Sad Ted Leo news

[lizish]

shit. Hope things work out.

 

 

 

http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/L/Leo_Te...11/4566998.html

 

Ted Leo battling tough year

By DARRYL STERDAN -- Sun Media

 

 

 

Singer-guitarist Ted Leo is putting on a brave face these days. (File photo)

 

For Ted Leo, 2007 could have been the best of times. Instead, it could be the worst.

 

"That's kind of the understatement of the century," says the 37-year-old pop-punk veteran with a rueful laugh. "This has basically been the most devastating year of my life, actually."

 

It's no wonder: As Leo divulged recently on his blog, his wife was been battling a very rare, very severe condition that has kept her in and out of hospital for a year, undergoing rounds of debilitating chemotherapy. And thanks to America's for-profit health-care system, the singer-guitarist has been forced into a tough corner: At a time when he most wants to be at home in Rhode Island, he's touring as much as possible to pay for her costly treatments.

 

"I probably would have been going on tour anyway," admits Leo, "but this makes it both harder to do it and more necessary to do it."

 

Couple that with the recent no-hard-feelings departure of his longtime bassist, and it's no wonder he confesses to being more than a bit on edge onstage lately.

 

"I'm a raw nerve up there every night," he says. "I haven't actually had a breakdown yet, but I certainly have had some moments where I could either throw a bottle at somebody or totally devolve into a blubbering puddle. So far, thankfully, I've managed to hold it together."

 

 

Holding it together is nothing new for Leo -- he's never done things the easy way. A fiercely independent musician and strict vegan for more than 20 years, the New Jersey native has slowly worked his way up the ladder with an impressive road-work ethic and a series of acclaimed albums like his 2003 breakthough Hearts of Oak and this year's critically heralded Living With the Living. His longest and most overtly political disc, Living finds Leo voicing a series of anti-war messages -- sample titles: Bomb. Repeat. Bomb and Fourth World War -- against his usual contrasting backdrop of spry, melodically rich Mod-punk.

 

At this point, Leo could probably parlay his success into a major-label deal. But ironically, even though he admits that might ease his current financial situation -- and that he's reached an age where he's realized he doesn't want to be a touring musician for the rest of his life -- he won't even consider the idea.

 

"It's just a headache I don't need," he says. "First of all, I absolutely despise the whole corporate mentality. Second, they're looking for pop stars. And I'm old enough that there's no way they're going to turn me into a pop star, never mind a quote-unquote pop-punk star.

 

"Plus there's a real percentage of my audience that actually cares about the fact that I'm not on a major label. So I would feel like I've disappointed a large portion of my fans for not much more than I'm getting by doing pretty well on an independent label."

 

In other words, things could be worse.

[ction]

Damn. I like Ted's music, and he seems like a genuinely good guy.

 

I hope life get less difficult for him soon.

[Sir Stewart]

Yeah, this is crap news. Damn. I met him once; seems like a good guy. At least he's surrounded by pharmacists, har har, bad joke. Get well Ted.

[solace]

had heard about this but didn't know it was that bad

 

just saw Ted on Saturday, great show

[deepseacatfish]

Ted came off as really genuinely friendly and great when I met him after they came to Grinnell a couple years back. I hope things get better for him.

[jimmyjimmy]

Perhaps now would be a good time to order a tee shirt or two from Ted. or a copy of H.O.O to give to a friend?

Ted is one cool dude. Vibes for him and the missus.