Rusty Chest

Nashville, TN based musician, songwriter, photographer, visual artist and designer. A third-generation Nashvillian, peacefully arrived in this trying world on the chilly morning of January 19 (Capricorn, with Gemini moon and Pisces rising) during the locally famous blizzard of 1951. A calm only-childhood, largely shaped by Mad Magazine drawings, folk and British Invasion records, and the practical and esoteric wisdom of his beloved grandmother, was enjoyed beneath tall Victorian ceilings in a pre-hipster, but eternally bohemian, East Nashville. Awarded for drawing by age ten, the young artist soon expanded to create Warhol inspired collages from cardboard, torn madras shirts, and Campbell's Soup can labels (an early attempt at conceptual art involved melting an entire deluxe set of Crayolas) and at age 14, after seeing The Animals and The Rolling Stones (with Brian Jones (5)), put aside his cheap acoustic guitar, bought a new Kent Japanese electric, and proceeded to learn how to arpeggiate through the chords of "The House of the Rising Sun". Earning a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 1974, he maintained a high grade-point average while fully engaging in the demanding folkways of the era, and later attained a Degree in Art from the wonderful, traditional minded Harris School of Art in Franklin, Tennessee. Over 15 long years were spent as a freelance artist, creating advertising, record covers, and periodicals in the traditional pre-computer manner, using triangle and drawing board, for some of the city's largest (and smallest) ad agencies. Exhibited fine art photography in several shows, including a well-received solo exhibit at The Centennial Park Art Center in Nashville. All the photographs were created in the camera - never in the darkroom nor the computer. Played guitar, banjo, and clarinet for many years with The Perfumed Garden Cafe Orchestra, gathering and arranging traditional material for folk-jazz improvisation accompanying traditional belly dance. Following 45 years of songwriting, an album of all original tunes, [r9020104], was duly released in the spring of 2015. [r12187730], ​a second album of original songs, was released in the summer of 2018.