Despite her MS diagnosis, Exene Cervenka lives for the moment
The vocalist for L.A. punk stalwarts X returns with Somewhere Gone
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In the summer of 2009, Exene Cervenka was putting the finishing touches on Somewhere Gone, her first solo album since Running Scared hit the streets back in 1991. The vocalist for L.A. punk stalwarts X, poet, and former wife of actor Viggo Mortensen was assembling a collection of bucolic country songs to be counted among her strongest work. But in the midst of it all she wasn’t feeling well. After a few months, she went to a doctor for some tests and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, the chronic nervous disorder that can result in the loss of muscle control, vision and balance.
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Although she isn’t displaying any acute signs of the disease yet, it was a depressing blow. But she’s taking it in stride. Since she started singing with X in the late ’70s, Cervenka has long stood as one of the most formidable female figures on the American punk scene. She wasn’t going to let a diagnosis of MS tarnish her strong will. When she made the news public via her website, she made it clear that it would not affect her commitment to finish the album. In October, Bloodshot Records released Somewhere Gone, and true to her word the disease has done little to slow her down.
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Exene Cervenka
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with Dexter Romweber Duo, Anna Kramer & the Lost Cause. $10. 8 p.m. Wed., Feb. 3. Star Bar, 437 Moreland Ave. 404-681-9018. www.starbaratlanta.com.
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Without missing a beat, Cervenka is back on the road, living her life to the fullest while she can. “That’s the only way to do it,” declares the 54-year-old singer, born Christine ?ervenková. “I’m not sick right now – I’m walking and talking and everything’s fine – but someday that won’t be the case. So I just try to forget about it as much as possible and keep living with this mind-set for as long as possible. That’s the only way to go about it and keep your sanity. You can’t live in the future.
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(Photo by Ali Smith)