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James Canty

American musician

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 13, 2024
Entity authorityQ6130999
Source-derived summary

James Canty is a Brooklyn, New York–based multi-instrumentalist musician from Washington, D.C.

Canty is currently known for playing guitar in the band Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, and guitar and keyboard with The Make-Up. Before forming The Make-Up, Canty was the drummer for Nation of Ulysses, a political punk band that existed from 1987 to 1992. Other groups Canty has played in include French Toast, All Scars, Georgie James, Cupid Car Club, Ideal Forms, Chain & The Gang, Kid Congo Powers & The Pink Monkey Birds, and Dust Galaxy.

Most of Canty's work has been with the bands signed to Dischord Records; however, he has also released music with K Records, Lookout Records, Kill Rock Stars, Matador Records and Drag City.

Canty is the younger brother of Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty and writer Kevin Canty.

In 2008, Canty recorded a digital EP called Rapid Response with Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. The EP was created as a benefit for Democracy Now! and the Minneapolis chapter of Food Not Bombs, in response to police brutality during the 2008 Republican National Convention.

In 2014, Canty became the fill-in keyboardist for the television show Late Night with Seth Meyers.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “James Canty” as american musician. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around James, Canty and American.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1987, 1992, 2008, 2014—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with James, Canty and American providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “James Canty”, the useful work is to connect “american musician” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 13, 2024. The linked authority identifier is Q6130999. The first chronological checks are 1987, 1992, 2008 and 2014.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
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Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “James Canty”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow James Canty primary sources, James Canty archive and James research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “James Canty”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from James Canty” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.