Celebration Of Life Planned For Musician Victor Mecyssne

By Robert K. Oermann

A Celebration of Life in remembrance of musician Victor Mecyssne is being scheduled for this coming weekend. Regarded as one of the forerunners of Nashville’s Americana music scene, Mecyssne passed away on Dec. 17, 2018 in Canada at age 66. In addition to being a singer-guitarist, he made his mark as an actor, a songwriter and a photographer.

The native Nashvillian absorbed blues, jazz and country sounds as a youngster, and his hard-to-classify style reflected those eclectic influences. For example, his 1998 LP Hush Money featured such diverse supporting players as Lucinda Williams, Tim Carroll and Duane Jarvis.

His output also included the albums Personal Mercury (1995), Skinnybones (2001), Mystery Loves Company (2007) and Those Nashville Blues (2008). As the leader of his band The Ragtops, Mecyssne was a regular entertainer at The Bluebird Café, Radio Café and other local venues beginning in 1985. He also toured beyond Tennessee’s borders, appearing in 48 states and throughout Europe.

For more than 15 years, he was a semi-resident musician and actor at the Cumberland County Playhouse in Crossville, TN. Among his roles there was “Burl Sanders” in Smoke on the Mountain.

In 2000, the Nashville Ballet choreographed six of Victor Mecyssne’s songs into a ballet titled “Short Stories.” Its premiere was staged at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.

He married Joelle Anthony in 2004 and took her last name. They migrated to Canada in 2007, settling in the far western province of British Columbia. Victor Anthony (Mecyssne) became a Canadian citizen in 2014.

He passed away in their home on Gabriola Island, BC with Joelle by his side.

The Celebration of Life event for Victor Mecysnne was held on Sunday, Jan. 13 at the Cloister Clubhouse in Nashville. The family wished for attendees to “Bring an instrument!”