Will Oldham

[Oz]

Will Oldham: good or bad?

I own three records by him; 'There is no one what will take care of you' (Palace Brothers), 'Joya' and a 7" with the songs 'Patience' and 'Take however long you want'. Most of the time I find his music really intruiging and moving and I like his voice and his songs a lot, yet sometimes I've got the idea he's just fooling around a bit, as if he's somewhere else with his thoughts. And then there's song titles like 'Apocalypse, no!' Now, our hero JJ said he doesn't believe Oldham to be 'authentic'.

Thoughts, anyone?

[lfish]

Yeah! Thoughts for sure! I can't follow jj when he says that WO is not real (okay we all now that evelyn is not real but WO?  ;D) But that's probably a personal thing.

I really enjoy will oldham.  I have also some records:

I see a darkness Bonnie prince billy (an absolute must-have)
Ease down the road Bonnie prince billy( an absolute must-have)
Master and everyone Bonnie prince billy
Joya Will Oldham
Lost blues & other songs: The palace brothers ( an absolute must-have)

I think he has a rather unique sound and a very fragile voice, which I like very much.

It's one of my favorites.

Thx O for bringing up this topic.  

[antoniostrohs]

I agree with you lfish.I really like a lot of Will's music.He is a wonderful songwriter and has a unique style.But being from Louisville and meeting him on a couple occasions,he is not one the more cordial musicians around town.Of course he could have been just in a bad mood(Both times).

[EC]

I agree with you lfish.I really like a lot of Will's music.He is a wonderful songwriter and has a unique style.But being from Louisville and meeting him on a couple occasions,he is not one the more cordial musicians around town.Of course he could have been just in a bad mood(Both times).

heh.  Very diplomatic, antoniostrohs.  

Does anyone else get disappointed when you find out that someone you really like (a musician, or any kind of artist, actually) is an asshole?  It makes me not like their music anymore.  I can't help it.  Like, this club where I bartend had Jonathan Richman, and I was pretty excited, but he was such an idiot behind the scenes, that when he got up and played, I couldn't buy it anymore.

Okay.  I have to change my mind.  Most male country stars (and female ones for that matter) have been serious assholes, and I still love them.

But it makes me disappointed, that's for sure.

I don't know how I feel about Will Oldham.  I only know a few Bonnie Prince Billie songs.  I like them.  I do.  But I don't love them.  When I hear it, I'm like "yeah, that's awesome".  But I almost never put it on...

[ben grimm]

I know what you mean, I once heard someone say 'Its better not to meet your heroes' and sometimes its true, I could give you a few examples but don't want to sound like a name dropper. Every now and then you get surprised, Billy-Bob Thornton is supposed to be an asshole but when he came to our club he talked to everyone and was super nice, he hung out and had coffee with me and the cleaners.

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

The five best reasons to love My Morning Jacket is the guys themselves.  I'm not hip to WO or Palace, not because of JJ but because I didn't dig it.  I can only imagine if I'd met WO and he wasn't at least cordial how I would feel.

Case in point:  the Cash Brothers.  absolutely love their music, so powerful, so emotional, just awesome.  Each time they come to town, I haul myself out on a weeknight to see them.  One of the brothers is just so nice, hang out and bullshits the night away.  The other just seems pissed all of the time, but I can only imagine how old it gets seeing drunk people coming up to you night after night exclaiming "holy shit, you guys rock!  wanna smoke a joint?"  

Sooooo, in a nutshell, I'm sure all of these folks are nice enough guys, but get a reputation based on one bad exchange (or two, in antoniostrohs case)...but that's just my two cents.  WO might be a total ass, I'm just riffin' here.

[EC]

I can only imagine how old it gets seeing drunk people coming up to you night after night exclaiming "holy shit, you guys rock!  wanna smoke a joint?"

 ;D

[MMJ_fanatic]

checked out WO, did not strike a chord of interest

[Rabid_Washcloth]

Will Oldham is way up there on my list.  I have all of his albums except for some of the EPs that seem to be a little too self-serving.  

He seems to be a pretty eccentric person, as in, putting out songs/albums/art/projects that he likes and he doesn't care if you don't.  I could imagine meeting him would bring about mixed emotions – you're honored, but you want to punch him in the face.  Probably a lot like the stories from people meeting Charles Bukowski.  

I met Hayden after a show once.  He was a very cool guy.  Answered a lot of my questions about what his songs meant.  Some of his answers hit me like a magician telling the secret to his trick – the songs weren't the same after that.