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| Ten Thousand Motels |
Posted July 13, 2006
'A treasure of American roots music'
By Suzanne Weiss
Herald Times
With another CD due out in fall and a touring schedule that keeps him busy 12 months a year, Grammy Award-winning blues artist John Hammond has found time to stop in Manitowoc.
He will headline Acoustic Fest, which is returning to Washington Park for its 11th year, as one of 10 acts featured from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, July 16, on the park's MetroStage.
The idea of Acoustic Fest is "to promote alternative music that's really not mainstream," said Pete Honzik, organizer and one of the founders of the festival.
Hammond, "regarded as a treasure of American roots music," fit that bill and happened to be playing in Door County on the night before Acoustic Fest, Honzik said.
A call to Hammond's agent led to the addition of Manitowoc to the musician's schedule before he leaves for his sixth tour of Japan, where blues music is very popular.
"I've been doing this so long, it's just part of me to travel and see new places and old places," Hammond said in a phone interview from his home in New Jersey.
The singer, who plays guitar and harmonica, spoke about how he has put his individual stamp on the music he performs.
"I'm a blues singer, but blues is a very deep and rich tradition with various styles," Hammond said.
"I play the country blues style, which is the old-time acoustic style. I have a standard wooden guitar and a steel-body National guitar — it was made in the '30s, before the electric guitar. It's a resonator, so it's very loud. It has an acoustic pan in it that becomes like a microphone in its own acoustic way."
Hammond, who will put on a solo acoustic show here, talked about the appeal of acoustic music.
"It's unaffected by electronic sounds and gizmos," he said. "It's the pure sound. To me, a solo artist, if you can grab that attention and make the magic happen, I think it's more dramatic than if you have a big band and a huge sound.
"The music incorporates the basics of life, the extremes, the good, the bad and the ugly and everything in between. It's very passionate and profound in a lot of ways. Within it there's humor and sadness and the whole gamut of human emotions. It depends of the artist to make it come alive and become meaningful. It doesn't just automatically do that."
The son of John Hammond Sr., responsible for discovering Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, the younger Hammond started his career playing in clubs in New York's Greenwich Village.
"In 1963, he was accomplished enough to share the Newport Folk Festival bill with the likes of Mississippi John Hurt and the Rev. Gary Davis," Honzik said.
Since then, Hammong has released 30 albums. He's a Grammy Award winner and four-time nominee, as well as multiple winner of the W.C. Handy Award, a major blues award.
Hammond has played or recorded with artists including Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Doctor John, Jimi Hendrix, Duane Allman, Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones, Pops Staples and The Band.
"He said in the early 1960s, he had Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix in his band at the same time. It was only for one week but he had them at the same time, which not many people can claim, I guess," Honzik said.
Hammond's 30th album is "In Your Arms Again," by Back Porch Records.
"It was a recorded in a little church in Salina, Kansas, kind of in the middle of nowhere," Hammond said. "Every year there's a blues festival there. The church has just fantastic sound for what I do. Acoustically it was perfect."
Acoustic Fest was founded in 1996 by Honzik, Dennis Krall and Dan Hildebrand. The event will include a raffle to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Organizers will award the sixth Jim Krueger Memorial Music Scholarship. A total of $6,000, including this year's scholarship, will have been given away since the festival's inception.
Acoustic Fest also helps raise money for Manitowoc Parks and Recreation Department special projects, including disc golf.
"It's free and it's a chance to see the evolution of American music," Honzik said of Acoustic Fest. "It's a great day to be in the park, kick back and just listen."
Acoustic Fest lineup
11:30 a.m.
Tom Pease, family entertainer
Through song, movement and humor, Pease takes audience participation to a new level. From his opening song to a final 'goodbye" in sign language, Pease connects with children and adults alike. Woven through each of his performances are inspiring themes of respect for one another and our world, the importance of community and the power of laughter. www.tompease.com.
12:45 p.m.
Happenstance
Happenstance is an acoustic trio playing a variety of music including contemporary folk, country and rock in the styles of Trisha Yearwood, Martina McBride, The Indigo Girls, The Beatles, Jim Croce and Dan Fogelberg.
The group includes Rebecca Markvart, primary vocalist, Debby Kimmes, primary guitarist, and her husband, Mark Kimmes, percussionist.
Bill Walkner
Bill Walkner bought his first guitar, a Silvertone arch-top, from his brother, Charlie, in 1964. From there it was an addiction and an evolution.
He has played everything from rhythm guitar to bass guitar, in bands and solo, developing his own style along the way.
Walkner explains where his songs originate: "From your foggy memory of lifetime experiences good, bad, humorous, painful or joyful … you paint a musical picture. Add your trusty old acoustic guitar humming along and you have written a song. Not for the money, not for the glory, not for the ego, but for the pure joy of the poetry of the lyrics that were always present in your head."
Dan "Big Dog" Hildebrand and Nick Griseto
With influences as varied as Jimmy Buffet, Roger Miller, Hank Williams and John Prine, Dan Hildebrand's imagery is both evocative and straightforward. In his original songs, "Survivor" and "The Christmas Tree Ships," his lyrics and vocals are reminiscent of his days exploring the old shipwrecks of the Great Lakes. Formerly of Hardbean & McHonzik and also the Huckleberry Beatniks, Hildebrand has collaborated on two CDs. They include "A Toast," a compilation of Irish pub songs and "Go Green Bay," a tribute to the Packers.
2:45 p.m.
Eric Nassau
Eric Nassau's music grew out of the Connecticut coffeehouses and into the Midwestern cornfields. Using the talented and supportive community of Columbus, Ohio, as his springboard, Nassau has played at bars, benefits, bookstores, coffeehouses, house concerts, festivals and universities all over the United States and Canada since 1996.
His evocative lyrics, gentle vocals and finger-style guitar combine with a warm stage presence and good humor. In the tradition of folk troubadours, his original songs reflect lived-in soles and handed-down stories, personal anecdotes mixed with imagination and charm. www.myspace.com/ericnassauandfriends.
3:45 p.m.
Home Brew
This duo of acoustic, finger-style guitar players offers a blend of acoustic swing, blues and pop tunes in unique arrangements. Pete Honzik is a founder of Manitowoc's annual Acoustic Fest. Merritt Bussiere entertains as a solo musician along Wisconsin's lakeshore and is guitarist for the South Pacific Sounds of Green Bay. With decades of musical experience between them, they bring new energy and ideas as well as pickin' and vocal harmonies to an eclectic mix of songs.
4:45 p.m.
Dave Steffen
With 10 albums and literally thousands of live appearances under his belt, Dave Steffen has made music a way of life. Since he received his first recording contract at the age of 15, he has devoted his life to playing, recording and living his music. He will be performing with young musician Craig Neuser. www.davesteffenband.com
5:45 p.m.
Colin O'Brien
Colin O'Brien is going solo after three years fronting Salt Creek, winner of the Wisconsin Area Music Industry award for best bluegrass band in 2004 and 2005. In the tradition of the late John Hartford, O'Brien puts on a one-man song and dance show, dancing rhythms on his amplified footboard and singing while playing band, fiddle and guitar. His extensive repertoire of original and traditional songs is designed to appeal to folk, bluegrass, jam-band, old-time and country audiences of all ages. www.colingobrien.com.
6:45 p.m.
Unwound
This local duo is made up of Gloria and Peter Pivonka. Their performance features traditional and contemporary acoustic composers, finger-style guitar and tight, rich harmonies. Their repertoire includes compositions by Nancy Griffith, Fleetwood Mach, Bonnie Rait, Sheryl Crow, John Gorka and Bruce Cockburn. Of particular interest are the duo's guitar arrangement of piano tunes of Joni Mitchell and John Lennon and the addition of percussion and solo guitar pieces.
7:45 p.m.
John Hammond
John Hammond has spent 40 years entertaining blues, folk and rock audiences around the world, performing intense solo-acoustic blues. A Grammy Award winner and four-time nominee, Hammond is also a multiple W.C. Handy Award winner who has shared the stage and recorded with many of the masters, including Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, John Lee Hooker and Howlin' Wolf.
Hammond continues to tour all over the United States, Canada and Europe from his base in northern New Jersey.
His 2003 release, "Ready For Love," was followed by "Wicked Grin," the acclaimed album produced by longtime friend Tom Waits and featuring all Waits songs.
Hammond's 30th and most recent album is "In Your Arms Again" by Back Porch Records. The album features some Bob Dylan and Ray Charles tunes.
[Edited by Ten Thousand Motels] |
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| Sir Stonesalot |
John Hammond is playing in my friend's living room on 7/29.
No, I'm not kidding.
John Hammond also signed my acoustic. |
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