The Book of Daniel
We write about a lot of wonderful artists on this blog, but every once in a while we're privileged to include someone who's been a real cultural force.
Despite having been praised, admired and sometimes covered by the likes of Kurt Cobain, Tom Waits, Sonic Youth and other bona fide avant-rock luminaries, adored by rock critics and even the subject of an acclaimed documentary film, Daniel Johnston has never been a rock star by any stretch of the imagination. He's never sold many records, by the bean-counting standards of the industry mainstream, and his 20-plus years of endlessly engaging songwriting (not to mention thousands of charming illustrations) have been seriously impinged upon by mental illness.
Happily, he's been on the mend in the last few years and has been touring steadily over the summer, bringing his tuneful, emotionally direct songs to a much wider audience. We caught a recent show and were fully blown away, not only by his stirring original material but by soulful covers like his wrenching version of the Beatles classic "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away."
All the more fitting, then, that we feature this literally reflective portrait (taken by Brandon Paul Watts) of the man in our John Lennon Come Together shirt.
We hope to see a lot more of this gifted artist in the near future. In the meantime, check out some of his stuff here, and take a gander at this winsomely animated video created for a typically upbeat-yet-downcast Daniel ditty, "Lousy Weekend":
