Posts

Showing posts from March, 2016

James Victor "Vic" Chesnutt (November 12, 1964 – December 25, 2009)

Image
Although born in Jacksonville, FL, Vic Chesnutt was adopted and raised in Zebulon, GA. He began writing songs at 5 and at 13 declared himself an atheist. His grandfather was probably his first real musical influence; he gave him guitar lessons and had him transpose “Sweet Georgia Brown” into every key in the musical scale. While driving drunk at 18, Chesnutt had an accident that left him partially paralyzed from the neck down in addition to losing partial function of his arms and hands. There has been speculation that this accident was a suicide attempt. He spent a month in the ICU with his head and neck in traction, with his breath being controlled by a ventilator. OT and PT helped him regain function and strength in his hands again so he could resume playing the guitar, despite having lingering paralysis in his left arm and right hand. Despite the fact that sensation returned to his legs a year later, he chose to continue using a wheelchair rather than a walker. He st