Hi, How Are You

Hi, How Are You is a self-recorded music cassette album from Texan singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston, released in September of 1983. Recorded in Johnston’s sister’s San Marcos home between stints delivering pizzas, Johnston reportedly suffered a nervous breakdown that prevented him from finishing the album to his satisfaction.

The album’s friendly name coincides with Johnston’s opening line when he would hawk his cassette to passersby on Austin’s Guadalupe street: “Hi, how are you? I’m Daniel Johnston, and I’m going to be famous.”

Though Johnston’s most popular songs ( “Story of an Artist”, “True Love Will Find You In the End” ) are not included on this album, Hi, How Are You is still often considered the most iconic of his entire discography. This reputation is due to some large-profile references made to the album, the most notable of which being Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain wearing the Hi, How Are You album art on a t-shirt during an appearance at the 1991 MTV awards. Being that Johnston was still relatively underground at this time, Cobain’s homage catalyzed (or possibly simply embodied) Johnston’s rise to cult fame in the fringe music scene.

Additionally, as a musician forged in the crucible of the ‘80s Austin, TX music scene, the art of Hi, How Are You became the fitting emblem of the Keep Austin Weird movement when it was emblazoned on the side of a building located at 21st and Guadalupe. The bizarrely-endearing frog that graces the wall, named Jeremiah the Innocent in the tradition of Johnston’s strong Christian faith, has since become one of the most famous pieces of American street art in recent memory. The mural now graces the wall of a (now-closed) Thai cuisine establishment appropriately named Thai, How Are You?.