RIP - Willie Mitchell

From the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper:

One of the great pillars of the Memphis sound, Willie Mitchell, has died. The musician, songwriter, producer and label head died this morning at about 7:30 a.m. at Methodist University Hospital. He was 81.

Born on March 1, 1928, Mitchell remained at the forefront of Memphis music for more than six decades, as a trumpeter, bandleader and record maker. He would eventually go on to create one of the most important musical kingdoms with his South Memphis-based Hi Records and Royal Studios.

At Hi he sired some of the most famous instrumental hits of the '60s and shepherded the careers of Al Green and Ann Peebles in the '70s. Even in later years Mitchell stayed busy at his studio, working with up-and-coming talents like John Mayer and Anthony Hamilton.

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ART: Like A Rolling Thunder Tent Revival Revue

My brother always threatens to leave town. Like that would magically solve all his problems. What people like him fail to realize though is that wherever you go, there you are. I don't mean that in a Zen way either. I mean, you take your problems with you, especially if it's you that is the problem.

The weight of lies will bring you down
And follow you to every town
Cause nothing happens here that doesn’t happen there
So when you run make sure you run
To something and not away from
Cause lies don’t need an aeroplane to chase you anywhere
(The Avett Brothers, "The Weight Of Lies" from Emotionalism)

But running away....It does hold the hopeful mirage of a clean break, a fresh start where no one knows you. And all your wrongs can be made right or maybe never even existed. You can be the person you always believed you could be. The you that you know you are, but maybe nobody else can see. There is no possibility like that of a new place...and the story whose end has yet to be told. And besides, it's just a few tracks later on Emotionalism that the Avett Brothers sing that "all my mistakes, They brought me to you."

So, I guess you never know...

When he's not making music with his brother Seth, Scott Avett is painting. An exhibit of his work, in collaboration with husband & wife photography team Crackerfarm, is up now thru August 29 at the Envoy Gallery on the Lower East Side, NYC. The Avett Brothers The Gleam II is out now.