Musician, radio host torn over Danville roots

Although he seems to resent his Danville upbringing, “Mojo Nixon” also credits his youth spent in Southside — at least in some part — for his success as an eccentric personality, recording artist and, most currently, satellite radio host.

Nixon rose to a certain level of fame in the ’80s and ’90s with his unapologetic and often crass rockabilly music, with songs such as “Don Henley Must Die,” “Destroy All Lawyers” and “Debbie Gibson is Pregnant.” Born Neill Kirby McMillan Jr. in 1957, Nixon adopted his nickname some years ago during a cross-country cycling trip with a high school buddy.

“I kind of envisioned this character, Mojo Nixon, who could be all the things I wanted to be,” Nixon said with a powerful laugh. “At some point, Kirby McMillan and Mojo Nixon merged into one. I figured I needed to do what I do best, which is get a little hillbilly boogie woogie going and, at the same time, extemporaneously pontificating.”

Nixon currently lives in San Diego, where for the last five years he has worked as a radio show host for three shows on Sirius and XM satellite radio. The shows cover a broad range of topics — politics, NASCAR and country rock — similar to Nixon’s musical inclinations.

He recently released a new album, “Whiskey Rebellion,” with 17 previously unreleased songs — mostly tracks that were left off other albums, Nixon said. To “spread the love,” Nixon said, he released the album and his entire musical catalog for free on Amazon.com in October for a few weeks, reaching more than one million downloads.

“Musically, I’m done,” Nixon, 52, said. “I’m too old, too fat and too gray to be jumping around like a monkey.”

Nixon has had songs featured on shows like “My Name is Earl” and on HBO. But even though he said his musical career is winding down, Nixon has found a calling on satellite radio.

“It’s like if Richard Pryor did ‘Meet the Press,’” he said of his political show, the title of which he said was unfit for a family newspaper. “It’s freewheeling to the ump-teenth degree. I’m crazy, and I get the crazy people calling in …

“It’s way out there in the boondocks. You know where the libertarians and anarchists meet to join forces and fight the powers that be? That’s where it is.”

After seeing where most people ended up in Danville during his youth — like the now-defunct textile factories, tobacco farms or the sock factory where he once worked — Nixon knew he wanted to venture beyond Southside.

He delights in poking fun at his hometown, although he remembers fondly local gems like the hot dogs at Mama Possum’s and the draw of high school football on a Friday night. Married — to “the wife of Mojo,” he said — with two sons, one 27 and one 15, Nixon does not visit home often, where his mother still lives.

“I must’ve developed it in Danville,” he said of his polarizing personality. “Danville’s a great place to be from because it gave me a whole lot to buck up against … But I ain’t gonna say no more than that.”

A few minutes later, Nixon opted to rephrase that sentiment.

“I loved being from Danville,” he said, “and I loved getting out of Danville. But no matter where I go, I can’t get the Danville outta me.”