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Scott Timberg on Creative Destruction

Stevie Jackson on the West Coast

September 19, 2012 by Scott Timberg

ONE of the things we have to do from time to time here is to admit that not all of the finest 21st century culture comes from the West Coast. (Okay, just most of it.) Exhibit A is the Scottish band Belle & Sebastian, who have been perhaps our favorite band since the fadeout of (West Coast band, sort of) Pavement in the late ’90s.

And one on the key members of that excellently melodic indie rock combo is guitarist Stevie Jackson, sometimes known as Stevie Reverb for his signature retro style.

B&S of course, started out as a folkie vehicle for singer Stuart Murdoch, but several other members have since put their respective stamps on the band. Jackson has brought a snappy ’60s tune-manship to the group, and he’s written some of their best songs — “Seymour Stein,” “Jonathan David,”  “To Be Myself Completely.”

Not long ago, Jackson brought out the LP (I Can’t Get No) Stevie Jackson, which is not as consistent as a B&S record but has its share of gems. (I’m especially fond of the opening track, “Pure of Heart.”)

And this week, the Glaswegian axe-slinger is way out West. Tonight he’s in Austin; Thursday night he is in LA to play the Bootleg Theater. He’s in San Francisco Portland before heading back to Scotland.

Here’s a video of Stevie playing an acoustic 12-string.

Filed Under: brit culture, indie, scotland, west coast

Scott Timberg

I'm a longtime culture writer and editor based in Los Angeles; my book "CULTURE CRASH: The Killing of the Creative Class" came out in 2015. My stories have appeared in The New York Times, Salon and Los Angeles magazine, and I was an LA Times staff writer for six years. I'm also an enthusiastic if middling jazz and indie-rock guitarist. (Photo by Sara Scribner) Read More…

Culture Crash, the Book

My book came out in 2015, and won the National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award. The New Yorker called it "a quietly radical rethinking of the very nature of art in modern life"

I urge you to buy it at your favorite independent bookstore or order it from Portland's Powell's.

Culture Crash

Here is some information on my book, which Yale University Press published in 2015. (Buy it from Powell's, here.) Some advance praise: With coolness and equanimity, Scott Timberg tells what in less-skilled hands could have been an overwrought horror story: the end of culture as we have known … [Read More...]

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