arthur russell was born on may 21, 1951, in oskaloosa, iowa. at the age of 16 he ran away from home to san francisco, and at 22 he moved to new york, where he would die at the age of 40. he was a singer, a songwriter, a musician, a composer, a producer, among many other things - an artist
while he was alive, he released music under the names dinosaur L, indian ocean, loose joints, killer whale, as a member of short-lived band the necessaries, and put out just one album under his own name: world of echo. he died leaving behind thousands upon thousands of tapes of unreleased material, a good chunk of which has been released posthumously through audika records. his discography while he was alive consisted mainly of disco hits + ambient music, but these posthumous releases explore arthur's penchant for dance pop, electronic, folk, and country music. he was a total musical chameleon, able to lend his talents to any genre with ease
there are many stories that get thrown around when you first hear about him: he briefly dated allen ginsberg, he was friends with phillip glass, he was nearly a member of talking heads, he once produced a song for vin diesel, etc. all true. he had all these brushes with fame, always seeming to be on the edge of a big break, but at the end of his life still lived in relative obscurity, only achieving the recognition such a talented force deserves in the last twenty years
on may 22, we will be celebrating what would have been his 75th birthday with a tribute concert at
@thesanctuaryartscentre . presented by
@nowadays_fest and featuring performers
@a.laurel.lawrence @maisiegilbert_ @toledano.music @bark_xo @fencingband @greeneyeswitchhands , it is going to be a very special night, one to remember, and one you don't want to miss
if you are an arthur fan, we hope to see you there, and if you're not, we hope you come out, learn some things about one of the greats, become inspired, and leave loving him as much as we all do
ticket link in bio. thank you ♡ love you
