Jay, you will be missed

photo from thedecibeltolls.com

Anyone who attended last year's Lobsterfest, the all-day music festival presented by ACRN on South Green each year, might recognize Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr., or Jay Reatard, as he's more commonly known, pictured above. Reatard headlined the festival, and I can only imagine that it was the kind of fast-and-loud punk rock bonanza that the Memphis, Tennessee had been building his name on over the past few years. I myself did not make it to the show, a decision now made all the more regrettable by the fact that Reatard passed away a little over two weeks ago; he was found dead in his home on January 13.

If anyone that finds themselves reading this post was in attendance for his performance on campus last year, I'd love to hear from you. Some of the only coverage I've been able to find on the event was some unappreciative jabbing from Speakeasy Magazine. Some people just don't get it, I guess.

The news of Reatard's death hit pretty hard for me, as a good lot of his music has loads of sentimental value. His 2006 album Blood Visions brings me back to my freshman year of college, and the summer leading up to it. Just last fall, speeding down the last stretch of Route 33 on my way back to campus, I listened to that album with the windows down and the volume up and shouted along every word. Catharsis is wonderful, sometimes.

And with that, here's a piece I recently wrote concerning Blood Visions for onethirtybpm.com. I warned you about the plugs.

-WD