Daniel Johnston Is Coming To Town
By Sarah Cobarrubias in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 21, 2012 3:40PM
Have you guys ever heard that song that goes, “true love will find you in the end?” Of course you have—it’s perhaps the most well-known song by folk legend Daniel Johnston, and it also happens to be featured on the new Axe Hair commercial.
In case you’re unfamiliar, Johnston’s back story is pretty interesting. He’s struggled with schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder throughout his life, and his diagnoses have been both sources and hindrances of his art and music. He gained notoriety in 1985 when he moved to Austin from his hometown West Virginia and began handing out his homemade cassettes and playing local shows.
But then soon after, while recording his first studio album, he lost it and ended up in and out of mental institutions for a number of years. When he did eventually return to the recording studio a few years later, his follow-up album, Fun, was a dud. His career’s been on-and-off since, but that hasn’t stopped him from accumulating more than 20 full-length albums, countless other recordings, and a comic book, Space Ducks: An Infinite Comic Book of Musical Greatness. His life story is so fascinating that it was the subject of the excellent 2005 movie, The Devil and Daniel Johnston.
Chicago will be lucky enough to have Johnston in town November 3 for a live performance at Bottom Lounge, his last scheduled show for the year. Tickets are still available two months after going on sale, but we expect they’ll sell out as the show’s date nears and the cult following Johnston has amassed realizes he’s coming to town.
In the meantime, here's a non-Axe video of "True Love Will Find You in the End:"
Daniel Johnston plays Saturday, Nov 3 at the Bottom Lounge, 1375 W Lake Street, 8 p.m., $20, 17+