Cough syrup, blue guitars and viscerally honest, beautiful music: Mark Kozelek is coming to town. Saturday, Dec. 13, the musical genius behind the Red House Painters stops by The Ottobar for a solo show accompanied by opening guest Lisa Cerbone. Addicted to drugs at age 10 and in rehab by age 14, Kozelek combines harrowing life experiences with a hypnotic voice to create austere, guitar-driven pop music. When he sings about pain, he's not whining about your chemistry test, he's baring his soul.
As the front man of the legendary Red House Painters, Kozelek drew critical acclaim and legions of devoted fans for his beautiful songwriting and stark, evocative guitar playing. Before being dropped by his label for the mind-boggling 12-minute guitar epic "Make Like Paper" on 1996's Songs For A Blue Guitar, Kozelek performed a series of amazing musical feats. Among them, he covered KISS' "Shock Me" and turned a song about sex and leather into, well, a beautiful song about sex and leather.
After the demise of the Red House Painters, Kozelek released a series of solo efforts, covered AC/DC and John Denver and recently formed a new band, Sun Kil Moon. Kozelek found time to appear in Almost Famous as guitar player Larry Fellow, ironically his most widespread public exposure.
This is a rare chance to see one of the best songwriters alive for only $12 dollars. At the very least, you'll leave this concert realizing that your finals don't really matter. Better yet, you can hear astonishing songs like "Japanese to English," "All Mixed Up" and "Have You Forgotten" and leave with a new appreciation for America's musical treasure.
