Wednesday, December 16, 2009: Remembering Chris Feinstein
“It is with great sadness to report that Cardinals bassist/vocalist/collaborator Chris Feinstein (Spacewolf) has recently passed away. He was an integral member of Ryan Adams & The Cardinals and will be deeply missed by all of us here at Lost Highway and throughout the entire music community.
Please send your thoughts and prayers to Chris’s family, friends and bandmates during this difficult time.”
— Lost Highway
“This is the saddest day of my life. I lost my best friend today…things will never be quite the same.”
-Brad Pemberton
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“The 42-year-old reportedly died at his home in Manhattan. The cause of death is still unknown.”
“Feinstein joined the Cardinals in 2006 as a touring member and played bass on their 2007 releases ‘Easy Tiger’ and the ‘Follow the Lights’ EP, as well as 2008’s ‘Cardinology.’ He was also a major contributor to the 2002 ‘I Am Sam’ soundtrack, serving as a producer and playing bass, guitar and percussion. Feinstein played bass with a variety of different musicians, including Fat Joe on his 2002 album ‘Loyalty,’ Albert Hammond Jr.’s 2006 album ‘Yours to Keep’ and on Minnie Driver’s 2008 album ‘Seastories.’ “
“Clearly, he was versatile but also didn’t limit his interests to just the pop and rock worlds. As a mixer, he worked in more electronica settings with Moby and on a variety of different trance and techno compilations. “
— spinner.com
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“It was Adams who dubbed Feinstein “Space Wolf.”Feinstein and longtime Adams’ drummer Brad Pemberton had played in bands together since attending high school in Nashville. However, according to a blog of Adams’ from August 2008, “Catherine introduced me to Space Wolf and that is the kind gal she is.”
“Adams went on: “It’s amazing to play with Space Wolf now—and you know, feel the connections and how they line up so strangely horizontal and low—he hangs below Brad in this fog—this deep, deep fog and then BLAST… his school is so outer-space/Hawkwind-Geezer Butler-Lemmy-K. Gordon.”
“Cardinals guitarist Neal Casal, in an interview for a Relix December/January 2009 cover story on the band, felt that “Once we got Chris it really just solidified [the band]. It really just became the perfect lineup.” Casal said that part of the reason Feinstein was an ideal fit was that he didn’t find Adams’ live performances intimidating.”
“[Adams] will pull out songs you’ve never even heard, live, in front of a large audience of people and you have to go with it and play that song in the moment as it’s happening and take that chance,” Casal relayed. “The wrong kind of person would become completely unglued in that kind of situation. I’m cool with it, I actually enjoy it. Jon and Brad were there before me, they’re used to it, and they’re up for that challenge. Feinstein, he said, was perfect “because he’s up for that, too.”
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Read some personal first hand accounts from people who looked up to Chris and new him as a friend
www.newheathens.com/2009/12/chris-feinstein.htmlguardocamino.tumblr.com/post/286216337/awful-truly-awful