Vic Chesnutt

Vic Chesnutt sings mostly mellow rootsy songs with high-end nasal grit in his voice. A car crash left him a paraplegic when he was eighteen years old. Since then, he has been writing beautifully layered songs with warm textures and rich lyrics that bring haunting catharsis. R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe is a big fan of Chesnutt, and produced his first two albums. Where most down-tempo Americana artists eventually lose the attention of their listeners (except for Joe Pernice and Gillian Welch, of course), Chesnutt's soul-marinated songs are dynamic and intense.