One of ten children and now a devoted father to two of his own, Vile was raised in West Philly and has made the city his inspirational canvas and long-term home. For the album's cover and video for "Wakin On A Pretty Day," Vile painted up an inner-city building with clever references to his songs. On the video for "Never Run Away," he is featured in a series of this-is-my-town clips, dressed in his signature white-on-white, long-haired zen ensemble. His love for his hometown was recently reciprocated when the city presented him with the Liberty Bell Award, apparently the "highest honor" that Philly offers. And GQ named him rocker of the year, validating the six-string king as more than just a local icon.
Though he still needs more confidence in his live vocal delivery, his in-person guitar playing is golden. He rocked a righteous set at the Urban Lounge that featured an impressive interplay between acoustic and electric guitars. Like the studio tracks, Vile switches back and forth from acoustic to electric, and his talented bandmates--affectionately called The Violators--jam with the ease of long-time garage and couch friends. The follow-up to his excellent Smoke Ring for My Halo is the kind of album that curmudgeonly record store clerks will swoon over for years to come.
Vile told Spin that Wakin On A Pretty Daze is like Fleetwood Mac's Tusk. "It's totally our Tusk, but no cheese, just rock. You turn it on and it sounds like me. But the guitar playing is better and the ideas are new. It's classic, it's epic, with many more solos." His lyrics are loosely autobiographical but open enough to invite listeners in with his stream-of-consciousness abstractions, delivered with his distinctive and sprawling vocal phrasing. He sings about his life as it passes by--feeling good, being bummed out, loving his wife and kids, traveling on the road--and he has the unique ability to capture nonchalant but memorable lines as the jams just roll on.
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