Exene Cervenka Cancels Tour Due to Illness

Christopher Victorio/OC Weekly

​Sadly, the LA Times blog reported Thursday that legendary punk songstress Exene Cervenka was forced to cancel her current tour due to health problems. In a lengthy statement published on the blog, Cervenka cited her struggles with MS as the driving force behind the decision.  "I am not an invincible road warrior anymore," Cervenka wrote. "The easiest part of touring is the hour onstage. The driving and staying with friends and finding hotels and advancing the shows and hauling around merch and guitars is the hard part."

She added the intense heat she encountered during her performance at Austin music festival South By Southwest may have triggered her disease to flare. Cervenka, who fronted seminal Los Angeles punk band X, has been touring in support of her latest solo album, The Excitment of Maybe, a collection of folk and country-hued songs that, though voiced by a punk veteran, feature stories of love that seem to come from the unguarded soul of a teenage girl.

Cervenka played some of these songs at Big's Bar & Grill a few weeks back before hitting the road. The quality of the work and her dedication to the craft of songrwriting were ever-present. We hope she feels better soon.