Enough Already.
Got news from Rob Morton on Monday that over the weekend an artist whose work I’ve praised here on the blog passed away. Jeff Hanson was only 31 years old, and apparently died after taking a bad fall to a concrete floor in his new apartment. His music was sweet and beautiful, reminiscent of the late Elliott Smith (my old friend Darren from the Euclid Records days said of Hanson: “He was like the Elliott Smith you didn’t feel compelled to worry about.” If only…) but with a little less of the edge of lurking psychosis that fueled the sharpness of Smith’s music.
As incredible a talent as Jeff was, and as haunting as his voice was, what was even cooler was that the guy was a genuinely nice fellow. He wrote me an email or two over the years, and he and I threw down a couple of beers at a live show a year or so ago and he was also one of the funniest guys I’ve met in the industry. Like, really funny, in an effortless way. When I saw him play it was during football season and the Packers were making a nice run in Favre’s last season and he was mostly interested in *that*; guy loved The Pack. He was way too young to have left us, and while I guess we should be thankful for the wonderful body of work he left, I can’t help but think that he’d have continued to evolve as an artist and eventually find a much wider audience…and I feel very sad for the opportunity lost.
I’m getting tired of inscribing names into the Pop Narcotic Marble Index. Y’all take care of yourselves. Please?
Popnarcotic 