Jon Dee Graham, who passed away last Friday, was a paradox — gruff exterior, heart of gold. I’m pretty sure he liked it that way.
He sang about the broken and the struggling, but he always managed to find a glimmer of hope somewhere in the story. The gruffness of his voice and his guitar didn’t undercut that — it amplified it.
I had two rules on my annual trips to SXSW. First: music matters more than food and beverage. Second: always see Jon Dee Graham. And I held to both of them — including just two weeks ago, when Graham and his band lit up the stage at the Austin Beer Garden. His son William Harries Graham was up there with him. Given the serious health issues Jon Dee had been navigating, the dual joy of playing music again and doing it alongside his son was written all over his face. Late in the set, Jon Dee’s heartfelt cover of “I Can See Clearly Now” said everything that needed saying.
To some he was acerbic. To me that was part of his charm. He was always quick to share the Graham life philosophy. I’ve posted some of the most memorable lines below, but nothing quite tops “False hope is still hope.”
Then there’s this one: “In your hands my CDs are works of art. In my hands they’re just shit in my trunk that I try to move aside to get my gear in there.”
I love that line because I lived it. One late SXSW night, he asked me to follow him to that trunk so he could hand me a copy of his then-soon-to-be-released album. Just gave it to me.
Below are four videos, two quiet and two loud, that exemplify the grit and tenderness of him and his music.
Thanks for the music and the philosophy, Jon Dee. We’ll keep moving the gear aside to make room for the art.
The Graham Philosophy of Life, a Few More Favorites
“Good versus evil. Bullshit. Everything versus nothing. Those are the stakes. You’re either in the ring or you’re out of it. By the way, have a nice weekend.”
“You wanna be punk rock? Survive mother fucker.”
“If you thought my songs are gonna get lighter, they ain’t.”
“My son is 17. He had his heart broken for the first time. Her name was Ivy. He’s now dating a blond-hair, blue-eyed girl from UC Berkeley. Fuck you Ivy.”
“Feel that joy in the air? I’m about to fuck that up.”
“Sometimes when you stare into the void there is something staring back. And if you make eye contact you’ve got a friend for life.”
About the author: Mild-mannered corporate executive by day, excitable Twangville denizen by night.