Paul Westerberg is in a cast after putting a screwdriver through his hand and hurting himself pretty bad. Doctors are telling him he won’t be playing guitar for a year according to Jim Walsh’s blog. Jim’s a Minneapolis writer and close friend of the former Replacements singer. Here’s what he had to say:

"Speaking of prayers, at the end of Paul Westerberg’s liner notes on "The Shit Hits The Fans," he wrote "Pray for us, Paul." Well, brother Paul could use some prayers at the moment, because a week or so ago he put a screwdriver through his left hand trying to get some wax out of a candle and cut some nerves and ripped some cartilage and hurt himself pretty bad.

He’s in a cast. He’s seen a couple doctors who say he won’t be able to play guitar for a year."

You can read the full post by clicking here. There goes any slight chance we had at a Replacements reunion tour in 2007 I guess. I’ll be kicking back a few glasses in the name of Paul tonight, I’m pretty sure he’s a scotch man… here’s to Paul! And here’s a few of Paul’s songs I’ve been diggin’ on lately. If you’re not an owner of "Let It Be" & "Tim" by The Replacements, I recommend you treat yourself and go buy those today… you’ll thank me and The ‘Mats later. Below the songs here, you can watch The Replacements play two songs on Saturday Night Live… drunk, not giving a fuck & killing it! Take note of the clothes switch-er-roo!

(The Replacements - "Treatment Bound" from Hootenanny)

(The Replacements - "If Only You Were Lonely" from Sucking Wax bootleg)

(The Replacements - "Beer For Breakfast" from All For Nothing disc 2)

(Paul Westerberg - "Things" from 14Songs)

The Replacements - Bastards of Young (live on SNL)

The Replacements - Kiss Me On The Bus (live on SNL)