I almost feel silly writing anything about Lou Whitney. He’s a giant among men. The first time I became aware of Lou was in 1995 when I was writing for Nightlife newspaper down in Carbondale, IL. The band Drench had sent in a CD for a review and it was good. While reading the production details I noticed the name of the producer and engineer – Lou Whitney. Now, in my defense, in 1995 I was 21 years old, so I was completely unaware of who exactly Lou Whitney was but I really dug the disk he produced and his name stuck with me.
Fast forward to 1999 and I’m living in South St. Louis, hanging out and meeting people involved with music. I slowly begin to learn how important and influential Lou Whitney is not only to St. Louis but the entire Mid-West. In addition to being in two awesome bands (The Morells and The Skeletons) he also runs his own studio in Springfield, MO which has seen the likes of Wilco, Bottle Rockets, Robbie Fulks, Blue Mountain, Exene Cervenka, Dexter Romwebber, Jonathan Richman, The Del-Lords, Eric Ambel, Joe Flood, Jono Manson, Domino Kings, Hadacol, Mary McBride, Syd Straw, Morrells, Skeletons, Redd Volkaert, Brian Capps, the Cowslingers, the Cropdusters, Bel-Airs, Big Smith, to name a few.
And the stories I’ve heard from various people about all the things he’s been a part of is truly astonishing.
So about 4 years ago I heard he was playing bass with a band called The Rugs who had a gig at Off Broadway. I went to the show and snapped some photos. I knew at some point I’d have to paint a picture of Lou.
Once this painting is completed it will be added to my new website. For the last 5 years I’ve been using asbestossister.com as a place to keep my artwork online, but all of that will be changing.
The new website, new projects and info on a solo show coming this fall will all be announced soon.
Now playing – Charles Mingus
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