UPDATE: The Constellation Records website has posted an announcement that Vic Chesnutt died this afternoon in Athens, Georgia. "In the few short years that we knew him personally, Vic transformed our sense of what true character, grace and determination are all about. Our grief is inexpressible and Vic's absence unfathomable," the announcement said.
Kristin Hersh has set up a website for those who want to donate to help Chesnutt's family with expenses. "What this man was capable of was superhuman," she writes.
45-year-old Athens, Georgia singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt is currently in a coma, various sources report. According to Tweets from Chesnutt's friend Kristin Hersh, the coma is a result of a suicide attempt, but that has not been confirmed.
http://pitchfork.com/news/37454-vic-chesnutt-in-coma/====
Chesnutt had recently struggled with a lawsuit filed by a Georgia hospital after he racked up surgery bills totalling some $70,000, the Athens newspaper reported. He said he couldn't afford more than hospitalization insurance and couldn't keep up with the payments.
The problems baffled his Canadian bandmates, Chesnutt said.
"There's nowhere else in the world that I'd be facing the situation I'm in right now. They cannot understand what kind of society would inflict that on their population," he said. "It's terrifying."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5ilNJWDAmysDAUbD3ugGCP2xSF3-w---
"Up until recently,
Hersh and Chesnutt were planning to record a new album and tour together this year. Now that he’s gone, she’s set up a website to raise funds for his widow, Tina. Fans have already donated thousands of dollars. “Vic’s medical bills were astronomical. Like most musicians, he didn’t have insurance for a long time, and then when he got insurance, they wouldn’t pay his bills. I know that he was about 50 grand in debt just for medical bills…. generosity is unbelievable.”
http://music-mix.ew.com/2009/12/26/vic-chesnutt-kristin-hersh/