Jandek
Jandek is the musical project of an outsider musician who operates out of Houston, Texas. Since 1978, Jandek has self-released 55 albums of unusual, often emotionally dissolute folk and blues songs without ever granting more than the occasional interview or providing any biographical information. Jandek often plays a highly idiosyncratic and frequently atonal form of folk and blues music, often using an open and unconventional chord structure. Jandek’s music is unique, but the lyrics closely mirror the country blues and folk traditions of East Texas.
Smith has kept his personal history an almost absolute secret, revealing only one story about his pre-Corwood years: he wrote seven novels but burned them upon rejection from New York publishers. Aside from that anecdote, nothing is known about his life. He is rumored to have grown up, or at least spent time in Providence, Rhode Island. It has also been suggested that he is well traveled, as several album sleeves depict locations that have been formally identified as being outside the United States. This, however, presumes that all pictures that do not depict Smith were taken by him.
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In his one of just two known interviews, Jandek mentions that he was working at that time as a machinist.
Some of Jandek’s allure stems from his small but devoted fan base that includes Sonic Youth, Bill Callahan, Mike Watt, John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats, Low, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, Matt Cameron of Pearl Jam, Bright Eyes and K Records founder Calvin Johnson. In the 1980s and 1990s most fans stumbled into the world of Jandek after hearing his music on college radio or freeform stations like WFMU and WCBN-FM, but as the 21st century approached Jandek was just as likely to catch fans through the internet. An "unofficial Jandek website" was founded by Seth Tisue in 1997. It includes complete descriptions of each album and concert and the archives of the Jandek Discussion List.
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