Tav Falco

{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}} {{about|musician Tav Falco|the Austrian singer|Falco (musician)}}

{{Infobox musical artist | name = | | caption = | birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US | genre = {{Flatlist| * Rock and roll * psychedelic rock * rockabilly * cabaret * jazz }} | occupation = {{flatlist| *Musician *performance artist *filmmaker *actor *author *photographer *dancer }} | years_active = 1973–present | label = {{Hlist|Frenzi|Org Music|Stag-O-Lee|Blang!|Rough Trade Records|Sympathy for the Record Industry|New Rose|Intercord/EMI|Animal|Helter Skelter}} | current_member_of= Tav Falco's Panther Burns | website = [http://www.tavfalco.com Tav Falco Official Website] }}

'''Gustavo Antonio "Tav" Falco''' is an American-born filmmaker, actor, musician, author, photographer, and dancer. Falco has fronted the experimental band Tav Falco's Panther Burns since 1979, and founded a parallel solo career that incorporates other styles such as cabaret, tango, and vocal jazz. He has directed one feature film and numerous short films, and has played minor acting roles in motion pictures filmed in both North America and Europe. He is the author of two books, one a psychography of the city of Memphis, and the other a collection of his photography.

==Biography== thumb|Tav Falco 2025 Falco was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania<ref name="AZ_Daily_Star_2-11-1988">{{cite journal |last1=Armstrong |first1=Gene |title=Tav Falco and his Panther Burns bringing 'wreckabilly' to Tucson |journal=Arizona Daily Star |publisher=Lee Enterprises|date=February 11, 1988 |volume=147 |issue=42 |page=Sect. D, pg. 5 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/166795293/ |access-date=February 20, 2021 |location=Tucson, AZ|url-access=subscription }}</ref> to a family of Italian descent<ref name="rec_collector_10-2012">{{cite journal |last1=Needs |first1=Kris |title=Talking With a Panther |journal=Record Collector |date=October 6, 2012 |issue=407 |url=https://recordcollectormag.com/articles/talking-with-a-panther |access-date=October 29, 2021 |publisher=Diamond Publishing Ltd |location=Brentford, UK |format=Online}}</ref> but grew up in rural southwest Arkansas<ref name="Atlanta_Const_10-2-1987">{{cite journal |last1=DeVault |first1=Russ |title=Panther Burns' music soothes savage party animals |journal=The Atlanta Constitution |date=October 2, 1987 |page=Sect. P, pg. 9 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/399855300/ |access-date=February 21, 2021 |publisher=Cox Enterprises|location=Atlanta, GA|url-access=subscription}}</ref> between Whelen Springs and Gurdon.<ref name="Enc_of_Arkansas">{{cite encyclopedia |last = Burdine |first = Darby |encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of Arkansas |title = Tav Falco (1945–) |url = https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/tav-falco-3635/ |access-date =February 21, 2021 |edition = Online |date=August 26, 2016 |publisher = Central Arkansas Library System |location = Little Rock, AR}}</ref> After studying theater and film at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Falco moved to Memphis in 1973.<ref name=Atlanta_Const_10-2-1987 /> In the mid-1970s, he started the nonprofit Televista "art-action" video group with fellow Arkansas poet/performance artist/videographer Randall Lyon to create art and to document local musicians and artists.<ref name=Enc_of_Arkansas /><ref name="1st_Ave">{{cite web |title=Tav Falco's Panther Burns |url=https://first-avenue.com/performer/tav-falcos-panther-burns/ |website=First Avenue & 7th St Entry |publisher=First Avenue |access-date=February 21, 2021 |location=Minneapolis, MN}}</ref> While with Televista, Falco worked with and trained in photography and filmmaking under Memphis color photographer William Eggleston.<ref name=Enc_of_Arkansas /><ref name=1st_Ave />

In 1978, Alex Chilton teamed up with Falco after being impressed by Falco's performance of the song "Bourgeois Blues"<ref name="Memphis_mag_protest_songs">{{cite web |last1=Greene |first1=Alex |title=Singing Truth to Power |url=https://memphismagazine.com/features/longform/singing-truth-to-power/ |website=Memphis Magazine |publisher=Contemporary Media, Inc. |access-date=October 22, 2021 |location=Memphis, TN |format=Online |date=August 24, 2020}}</ref> at The Orpheum Theatre in Memphis, which culminated in the chainsawing of an electric guitar.<ref name=Atlanta_Const_10-2-1987 /><ref name="The_Age_1-16-1987">{{cite journal |last1=Smarrelli |first1=Mara |title=Panthers cook with swamp gas |journal=The Age |date=January 16, 1987 |page=Sect. EG, p. 2 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/120675620 |access-date=February 21, 2021 |publisher=Nine Publishing Co.|location=Melbourne, Victoria, Australia|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name="Albq_Jrnl_5-31-1996">{{cite journal |last1=Rodriguez |first1=Kenn |title=Delta blues forms bedrock for Panther Burns' sound |journal=Albuquerque Journal |date=May 31, 1996 |volume=116 |issue=152 |page=E18 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/157710540/ |access-date=February 21, 2021 |publisher=Journal Publishing Co. |location=Albuquerque, NM|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The two founded the self-styled "art damage" rock and roll band Tav Falco's Panther Burns in 1979.<ref name="Please_Kill_Me">{{cite web |last1=McCovern |first1=Todd |title=Tav Falco: Utopian Anarchist in Cuban Heels |url=https://pleasekillme.com/tav-falco-utopian-anarchist/ |website=Please Kill Me |publisher=Gillian McCain & Legs McNeil |access-date=February 22, 2021 |format=Online |date=May 29, 2019}}</ref><ref name="LA Record">{{cite web |last1=Hart |first1=Gabe |title=Tav Falco: Sexual, Abandoned, Political |url=https://larecord.com/interviews/2011/11/10/tav-falco-sexual-abandoned-political |website=LA Record |publisher=YBX Media Inc. |access-date=February 21, 2021 |location=Los Angeles, CA |format=Online |date=November 10, 2011 |archive-date=April 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420193534/https://larecord.com/interviews/2011/11/10/tav-falco-sexual-abandoned-political |url-status=dead }}</ref> The group was named after lore surrounding a plantation in Mississippi.<ref name="psychbaby_ccz_intv_10-2021">{{cite web |last1=Breznikar |first1=Klemen |author-link=Klemen Breznikar |title=Tav Falco – Interview – New Album, 'Club Car Zodiac' |url=https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2021/10/tav-falco-interview-new-album-club-car-zodiac.html |website=It's Psychedelic Baby! Magazine |publisher=Klemen Breznikar |access-date=October 22, 2021 |location=Prebold, Slovenia |format=Online |date=October 20, 2021}}</ref> The Panther Burns' debut album, ''Behind The Magnolia Curtain'', was recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis and released by Rough Trade Records.<ref name=Albq_Jrnl_5-31-1996 /><ref name="Local_Voice_6-29-2012">{{cite web |last1=Lester |first1=Wallace |title=Record Of The Issue – Tav Falco's 'Behind The Magnolia Curtain' |url=http://www.thelocalvoice.net/oxford/record-of-the-issue-tav-falcos-behind-the-magnolia-curtain-by-wallace-lester-from-tlv-159/ |website=The Local Voice |publisher=Rayburn Publishing |access-date= February 21, 2021 |location=Oxford, MS |format=Online |date=June 29, 2012}}</ref> A December 3, 1980, session recorded at Sam Phillips Recording Service was released in 1992 on Marilyn Records as ''The Unreleased Sessions.''<ref name="unreleased_marilyn">{{Cite AV media notes| title = Tav Falco's Panther Burns: The Unreleased Sessions| url = https://www.discogs.com/Tav-Falcos-Panther-Burns-The-Unreleased-Sessions/master/637015|date = 1992|access-date =May 2, 2021| at = Back Cover| type = Compact Disc| publisher = Marilyn Records (France)| id = FM 1011 CD| location = Paris}}</ref> Falco moved to New York in 1981, and released his official follow-up album, ''Blow Your Top,'' on Chris Stein's Animal Records imprint, which was distributed by Chrysalis Records.<ref name="dntn_81_8-19-2022">{{cite web |last1=Haecker |first1=Randy |title=Downtown 81: Tav Falco Recounts East Village Adventures |url=https://rockandrollglobe.com/rock/downtown-81-tav-falco-recounts-east-village-adventures/ |website=Rock & Roll Globe |publisher=Sea of Reeds Media |access-date=August 26, 2022 |date=August 19, 2022}}</ref>

Tav Falco's Panther Burns celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2019 with a tour dubbed the "40th Anniversary Howl", with its prime show taking place May 21 of that year in Memphis at Lafayette's Music Room.<ref name="comm_appeal_5-18-2019">{{cite web |last1=Beifuss |first1=John |title=Tav Falco: 40 years of chain saws, tangos and 'anti-music' from Memphis |url=https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/2019/05/18/tav-falco-panther-burns-memphis-lafayettes-music-room/3694884002/ |website=Commercial Appeal |publisher=Gannet Co., Inc. |access-date=October 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518000000/https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/2019/05/18/tav-falco-panther-burns-memphis-lafayettes-music-room/3694884002/ |archive-date=May 18, 2019 |format=Online |date=May 18, 2019}} [https://www.shannonrlittle.com/news/2019/5/31/tav-falco-40-years-of-chain-saws-tangos-and-anti-music-from-memphis Alt URL]</ref>

Falco devoted portions of his musical career to highlighting traditional regional artists from Memphis and Mississippi who had not gained media attention. He filmed a black & white short film of blues artist R.L. Burnside performing at Brotherhood Sportsmen's Lodge in Como, Mississippi, on September 28, 1974.<ref name="aqua_burnside">{{cite web |last1=Gage |first1=Justin |title=R.L. Burnside: Brotherhood Sportsmen's Lodge, Como, Mississippi, September 28, 1974 |url=https://aquariumdrunkard.com/2021/02/23/r-l-burnside-brotherhood-sportsmens-lodge-como-mississippi-september-28-1974/ |website=Aquariam Drunkard |access-date=July 25, 2021 |location=Los Angeles, CA |date=February 23, 2021}}</ref> After assembling The Panther Burns, Falco performed and collaborated with legacy rockabilly and blues performers such as Charlie Feathers, James Luther Dickinson,<ref name="arthur_mag">{{cite web |last1=Pleuger |first1=Richard A. |title=INSIDE THE INVISIBLE EMPIRE: My Travels With Rock 'N' Roll Legend Tav Falco And His Unapproachable Panther Burns |url=https://arthurmag.com/2010/04/20/inside-the-invisible-empire-my-travels-with-rock-n-roll-legend-tav-falco-and-his-unapproachable-panther-burns-by-richard-a-pleuger-arthur-no-21may-2006/ |website=Arthur Magazine |publisher=Jay Babcock / Jason Leivian |access-date=May 3, 2021|format=Blog |date=April 20, 2010}}</ref> and Cordell Jackson.<ref name="sf_exam_5-8-2019">{{cite journal |last1=Lanham |first1=Tom |title=Tav Falco pursues art, culture, and rock in Vienna |journal=San Francisco Examiner |date=May 8, 2019 |volume=CLIII |issue=142 |page=Sect. A, pg. 16 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/561742720/ |access-date=May 3, 2021 |publisher=San Francisco Media Co. |location=San Francisco |url-access=subscription}}</ref> His photography was used for the Charlie Feathers album ''Honky Tonk Man'' (New Rose Records, 1988).<ref name="c_feathers_1988_lp">{{Cite AV media notes| title = Charlie Feathers: Honky Tonk Man| url = https://www.discogs.com/Charlie-Feathers-Honky-Tonk-Man/release/5055753| date = 1988| access-date=May 3, 2021| at = Back Cover| type = 12" LP| publisher = New Rose Records| id = ROSE 144| location = Paris}}</ref>

Falco would also promote and work with lesser-known regional contemporaries.<ref name="Art_Fein_1988_1">{{cite AV media|people = Tav Falco interview|date = 1988|title = Art Fein's Poker Party #142|medium = video | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma9W6LrowMo?t=1175|access-date =February 22, 2021 | time = 19:35–21:45 | location = Hollywood, CA | publisher = Art Fein}}</ref> His record imprint, Frenzi Records, released a 1986 compilation of area artists entitled ''Swamp Surfing in Memphis,''<ref name="ssim_1986_lp">{{Cite AV media notes| title = Various Artists: Swamp Surfing in Memphis|url = https://www.discogs.com/Various-Swamp-Surfing-In-Memphis/release/9887759|date = 1986| access-date =May 3, 2021| at = Back Cover| type = 12" LP| publisher = Frenzi Records / Au Go Go Records| id = FZ6000 / ANDA47| location = Memphis/Melbourne}}</ref> as well as a 1988 studio EP by female-led group The Hellcats.<ref name=Art_Fein_1988_1 /> These records received respective international distribution from Au Go Go Records (Australia)<ref name=The_Age_1-16-1987 /> and New Rose Records (France).<ref name=Art_Fein_1988_1 />

In 2014, Falco compiled a double album of some of his favorite tracks from his music collection, ''Tav Falco's Wild & Exotic World of Musical Obscurities'', which was released on Stag-O-Lee Records. The album set included a cover song by The Panther Burns and liner notes by Falco.<ref name="The_Quietus_2014">{{cite web |last1=Needs |first1=Kris |title=Vienna and Voodoo: Tav Falco Interviewed |url=https://thequietus.com/articles/16603-tav-falco-interview |website=The Quietus |publisher=John Doran |access-date=September 6, 2021 |format=Online |date=November 17, 2014}}</ref><ref name="wire_11-2014">{{cite web |url=http://www.exacteditions.com/read/the-wire/november-2014-(issue-369)-40336/83/2/|title=Tav Falco's Wild & Exotic World of Musical Obscurities|date=November 2014|publisher=The Wire|page=83|website=TheWire.co.uk|access-date= December 25, 2014 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In the 1990s, Falco relocated from the United States to Paris, and then to Vienna, where he lived for nearly two decades. In January 2022, he located to Bangkok, where he currently resides.<ref name=dntn_81_8-19-2022 /> Often Falco has claimed his main artistic purpose is "to stir up the dark waters of the unconscious."<ref name="LA_Beat">{{cite web |last1=Thompson |first1=Elise |title=The American Cinematheque Presents Tav Falco's First Feature Film, 'Urania Descending' June 2nd and 3rd |url=https://thelosangelesbeat.com/2017/06/the-american-cinematheque-presents-tav-falcos-first-feature-film-urania-descending-june-2nd-and-3rd/ |website=The Los Angeles Beat |access-date=February 22, 2021 |format=Online |date= June 1, 2017}}</ref>

In a 2019 interview, Falco described himself as a "Utopian anarchist".<ref name="Please_Kill_Me" />

===Work in films=== ====As filmmaker==== Starting in the 1970s, Falco created a number of short films on varying topics focusing on "underground" art-actions and cultural assets around the mid-American South.<ref name=Enc_of_Arkansas /><ref name="louder_than_war">{{cite web |last1=Corbett-Batson |first1=Sarah |title=Tav Falco: interview with legend about his new film and album |url=https://louderthanwar.com/tav-falco-interview-with-legend-about-his-new-film-and-album/ |website=Louder Than War |publisher=John Robb |access-date=July 31, 2021 |date=September 26, 2014}}</ref> The Cinémathèque Française in Paris accepted and archived six<ref name=Please_Kill_Me /> of Falco's short films into its permanent collection.<ref name=louder_than_war /> Among the titles archived are ''Masque of Hôtel Orient,''<ref name=Please_Kill_Me /> ''Born Too Late'', ''Helene of Memphis'', ''Memphis Beat'', ''Shadetree Mechanic,'' and ''71 Salvage''.<ref name=The_Quietus_2014 /> A selection of Falco's short films were shown in a retrospective at the Cinémathèque Française in 2006, with Falco himself in attendance.<ref name=Please_Kill_Me />

[[File:Tav falco live in Finland 2019.jpg|thumb|left|Falco with Tav Falco's Panther Burns member Giuseppe Sangirardi performing in Kuudes linja, Helsinki, Finland, 2019]] ''Urania Descending,'' the first feature film directed by Falco, was completed in 2014<ref name=LA_Beat /> and released in 2016 by Lamplighter Films.<ref name="am_ctheque_urania">{{cite web |title=Urania Descending |url=http://americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/urania-descending |website=American Cinematheque Calendar |publisher=American Cinematheque |access-date=October 29, 2021 |location=Los Angeles, CA}}</ref> The film consists of portions of what was intended to be a film trilogy.<ref name=LA_Beat /> As of February 2024, Falco completed the full ''Urania'' ''Trilogy.'' Avant-premieres were held at key cinematheques in America and in Europe including a special event at Cinéma Saint-André des Arts in Paris presented by avant-garde cineaste, F.J. Ossang.<ref name= psychbaby_ccz_intv_10-2021 />

In addition to the Cinémathèque Française, Falco's film work has been screened at The Horse Hospital, London;<ref name="Guardian 10-25-2003">{{cite news |title=London Listings: Film |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/260888566/ |access-date=September 6, 2021 |work=The Guardian |publisher=Guardian Newspapers Ltd |date=October 25, 2003 |department =The Guide |location=London |page=6 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name="Outsideleft">{{cite web |last1=Lake |first1=Kirk |title=Tav Falco London Film Premiere: Urania Descending Lands at the Horse Hospital |url=https://www.outsideleft.com/main.php?updateID=1380 |website=Outsideleft.com |access-date=September 6, 2021 |location=London |date=September 2014}}</ref> the David Lynch-designed Silencio Cinema, Paris;<ref name="Ark_Times_12-17-2015">{{cite journal |editor1-last=Leveritt |editor1-first=Alan |title=A&E News |journal=Arkansas Times |date=December 17, 2015 |volume=42 |issue=15 |page=33 |url=https://issuu.com/arkansastimesvisitorsguide/docs/arkansas_times_december_17_2015 |access-date=September 6, 2021 |publisher=Arkansas Times Limited Partnership}}</ref><ref name="Dezeen_9-7-2011">{{cite web |last1=Etherington |first1=Rose |title=Silencio by David Lynch |url=https://www.dezeen.com/2011/09/07/silencio-by-david-lynch/ |website=Dezeen |publisher=Dezeen Ltd. |access-date=October 24, 2021 |location=London |format=Online |date=September 7, 2011}}</ref> Anthology Film Archives, New York; Roxie Theater, San Francisco; Oxford Film Festival, Mississippi; Austria Film Archiv Metrokino, Vienna; and by the American Cinematheque in the Steven Spielberg Cinema at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.<ref name=Please_Kill_Me />

====As actor==== Falco appeared as an actor with minor roles in the feature films ''Great Balls of Fire!'',<ref name= Albq_Jrnl_5-31-1996 /> ''A nagy postarablás'' (''The Great Post Office Robbery''),<ref name="IMDb_PO_Robbery">{{cite web |title=A nagy postarablás (1992) |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104965/ |website=Internet Movie Database |access-date=February 22, 2021}}</ref> ''Highway 61,''<ref name= Albq_Jrnl_5-31-1996/> ''Downtown 81,''<ref name="Slant_Dntn_81_Review">{{cite web |last1=Rowin |first1=Michael Joshua |title=Review: Downtown 81 Celebrates a Bygone New York's Creative Energy |url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review-downtown-81-celebrates-a-bygone-new-yorks-creative-energy/ |website=Slant Magazine |access-date=February 22, 2021 |date=October 20, 2019}}</ref> and ''Wayne County Rambling.''<ref name="PopDiggers_1">{{cite web |last1=Jönsson |first1=Peter |title=Wayne County Ramblin' |url=https://popdiggers.com/wayne-county-ramblin/ |website=PopDiggers.com |publisher=PopDiggers |access-date=September 27, 2021 |location=Malmö, Sweden |date=December 12, 2018}}</ref>

''Downtown 81'' was shot in New York in 1981 and was directed by Edo Bertoglio.<ref name=Slant_Dntn_81_Review /> The film starred artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and featured Debbie Harry, James Chance, Arto Lindsay, and August Darnell in supporting roles. Falco was featured in a cameo role shot on Super 16mm film, where he created and then recited improvised dialogue with Basquiat. Basquiat hated the dialogue so much he walked off the set.<ref name=dntn_81_8-19-2022 /> Initially abandoned, the film was released by Metrograph Pictures in 2000.<ref name=Slant_Dntn_81_Review />

After taking an interest in tango dancing in the 1990s and devoting time to studying the dance in Buenos Aires,<ref name=The_Quietus_2014 /> Falco appeared as a ''tanguero'' in the 2003 film ''Dans Le Rouge du Couchant.''<ref name=Enc_of_Arkansas />

===As author=== Falco has collaborated with Erik Morse, an American underground author, music writer and journalist, on a two-volume book series about the city of Memphis entitled ''Mondo Memphis''.<ref name="powerhouse">{{cite web |title=The MONDO Memphis Book Tour |url=https://powerhousearena.com/newsletters/111116/ |website=Powerhouse Arena Events Newsletter |publisher=Powerhouse Arena |access-date=September 23, 2021 |location=Brooklyn, NY}}</ref> Falco's book, ''Ghosts Behind The Sun: Splendor, Enigma, and Death/Mondo Memphis: Volume 1'', is a 450-page encyclopedic history and psychography of Memphis,<ref name=Please_Kill_Me /> beginning well before the Civil War and moving forward to more recent autobiographical accounts set in that city.<ref name="LA_Record_11-10-2011">{{cite web |last1=Hart |first1=Gabe |title=Tav Falco: Sexual, Abandoned, Political |url=https://larecord.com/interviews/2011/11/10/tav-falco-sexual-abandoned-political |website=LARecord.com |publisher=L.A. Record |access-date=September 6, 2021 |location=Long Beach, CA |date=November 10, 2011 |archive-date=April 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420193534/https://larecord.com/interviews/2011/11/10/tav-falco-sexual-abandoned-political |url-status=dead }}</ref> Morse's ''Bluff City Underground/Mondo Memphis: Volume 2'' ''roman noir'' follows a West Coast graduate student and his encounters with a Memphis secret society.<ref name=powerhouse />

In 2015, Falco's book of photography, a collection of black & white images of the American South entitled ''Iconography of Chance: 99 Photographs of the Evanescent South'', was published by Elsinore Press and distributed by University of Chicago Press.<ref>{{cite news | last=Mehr|first=Bob|date= October 8, 2015|title=Mid-South ex-pat Tav Falco returns to scene of 1970s provocations with Lafayette's show|url=http://www.commercialappeal.com/entertainment/music/features/mid-south-ex-pat-tav-falco-returns-to-scene-of-1970s-provocations-with-lafayettes-show-21254e43-cb19-331403311.html|newspaper=The Commercial Appeal|location=Memphis, TN|access-date=April 19, 2016}}</ref>

===As solo musician===

After moving to Vienna, Falco took an interest in tango, cabaret, and similar continental musical styles.<ref name="LA Weekly 6-7-1996">{{cite journal |title=Scoring the Clubs: Friday, June 7: Tav Falco's Panther Burns, Deepwater Pink at Jacks Sugar Shack. |journal=LA Weekly |date=June 7, 1996 |volume=18 |issue=28 |page=107 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/579250557 |access-date=September 26, 2021 |publisher=Semanal Media LLC |location=Los Angeles|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The 1995 Tav Falco & The Panther Burns album ''Shadow Dancer'' introduced these influences to his music.<ref name="Orlando Sentinel 8-11-1995">{{cite journal |last1=Gettelman |first1=Perry |title=Tav Falco's Panther Burns, "Shadow Dancer" (Upstart/Rounder) (review) |department=Calendar |journal=Orlando Sentinel |date=August 11, 1995 |volume=119 |issue=223 |page=9 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/234128306/ |access-date=September 26, 2021 |publisher=Tribune Publishing |location=Orlando FL|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In 1996, he released two 10" LP releases, ''Disappearing Angels'' and ''2 Sides of Tav Falco,'' under the "Tav Falco" name.<ref name="disappearing_angels">{{Cite AV media notes| title = Tav Falco: Disappearing Angels| url = https://www.discogs.com/Tav-Falco-Disappearing-Angels/release/1530112| date = 1996| access-date = September 26, 2021| at = Front Cover| type = LP| publisher = Sympathy For the Record Industry (USA)| id = SFTRI 460| location = Olympia, WA}}</ref><ref name="2_side_of_tf">{{Cite AV media notes| title = Tav Falco: 2 Sides of Tav Falco| url = https://www.discogs.com/Tav-Falco-2-Sides-Of-Tav-Falco-Live/release/3337194| date = 1996| access-date = September 26, 2021| at = Front Cover| type = LP| publisher = Helter Skelter Records (Italy)| id = BAMF 49| location = Rome}}</ref>

[[File:Tav_Falco_Bangkok_16_Jul_2022.jpg|thumb|right|x250px|Falco in Bangkok, Thailand, July 2022]]

In 2016, Falco released the holiday-themed album ''A Tav Falco Christmas'' on the Los Angeles-based record label Org Music.<ref name="tf_xmas_cd">{{Cite AV media notes | title = A Tav Falco Christmas | last = Falco| first = Tav | url = https://www.discogs.com/release/14718621-Tav-Falco-A-Tav-Falco-Christmas | date = November 24, 2017 | access-date = October 3, 2021| at = Back cover | type = CD | publisher = Org Music | id = ORGM-1059 | location = Los Angeles }}</ref> Recorded at Sam Phillips Recording Service, the album featured Mike Watt on bass,<ref name="ark_dem-gaz_12-10-2019">{{cite web |last1=Widner |first1=Ellis |title=Q & A: Tav Falco |url=https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2017/dec/10/q-amp-a-tav-falco-20171207/ |website=Arkansas Democrat-Gazette |publisher=WEHCO Media, Inc. |access-date= October 23, 2021 |location=Little Rock, AR |format=Online |date=December 10, 2017}}</ref> and was produced by guitarist Mario Monterosso.<ref name="PopDiggers_2">{{cite web |last1=Jönsson |first1=Peter |title=Interview with Tav Falco – an undercurrent artist with a mission |url=https://popdiggers.com/interview-with-tav-falco-an-indercurrent-artist-with-a-mission/ |website=PopDiggers.com |publisher=PopDiggers |access-date=September 27, 2021 |location=Malmö, Sweden |date=January 1, 2020}}</ref> The ''Los Angeles Times'' called it "gloriously demented enough to act as a tonic for anyone who can't bear the thought of another dose of sugary sentimentality."<ref name="LA Times 12-26-2017">{{cite journal |last1=Lewis |first1=Randy |title=Albums for Making Merry |department=Calendar |journal=Los Angeles Times |date=November 26, 2017 |volume=CXXXVI |issue=358 |page=F3 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/355646891/ |access-date=September 26, 2021 |location=Los Angeles|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In a 2018 interview with Adam J. Harmer of the British indie rock group Fat White Family, Falco stated, "I'm getting away from the rock and roll world to get a little peace of mind."<ref name="blues_kitchen_tv">{{cite AV media | people = Tav Falco, Adam J. Harmer | title = Fat White Family meet Tav Falco – The Blues Kitchen Presents... [Interview] | medium = video | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axqh4Y4B8WA | access-date = September 27, 2021 | time = 1:07–1:11 | location = London | publisher = Blues Kitchen TV }}</ref> In April of that year, Falco recorded the sessions that would become the album ''Cabaret of Daggers'' at Terminal 2 Studio in Rome, with Mario Monterosso producing once again.<ref name="thestrangebrew">{{cite web |last1=Barnard |first1=Jason |title=Tav Falco (interview) |url=https://thestrangebrew.co.uk/interviews/tav-falco/ |website=The Strange Brew |access-date=October 3, 2021}}</ref> Two of the album's songs, including the anthemic "Red Vienna,"<ref name= Please_Kill_Me /> are Falco originals. The remainder includes selections from the Great American Songbook such as "Strange Fruit" and "Born to Be Blue," and veers far enough away from The Panther Burns' signature sound that Falco opted to present it as a solo album, despite Panther Burns members being featured prominently on the album.<ref name=thestrangebrew /><ref name="the13thfloor">{{cite AV media | people = Marty Duda, Tav Falco | date = January 29, 2019 | title = Tav Falco Found! The Elusive Panther Burns Frontman Talks To The 13th Floor | trans-title = | type = podcast | url = https://www.13thfloor.co.nz/tav-falco-found-the-elusive-panther-burns-frontman-talks-to-the-13th-floor/ | access-date = October 3, 2021 | format = audio | time = 14:55–16:45 | publisher = The13thfloor.co.nz}}</ref> ''Cabaret of Daggers'' was released by Org Music on limited edition yellow vinyl on Record Store Day on November 23, and on black vinyl and digital formats on November 30.<ref name="blackbook">{{cite web |last1=Scrudato |first1=Ken |title=BLACKBOOK INTERVIEW + PREMIERE: Tav Falco Covers Grace Jones' 'Libertango', Broods Intensely About America |url=https://blackbookmag.com/arts-culture/blackbook-interview-premiere-tav-falco-covers-grace-jones-libertango-worries-about-america/ |website=BlackBook |publisher=Evanly Schindler |access-date= October 3, 2021 |format=Online |date= November 14, 2018}}</ref> ''Mojo'' magazine stated that the album "conjures up a potent mix of blues, jazz and tango rhythms in which 1920s Vienna café culture seamlessly rubs shoulders with Beale Street juke joints," and rated the album four stars out of five.<ref name="CoD_Mojo_review_2019">{{cite journal |last1=Décharné |first1=Max |title=Tav Falco: Cabaret of Daggers (review) |journal=Mojo |date=May 2019 |issue=306 |page=95 |publisher=Bauer Media Group |location=London}}</ref>

In 2024, Falco recorded the solo album ''Desire on Ice''.<ref name="mojo_nov_2024">{{cite journal |last1=Harrison |first1=Ian |editor1-last=Mulvaney |editor1-first=John |title=Out of Memphis, Tav Falco's Panther Burns Rise Again |journal=Mojo |date=November 2024 |issue=372 |page=18 |publisher=Bauer Media Group |location=London |issn=1351-0193}}</ref> The album featured reworked versions of original songs written by Falco, most of which were featured on previous albums.<ref name="uncut_oct-2025">{{cite journal |editor1-last=Bonner |editor1-first=Michael |title=Tav Falco: ''Desire on Ice'' |journal=Uncut |date=October 2025 |page=34 |url=https://archive.org/details/uncut-magazine-october-2025/mode/2up |access-date=27 October 2025 |publisher=Kelsey Media |location=London |issn=1368-0722}}</ref><ref name="tvd_tf_doi_7-24-2025">{{cite web |last1=Catlin |first1=Roger |title=TVD Radar: Tav Falco. ''Desire on Ice'' in stores 9/12 |url=https://www.thevinyldistrict.com/storefront/tvd-radar-tav-falco-desire-on-ice-in-stores-9-12/ |website=The Vinyl District |publisher=Mom and Pop Media, Inc. |access-date=24 October 2025 |date=24 July 2025 }}</ref> The album also featured a large roster of guest musicians, such as Jon Spencer (Jon Spencer Blues Explosion), The Reverend Horton Heat, Bobby Gillespie (Primal Scream / The Jesus and Mary Chain), and Ann Magnuson.<ref name=uncut_oct-2025 /><ref name="mdml_9-13-2025">{{cite web |last1=Doherty |first1=Michael |title=Tav Falco: "Desire in Ice" (2025) CD Review |url=https://michaelsmusiclog.blogspot.com/2025/09/tav-falco-desire-on-ice-2025-cd-review.html |website=Michael Doherty's Music Log |access-date=27 October 2025 |date=13 September 2025}}</ref> Org Music released the album on 12 September 2025<ref name="tvd_tf_doi_7-24-2025">{{cite web |last1=Catlin |first1=Roger |title=TVD Radar: Tav Falco. ''Desire on Ice'' in stores 9/12 |url=https://www.thevinyldistrict.com/storefront/tvd-radar-tav-falco-desire-on-ice-in-stores-9-12/ |website=The Vinyl District |publisher=Mom and Pop Media, Inc. |access-date=24 October 2025 |date=24 July 2025 }}</ref> to positive reviews, including a 5/5 rating from ''Mojo'' magazine with a special inset,<ref name="mojo_oct_2025">{{cite journal |last1=Décharné |first1=Max |editor1-last=Mulvaney |editor1-first=John |title=Tav Falco: ''Desire on Ice'' (review) |journal=Mojo |date=October 2025 |issue=383 |page=91 |publisher=Bauer Media Group |location=London |issn=1351-0193}}</ref> an 8/10 rating from ''Uncut'' with a full page writeup,<ref name=uncut_oct-2025 /> and another 8/10 rating from ''Classic Rock.''<ref name="classic_rock_10-25">{{cite journal |last1=Needs |first1=Kris |editor1-last=Llewellyn |editor1-first=Siân |title=Tav Falco: ''Desire on Ice'' (review) |journal=Classic Rock |date=October 2025 |issue=345 |page=74 |url=https://archive.org/details/classic-rock-uk-october-2025/page/74/mode/2up |access-date=28 October 2025 |publisher=Future PLC |location=Bath}}</ref>

==Works==

===Filmography===

{| class="wikitable" |- ! style="background: silver" | Title ! style="background: silver" | Film type ! style="background: silver" | Role ! style="background: silver" | Year ! style="background: silver" | Country |- | ''71 Salvage'' | Short | Actor | 1971 | USA |- | ''Shadetree Mechanic'' | Short | Actor | 1986 | USA |- | ''Memphis Beat'' | Short | Director | 1989 | USA |- | ''Great Balls of Fire!'' | Feature | Actor | 1989 | USA |- | ''Highway 61'' | Feature | Actor | 1991 | Canada |- | ''Helene of Memphis'' | Short | Director | 1991 | USA |- | ''A nagy postarablás'' (''The Great Post Office Robbery'') | Feature | Actor | 1992 | Hungary |- | ''Born Too Late'' | Short | Actor | 1993 | France |- |''Masque Of Hotel Orient'' |Short |Actor |1996 |Austria |- | ''Downtown 81'' | Feature | Actor | 2001 | USA |- | ''Wayne County Rambling'' | Feature | Actor | 2002 | USA |- | ''Dans Le Rouge du Couchant'' | Feature | Actor | 2003 | France/Spain |- | ''Urania Descending'' | Feature | Director | 2016 | Austria/France |- |''The Urania Trilogy'' |Feature |Director |2024 |Austria/France/USA |}

===Bibliography===

{| class="wikitable" |- ! style="background: silver" | Title ! style="background: silver" | Year ! style="background: silver" | Publisher ! style="background: silver" | Notes |- | ''Ghosts Behind The Sun: Splendor, Enigma, and Death/Mondo Memphis: Volume 1'' | 2011 | Creation Books | Part of a two-part book collaboration with Erik Morse |- | ''Iconography of Chance: 99 Photographs of the Evanescent South'' | 2015 | Elsinore Press| Elsinore Press (Dist. by University of Chicago Press) | Photography book |- |}

===Solo discography=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! style="background: silver" | Title ! style="background: silver" | Type ! style="background: silver" | Year ! style="background: silver" | Label |- ! colspan="4" | Albums |- | ''Disappearing Angels'' | 10" LP | 1996 | Frenzi / Sympathy for the Record Industry (USA) |- | ''2 Sides of Tav Falco'' (live) | 10" LP | 1996 | Frenzi / Helter Skelter Records (Italy) |- | ''A Tav Falco Christmas'' | 12" Mini LP | 2016 | Frenzi / Org Music (USA) |- | ''Cabaret of Daggers'' | LP | 2018 | Frenzi / Org Music |- | ''Club Car Zodiac'' | 12" EP | 2021 | Frenzi / Org Music |- | ''Desire on Ice'' | LP | 2025 | Frenzi / Org Music |- ! colspan="4" | Singles |- | "Torture" b/w "Garda Che Luna" | 7" single | 1991 | New Rose Records (France) |- | "Ghostwriter" (Tav Falco) b/w "Into the Garden" (JE & III) | Split 7" Single | 1992 | Buback Tonträger GmbH (Germany) |- | "The Drone Danger" b/w "Tram?" | 7" single | 2017 | Blang! (UK) |- ! colspan="4" | Compilations curated by Falco |- | ''Swamp Surfing in Memphis'' | Full Length | 1986 | Frenzi / Au Go Go (Australia) |- | ''Tav Falco's Wild & Exotic World Of Musical Obscurities'' | Double Album | 2014 | Stag-O-Lee (Germany) |- ! colspan="4" | Other compilation appearances |- | ''XO for the Holidays, Vol. X'' | Digital compilation | 2021 | XO Publicity |- |}

==Notes== {{reflist}}

==References== * Gordon, Robert (1995). ''It Came From Memphis''. New York: Pocket Books. {{ISBN|0-7434-1045-9}}. * Hart, Gabe. (November 10, 2011). [http://larecord.com/interviews/2011/11/10/tav-falco-sexual-abandoned-political "Tav Falco: Sexual, Abandoned, Political"]. ''L.A. Record''. Retrieved July 30, 2014. * Jordan, Mark (February 11, 1999). [https://web.archive.org/web/20041114114412/http://www.memphisflyer.com/backissues/issue521/mus521.htm Midnight in Memphis]. ''Memphis Flyer'' (archived at archive.org). Retrieved October 3, 2021. * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120315151034/http://www.creationbooks.com/creation-titles/MONDOMEMPHIS.html MONDO MEMPHIS: TAV FALCO & ERIK MORSE website by Creation Books] (archived at archive.org from [http://www.creationbooks.com/creation-titles/MONDOMEMPHIS.html original MONDO MEMPHIS page by Creation Books]). Retrieved July 29, 2014. * Needs, Kris. (November 17, 2014). [http://thequietus.com/articles/16603-tav-falco-interview "Vienna And Voodoo: Tav Falco Interviewed"]. ''The Quietus''. Retrieved March 31, 2015. * O'Brien, Glenn (August 1988). Memphis Blues Again; Tennessee's Most Evasive R&B Man – Tav Falco of Panther Burns. ''Interview'' magazine, pp. 50–51. * Stephenson, Will. (November 21, 2014). [http://www.arktimes.com/RockCandy/archives/2014/11/21/tav-falco-on-his-new-arkansas-set-film-urania-descending "Tav Falco on his new Arkansas-set film, 'Urania Descending'"]. ''Arkansas Times''. Retrieved March 31, 2015. * Turner, Jeremy (December 2003). [https://web.archive.org/web/20050412185521/http://www.openspace.ca/outerspace/TavFalcoInterview2003.html "07: Interview With Tav Falco About Early Telematic Art at Televista in Memphis, New Center for Art Activities in New York and Open Space Gallery in Victoria, Canada."] ''Outer Space: The Past, Present and Future of Telematic Art'' (archived at archive.org). Retrieved October 3, 2021.

==External links== {{Commons category}} *[http://www.tavfalco.com/ Tav Falco Official Website] *{{IMDb name|id=0265942|name=Tav Falco}} *[{{Allmusic|class=artist|id=mn0000016147|pure_url=yes}} Tav Falco biography at Allmusic] *[http://www.uraniadescending-themovie.com/production.html Official site of ''Urania'' film trilogy by Tav Falco]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falco, Tav}} Category:Living people Category:American male actors Category:American performance artists Category:People from Clark County, Arkansas Category:American rockabilly guitarists Category:American rock singers Category:American people of Italian descent Category:Musicians from Philadelphia Category:Singers from Arkansas Category:1945 births Category:Tav Falco's Panther Burns members Category:Artists from Arkansas