Keanan Duffty, Slinky Vagabond and “Ad Astra”
When I read, last year that a band called Slinky Vagabond had released a new album, The Eternal Return, I made an attempt to track down its lead singer, Keanan Duffty for an interview. At the time I failed to connect, but as it happens we found each other and Keanan will be my guest for the interview tomorrow.
Identifying Keanan Duffty as the lead singer of Slinky Vagabond is a true but misleadingly incomplete description of who he is. Slinky Vagabond, the band, or perhaps more accurately, musical project, has brought together such collaborators as Bowie alumnus Earl Slick, Sex Pistols Glenn Matlock, the late Clem Burke of Blondie, and more recently guitarist and producer Fabio Fabbri. Keanan, the musician has performed with other Bowie alumni including at the 2024 Bowie World Fan convention in Liverpool. But, accomplished though he is in this field, he is even more accomplished as a fashion designer.
It was in that capacity that Keanan worked directly with David Bowie on a line of Bowie-inspired clothing sold at Target in 2007. I bought a shirt and jeans from that line and still have (and still wear) the shirt. (The pants stopped fitting when I lost weight and kept it off). Most of the interview tomorrow focuses on that project, Bowie more generally and fashion. What Keanan has to say is great and really interesting, but the downside is we didn’t get to talk enough about Slinky Vagabond.
The term, of course, comes from a line in Bowie’s song, “Young Americans”:
“Scanning life through the picture window
She finds the slinky vagabond
He coughs as he passes her Ford Mustang
But Heaven forbid, she’ll take anything”
It’s the kind of line that the casual listener might miss, along with missing the larger, gritty portrait of America Bowie paints with the deceptively upbeat song. It is also the kind of combination of words that made Bowie a compelling lyricist. Keanan seized upon the term and has used it not simply as a band name, but also as a label name and the name of a pop-up store in New York. (Keanan also had the opportunity to record with Ava Cherry, who sang backing vocals on “Young Americans.”)
I’m featuring this song, “Ad Astra,” because it is a Bowie tribute of sorts, and feature yet another Bowie alumnus, Mike Garson (you’ll be able to tell). It’s a good representative sample of the type of music you’ll find on The Eternal Return. So, check out the song, and come back tomorrow for the interview.