Calvin russell jr
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Michael Corcoran's Overserved
Singer-songwriter Calvin Russell’s story was one for the movies, an ex-con toiling in obscurity in Austin dives before a homemade cassette made him a star in Europe. The Townes Van Zandt protege with the rugged features and signature hobo hat passed away April 2011 at his home in Garfield, after a battle with liver cancer. He was 62.
During his early ‘90s heyday in France, where he was considered a harder rocking, Texas version of Tom Waits, Russell and his band took home as much as $15,000 a night, and gave their fans their money’s worth, playing three hour sets without a break. After shows they often received a Hell’s Angels escort back to the hotel. “They wanted to rock and, boy, we gave it to ‘em,” Russell told me in 2005. His band featured the underrated Gary Craft on guitar.
Russell’s unlikely career windfall came after a party for musician Ike Ritter in South Austin in 1989. Ritter’s friend Charlie Sexton was expected to attend, so, hoping the rising star would cover one of his songs, Russell made a demo tape and brought it to the pa
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Russell was born in Austin, Texas, on 1 November 1948. At age 12, Russell began learning guitar and at 13 joined a band called The Cavemen. In 1989, he met Patrick Mathe of the French record label, New Rose Records, while at a party in Austin and gave him a demo tape intended for noted Austin guitarist and producer, Charlie Sexton.
He would go on to sign with the label releasing his first solo album in 1990 entitled A Crack In Time. In promotion of the album, Russell began touring extensively throughout Europe achieving a level of success he had yet to obtain back in the United States.
Russell would go on to release over a dozen albums on various labels. Throughout his career, he battled with drug and alcohol addiction and was arrested in Texas for cocaine possession in 1995.
On 3 April 2011, Russell died in Garfield, Texas, after a lengthy battle with liver cancer at the age of 62. He is survived by Swiss-born wife, Cynthia, who continues to live in Central Texas and son, Justin.
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Calvin Russell (musician)
American singer-songwriter
Musical artist
Calvin Russell (born Calvert Russell Kosler; November 1, 1948 – April 3, 2011) was an American blues and roots rock singer-songwriter and guitarist.
Early life and career
Russell was born in Austin, Texas, on November 1, 1948. The sixth in a family of nine, Calvin Russell spent his first five years virtually behind the counter at Sho Nuff Café, where his father Red cooked and his mother Daisy was a waitress. At twelve, Calvin took up guitar and joined his first group, The Cavemen. At fifteen, he ran away to San Francisco. He survived on the road thanks to odd jobs and found himself imprisoned several times for petty teenage offenses. Disillusioned with the American model of financial and social success, he marginalized himself and sold cannabis in order to subsist. Arrested several times, he spent ten years behind bars. On leaving one of his stays in prison, he embarked on a journey through the Great South and crossed the Rio Grande to Piedras Negras and El Paso. This is where he really started
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