento, CA.
Johnston created a notable Austin landmark in 1993, when he painted a
mural of the "Hi, How Are You?" frog (also known as "Jeremiah the Innocent") on the side of Sound Exchange located on the corner of 21st and Guadalupe (
The Drag). Locals have successfully endeavored to preserve the image when the building subsequently changed ownership to a restaurant called Crave. In Spring 2008, a Jeremiah the Innocent collectible figurine was released in limited runs of four different colors.
[13]
Discography
References
- "The Devil and Daniel Johnston"
- "His life is troubling, his fame disturbing"
- "The Devil Goes Down to Texas"
- Interview: Daniel Johnston
- [1]
- Barry Shank, ''Dissonant Identities: The Rock'N'Roll Scene in Austin, Texas'' (Wesleyan University Press, 1994), ISBN 9780819562760, p. 157-58 (excerpt available at Google Books).
- [1]
- MAP Fund | Infernal Bridegroom Productions
- Filter-Mag.com
- ''The Austin Chronicle'' article: "Off the Record: Music News".
- http://monsterfresh.com/2009/06/16/daniel-johnston-converse-shoes-photos-unreleased/#more-3588
- http://www.prlog.org/10134907-the-angel-and-daniel-johnston-live-at-the-union-chapel.html
- Daniel Johnston Frog Becomes Collectable Figurine