Tav Falco

About

Born and raised in rural Arkansas, Tav Falco is a singer/songwriter, guitarist and filmmaker who first came to attention while living in Memphis, where he started a nonprofit Televista "art-action" video group during the mid-1970s. Along with poet, performance artist and videographer Randall Lyon, he dedicated his time to documenting the local art and music scene and eventually caught the attention of singer/songwriter Alex Chilton through his distinctive style. Falco and Chilton teamed up to form the band Tav Falco's Panther Burns, a project that would go on to release over two dozen records in three decades, starting with the 1981 debut Behind the Magnolia Curtain. With an affinity for promoting the work of other artists, Falco became known for his natural inclination to draw attention to unknown acts by playing shows and collaborating with artists who would otherwise be ignored by mainstream media sources. Though Tav Falco's Panther Burns has seen a vast amount of lineup changes over the years, the band continues to embody its self-described "art damage" performance style through Falco's art-first mentality.