one bourbon, one scotch, and one beer – hisao shinagawa

Posted by johnny knoxville Saturday, December 20th, 2008 2:21 pm

part one

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part two

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part three

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These webclips feature stunts performed either by professionals or under the supervision of professionals. MTV and the producers must insist that no one attempt any activity performed on the site.

This One Bourbon, One scotch, and One Beer with my old friend Hisao Shinagawa has been a long time in the making. I met Hisao well over ten years ago as he just got finished playing a show at this dingy bar on Melrose. I was taken by the sight of him: a Japanese Woody Guthrie, harmonica around neck and bashing an old beat-up acoustic guitar (more on that guitar below) so hard I didn’t think he would have any strings left when the performance was through. Hisao is small in stature, but huge in spirit, talent, and emotion, and I think I nearly ripped his arm off his shoulder when I shook his hand. I told him I was writer and wanted to do a story on him for a magazine I was writing for at the time called Bikini. He was very gracious and agreed to do the interview. To make a long story short, we did the piece and then basically lost touch until last year  when I saw him performing on a Sunday at the Hollywood Street Fair. We hugged, caught up a little, and then I asked him if he would let me interview him again for jackassworld. Of course, then I got busy as shit and didn’t actually get to sit down with him until a month ago.

Anyway, I am honored to now present to you my One Bourbon, One scotch, and One Beer with Hisao Shinagawa, a true artist in every sense of the word.

Sincerely,

Johnny Knoxville

P.S. The guitar Hisao was playing the first night I ever met him and the last time I saw him a month ago was given to him by the legendary Texas singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt. Unfortunately, the guitar was destroyed last week when someone dropped a fruit crate on it after he performed at the Hollywood Street Fair. Fuck. I felt like crying when I heard the news. But in true Hisao fashion, he just talked about how wonderful it was to get to play that guitar for all those years and the amazing sound it made when it was crushed. He is a special dude.

Watch more here:

one bourbon, one scotch, and one beer archive

Visit: http://www.myspace.com/hisaoshinagawa
Buy I Want to Destroy America here.

Category: johnny knoxville, one bourbon one scotch and one beer, original programming