Former Nirvana Guitarist In New Yorker

Imagine my surprise when upon reading this week’s New Yorker I came across a reference to Jason Everman, the one-time Seattle-area musician who was credited as a guitarist on Nirvana’s debut, Bleach, even though his guitar-work never appeared. Legend has it (as does Wikipedia) that the band gave Everman the credit as a “thank you” after the Kodiak, Alaska native payed the bill for the band’s recording session. $606.17 to be exact.

Everman did lay down some tracks for the group, contributing to the songs “Dive,” which appeared on the 2004 box set, With the Lights Out, and a cover of KISS’s “Do You Love Me?” for a tribute record. The musical journeyman, though, never found a foothold in the soon-to-be-legendary band and moved on, nailing down a role as a temporary bass player for Soundgarden, where he contributed to the band’s cover of the Beatles’ “Come Together,” found on the band’s Loudest Love EP. He then went on to play in the lesser-known Mind Funk.

None of this, though, is the reason the name of the 41-year-old appeared there before my eyes, distracting me, for a moment, from my liberal media bliss. Rather, he appeared as a veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. As it happens, Everman left the world of music in 1994 and enlisted in the Army, eventually joining the 2nd Ranger Battalion and the Special Forces. In the story, Everman is attending Black Watch, a play that casts a critical eye on Iraq war by relating the experience of a Scottish regiment deployed there. One of many veterans attending the play on a recent evening, Everman was seemingly the only one that did not find the theatrical piece riveting. The reason for his dislike, though, is not about an ideology; it’s about his personal development: ““I joined the Army because I had a specific agenda: to develop the warrior aspect of my persona.”

Citing Plato, Everman makes a compelling argument for the warrior in culture … and he serves as a reminder that human beings are complex creatures, forever fascinating, surprising and curious. Read it.