Interview with David Sickmen of The Hackensaw Boys

Interview for WoNo Magazine and WoNoBloG by Wout de Natris

Copyright WoNo Magazine 2012

You can listen to 'O girl' here

It's about eight years ago that I met David Sickmen. The Hackensaw Boys played the Q-Bus in Leiden. Afterwards he was selling cds and we had a very small talk afterwards. My then 11 year old son liked that album, 'Keep it simple', so much that he wanted to come the next time the band played and collect autographs in his specially kept Pokemon exercise book. So he went into the dressing room before the show and just did not come back. After a while I decided to knock on the door and stepped in. There he was with David, playing David's guitar and getting a lesson of 'Blackbird'. Perhaps this was the little extra push that he needed to become a guitar player. Not much later David left the band. Through the guitar lesson we had got to know more band members over the years. My son sitting in the dressing room in Haarlem with Jesse showing video clips of favourite songs on a lap top to each other, is another picture that comes to mind.

And now the band comes back for a tour and all "my" original members of the band have left, with one exception: David Sickmen rejoined the band. Time for an interview and prepare him to play 'Blackbird' with an 18 year old.

You are back on the “nest” after circa six years. What did you do in the meantime and what made you decide to re-join the band?

I am pleased to tell you that I got married and had two sons since I saw you last. I live in a an old factory town called Lynchburg, Virginia. I rejoined the band after talking with the band about its future. Rob and Jesse were stepping out and I volunteered to step back in.

How did the band start?

The best answer here is on our wiki page which we just updated.

If we look at the (prior) history of the band members, we see that they go back in to local music scene of Virginia a long way. Let’s quote the history part of the Wikipedia entry on The Hackensaw Boys:

"The Hackensaw Boys were founded in the Fall of 1999[7] by Rob Bullington, Tom Peloso, David Sickmen, and Robert "Bobby" St. Ours who were all living in Charlottesville, Virginia at the time. Prior to forming Hackensaws, Sickmen and Bullington met in Harrisonburg, Virginia in the early 1990s. At the time, Bullington was playing in a band called Fried Moose. Bobby St. Ours, along with brothers Phillip and Johnny, played in the Harrisonburg-based Route 11 Boys with Ketch Secor and Chris "Critter" Fuqua. Peloso formed a band with some friends in the same decade called Chigger, in which he played the doghouse bass and was the lead singer. Sickmen played in a band called Pieboy with future Hackensaw Boy, Ward Harrison. Fuqua and Secor would go on to found Old Crow Medicine Show in 1998. All had performed as young musicians on the open mic stage at the Little Grill diner in Harrisonburg, as well. The Little Grill stage was also graced by future Hackensaw Boys, Ferd Moyse (no relation to Fried Moose), and Shawn Galbraith in 2004. At that time, the two were performing and touring with old-time string band outfit, The Blooms, from Black Mountain, NC, along with Jeremy Odom (guitar, vocals) and Emily Moberg (fiddle, bass).

The Hackensaw Boys formed in August of 1999, when Sickmen, Bullington, Peloso, and St. Ours met at Miller's restaurant in Charlottesville to watch Fuqua perform with the recently formed OCMS. Sickmen and Peloso had previously been talking about other possible music projects. The four decided at that time to form a new group that would become known as The Hackensaw Boys. They would develop their sound busking on the streets of Virginia."

The story continues with the old bus the band bought to cross the US of A. Read on here.

The Hackensaw Boys play traditional music. The way it is played though hints at other influences. Did the band members find each other because of this music or more in the way the band played it?

We decided to start a band and concentrate our songwriting in the old time Appalachian country folk vein. It was just the kind of songs we were drawn to. We just wrote and I hope are still writing songs from our hearts. 

Looking over the years I conclude that the band is bigger than its members. Was it set up from the outset more as a collective of changing musicians than as a band in a traditional sense?

The band is bigger than any individual who is in it at any given time. There never was any plan as far as members go. We started as four guys and by our first tour we had 12 guys in the band. Over time people came and went and presently we are 6.

The Hackensaw Boys is a band that I’ve met on a regular basis. With hindsight I can pinpoint moments in conversations with members, including you at the Paradiso years back, that I can say, that’s when someone had to choose between making music and another career. How hard is it to be a Hackensaw Boy?

Well, I wouldn't say it's hard. Being in any band has difficult moments. Not enough sleep, being far from home, often not enough money to continue, and then, the creative part of being in an band. A shared vision can be hard to come by! Not to mention people's general sensitivities and how they go about relating to others around them. I can say honestly for myself it's only the being separated from family that weighs my mind down and was the reason I left the band in 2005. 

When someone left the band, was there already a replacement in mind? Or does this go about in a different way? 

No we never have someone in mind. Generally someone goes and we try and bring a friend from within our collective musical circles into the fray!

To go back to the music. Your songs usually seem more personal or personal observations. How important is your daily life for your song writing?

Most of my songs are culled from everyday life and the things around me. Maybe, I see something on the roadside and it sparks a creative match for me, like the song Alabama shamrock. Sometimes it's a word or phrase passing along in a conversation I am having. I firmly believe that art surrounds us all day, every day. It just taking the time to reel the words and tunes in and build them a home to share. 

Btw what instrument(s) will you be playing as neither Rob nor Jesse are there as I understand?

I will be playing guitar and maybe some mandolin.

Looking forward to shake hands in Leiden and listen to some great music.

I too am looking forward to seeing you and yours. Let's have some fun!

There's more on The Hackensaw Boys on WoNoBloG. An interview with Ward Harrison here and a review of 'The old sound of music, vol. 1 and 2' here.

Tour dates can be found here, as well as information on how to purchase the last two EPs of the band.

Other people's problems. Breton

You can listen to 'Edward the Confessor' here.

A fairly cool cover graces Breton's début album. Like a giant blast captured by a photographer, but most likely a very bright light against a darkening night sky, reflected in the windows of the apartment buildings, lighted up in the flare.

Other people's problems was received quite well in the media, so I thought to give it a spin. Listening into the second song all alarm bells were ringing at full force: 80ties, 80ties, 80ties! And unfortunately not the 80ties influence that came back to us in naughties in the form of bands like Franz Ferdinand, Dogs Die in Hot Cars and ultimately Arctic Monkeys. No, this is Depeche Mode, Medium Medium, Howard Jones, Nick Kershaw, Visage and all these pretty horrendous 80ties acts that nearly turned me off of following pop music's development at all. As you have noticed that did not happen, hence I'm listening to Breton.

Devoid of much emotion, the clicks and clocks of modern rhythms lace mostly electronic sounds and distorted sounds. '2 years' has the rudiments of a song hidden in the melody of the singing, carefully riding the loops and samplelike sounds. 'Wood and plastic' comes closer to my liking, some good guitar lines in the song. A violin is the closest to warmness Breton has to offer.

To be honest, after the fourth song, I usually turn the album off. At present I'm forcing myself to listen and it doesn't become much better. The bleeps that follow just don't entice me. Despite the fact that there's an effort at a modern who-how sing-a-long part, there is no joy in it. Maybe a little more than in Joy Division, but not a lot. It's not as if I'm going to whoa-hoo also. Far from it. Boo-hoo is more appropriate.

In the mid 80ties we had a Robert Smith style shoegaze community. "Bats" we called them. Always huddling together in a corner of the disco floor, waiting for that one song. Usually 'A forest' or 'Love like blood', as if on cue they took over the dance floor, to retreat straight away to huddle and shoegaze some more. Somewhere in 1987 or early 1988 they just disappeared, gone, this underground movement.

Their kids started to make music and called themselves Breton. Slower, more electronica, but definitely to their liking. "Bats" of 1986, here's an album to check out. For kids in 2012, sorry I can't advice you on this one, but it's seems like Other people's problems is a little bit of everything and nothing. For all those who like me abhorred 95% of what happened musically in the 80ties: RUN! There are a few sparks in here, but it just doesn't shine through in more than a few songs and when 'Jostle' comes it's simply to late and only listenable by comparison. A no go zone this Breton, though that may just be my problem.

Wo.

You order Other people's problems here


or here

Nothing's Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now . Justin Townes Earle

Je kunt hier luisteren naar Nothing's gonna make me change the way I feel now.

Dat Justin Townes Earle de zoon is van Steve Earle en zijn middelste naam te danken heeft aan zijn vader’s mentor Townes van Zandt mag inmiddels als bekend worden beschouwd. Dat de jonge Earle telg inmiddels drie bescheiden meesterwerken heeft gemaakt, is helaas veel minder bekend. The Good Life (2008), Midnight At The Movies (2009) en Harlem River Blues (2010) behoren als je het mij vraagt tot het beste dat de Amerikaanse rootsmuziek de afgelopen jaren heeft voortgebracht en ook de man’s nieuwe plaat, het deze maand verschenen Nothing's Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now, mag er weer zijn. Justin Townes Earle heeft zich inmiddels in Londen gevestigd, maar nam zijn vierde plaat op in een kerk in North Carolina. De plaat ademt, net als voorganger Harlem River Blues, de sfeer van het Zuiden van de Verenigde Staten maar is ook een stuk veelzijdiger dan deze zo geprezen voorganger. Nothing's Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now werd naar verluid in slechts een dag of vier bijna live opgenomen, maar dat hoor je er niet aan af. Alle songs op de plaat klinken fantastisch, zijn mooi uitgewerkt en in veel gevallen voorzien van verrassende uitstapjes. Justin Townes Earle richtte zich een paar jaar geleden nog vrijwel uitsluitend op country en folk, maar verwerkt inmiddels net zo makkelijk invloeden uit de blues, gospel, jazz, rockabilly en vooral (Memphis) soul in zijn muziek. Earle kampte de afgelopen jaren met meerdere verslavingen (dat zit kennelijk in de familie) en heeft nog steeds een zeer moeizame band met vader Steve. Beide zaken kleuren de teksten op Nothing's Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now en maken van de vierde plaat van Justin Townes Earle een hele emotionele plaat. De jonge Earle klinkt niet alleen geëmotioneerd, maar ook geïnspireerd, wat een serie geweldige songs oplevert. Het zijn songs die hier en daar herinneringen oproepen aan het vroege werk van vader Steve, maar ook Bruce Springsteen, Townes van Zandt, Gram Parsons, Ray LaMontagne en zelfs Johnny Cash duiken hier en daar op als vergelijkingsmateriaal. Het zegt veel over de kwaliteit van de nieuwe plaat van Justin Townes Earle. Nothing's Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now is niet alleen veelzijdiger dan zijn voorganger, maar klinkt in muzikaal opzicht ook een stuk volwassener. De meeste songs steken bijzonder knap in elkaar en verwerken bijna achteloos de meest uiteenlopende invloeden. Omdat Justin Townes Earle ook nog eens beter is gaan zingen en bovendien zijn demonen weet te vangen in messcherpe teksten groeit Nothing's Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now in no time uit tot de beste plaat die Justin Townes Earle tot dusver heeft gemaakt. Iedereen die zijn vorige platen kent weet wat dit betekent voor het niveau van de nieuwe plaat. Abslouut een van de meest aansprekende releases van het moment. Het is dan ook een schande dat we er tot dusver zo weinig over lezen.

Edwin Zijleman

Meer lezen van Erwin? Klik hier.


Je kunt Nothing's gonna change ... hier bestellen

of hier

We all raise our voice to the air (Live 4-11-11 8-11-11). The Decemberists

You can  listen to Sixteen military wives here.

The Decemberists volg ik al weer enige jaren. Via het hitje 'Sixteen Militairy wives' maakte ik kennis met de band en dat culmineerde in definitieve verbondenheid via de rock/folkopera 'The hazards of love'. Een relatie die zeer prettig werd voortgezet met het vorig haar verschenen, luchtigere "The king is dead'. En nu dus een ouderwetse dubbellive plaat.

Als mij iets opvalt bij de eerste beluistering, dan is het gemak waarmee de band haar muziek van het podium af laat knallen, maar ook het plezier dat de muziek uitstraalt. De band is nog niet te groot om een wisselwerking met het publiek te hebben, al is die soms ook weer wat melig. Dat past ook bij The Decemberists, want het is niet alsof de band zeer vernieuwend is. Integendeel, zij weet te excelleren in muziek die prettig bekend voorkomt en weet daarbinnen op soms sublieme wijze te experimenteren met klank en melodie. Dit laatste komt ook live tot uiting, want veel van de complexe, vervlochten melodielijnen in de nummers komen ook live goed tot uiting.

Colin Malloy heeft een ietwat knauwende stem, die live heel kleine steekjes laat vallen. Zijn stem past perfect bij de muziek die hij voor zichzelf maakt, maar staat denk ik uiteindelijk een doorbraak naar het grote publiek in de weg. Zijn muziek beweegt zich op de grens van Neil Young achtige country en een barokke pop, die een zekere statigheid aan nummers meegeeft. Sommige nummers zijn daarom zeer zwierig, terwijl andere door een zekere houterigheid worden gekenmerkt. Wat ik zo bijzonder aan The Decemberists vind, is dat zij in dit soort nummers vaak op een gegeven moment de rem loslaten, om alsnog de volledige schoonheid te openbaren die in die stakerige houterigheid van zo'n nummer zit opgesloten. 'The soldiering life' is daar een perfect voorbeeld van en dan vallen de toeters ook nog eens in tegen het einde. Dan is de hemel even dichtbij!

In de praatjes met het publiek doet Malloy me overigens sterk denken aan Frank Zappa. Daar was e.e.a. geregistreerd of dat hier zo is, kan ik niet beoordelen. Wat We raise our voices... wel in mij heeft losgemaakt, is dat ik deze band nu toch echt eens live moet gaan bekijken. Dat is er nog niet van gekomen. Er gebeurt duidelijk genoeg en de muziek wordt geweldig uitgevoerd. Meer kan een publiek zich niet wensen. Heel stiekem lijkt The Decemberists zich te hebben ontwikkeld tot een band die mee telt en het uitbrengen van een nieuw album tot iets belangrijks is geworden. De vergelijking die met REM wordt gemaakt, is zeker in het opbouwen van hun carrière te begrijpen. Met ieder album weer een stapje verder. Nu hun 'Losing my religion' nog. Voor die tijd hoop ik ze nog in een zaal van de omvang van de Melkweg of Paradiso te zien of is dat al te laat?

Wo.

Je kunt We all raise our voices ...hier bestellen

of hier

Teacher Deely. An interview with Chuck Deely

An interview for WoNo Magazine and WoNoBloG by Wino Penris

Copyright WoNoMagazine 2012

Listen to Chuck Deely here.

On my way from the train to the WoNo Headquarters, every morning I meet Chuck. The most famous street musician of The Hague

In the beginning his being there every day, troubled me a little bit. I instantly realized he wasn’t there just for fun and that he really needed the money. I did not know how to deal with this. I had always thought the Netherlands was a country that took care of people and there he was, proving me wrong. Day in and day out. But that was not the only thing troubling me. I couldn’t say what it was. Yet. Although Chuck is a really good musician and his music is worth every penny, I did not manage to give him anything. It just didn’t happen. In my head I was thinking and thinking to find the right excuses, but I couldn’t find any convincing ones. This troubled me even more.

One day I shared my feelings with a very wise colleague at the office. She was silent for a while and then she said: “maybe he is there to teach you something. Maybe you should try and find out what it is?” That was it. No more and no less.

From that moment on, without knowing it, Chuck became my teacher. What would happen if I gave him some money? I tried it one day and what do you think? He didn’t react at all! He showed no gratitude, whatsoever! I had not expected this. I got irritated! Now I finally found the guts to give the guy some money and now he’s not even grateful for it! Where is the world coming to? But then I realized that getting his gratitude was probably not the right intention for giving. I started investigating this and gradually I found out that what worked for me was to give the money unconditionally. Then I found out that, every time I gave him some money, the aspects of myself I had kept in the dark all these years, came into the light. The hidden sides of myself Chuck had triggered from the beginning. And now, the more money I gave to Chuck, he cheerier I became.

Then came the day I dared to ask him how he was doing. Well, he wasn’t doing fine at all at that time, to say the least. And he was prepared to share this with me. All of it!

So! There I had it! And now what? I could not solve all his problems! I could not change his situation! I could not change Holland or the world! I could not give him enough money to live from! And now he wanted me to help him! My God, what had I started? But then I saw that Chuck was very relieved after this conversation. So this was all it took!

Since that time we meet every day. Sometimes I walk past him without a word. Often I give him some money and sometimes we talk. He shares some of his ups and downs or we discuss the weather or politics. For no more than a few minutes, because the money has to keep coming in.

And then came the day I dared to ask him for an interview. A short one, just to be safe…

.No

Short interview with Chuck Deely

May 29, 2012

Hi Chuck, where are we now?

We’re just in front of Central Station in The Hague.

What do you do here?

Yeah, well I play here every morning since twelve years now, maybe fifteen years. This is how I pay my rent, eat and support myself. This is my job. Playing the guitar and singing on the streets.

Could you tell me a little bit about your life and how you got to be here every day?

Well, I’m from Detroit, Michigan. When I was seventeen or eighteen, I went travelling. I went across America a few times. In 1973 I got drafted into the army and instead of going to Vietnam, I got to go to Germany by good luck. I got married and I stayed there when I got out of the army. And then, I just stayed in Europe. I was in Germany for ten years, in Spain for ten years and now I’m here for, come to think of it,  close to 20 years. And yeah, I’ve always played music for my living. That’s what I do. I’ve played in bands for a long time and now since the last years I play alone on the streets because that way I can make the income that I need to make. And, yeah. That’s how I came to be here.

You’re very famous in The Hague. Aren’t you the most famous street musician of Holland?

Possibly, I don’t know. But no, there is somebody that’s much more famous. That’s Sea Sick Steve, right? But yeah, I was on radio and television many times, I played with the Residential Orchestra a couple of times, I make cds: I’ve made almost 20 cds now.

About the cds, do you write your own songs?

Yes I do! I write songs every day. I’m a songwriter more than anything. By the way, apart from the guitar, I play other instruments as well: I play piano, I play drums, I play the bass. At home I have a small studio, where I record all my own stuff now. I’ve been working on that for the last three, four years. I’ve been learning how to use a computer and to record music. Now It’s finally got to the stage where it’s starting to bear some fruit.

And how do you write your songs? Do you write them improvising while you’re here or…

... sometimes, yeah. I write them everywhere I can. Sometimes I have an idea and then I run home and judd it down, sometimes I have a pen and paper with me and I stop and do it there and sometimes when I’m here I can post things on the spot, using improvisation. It depends, you know.

Who are your musical idols?

Foto W. Penris

Ehm, that’s kind of difficult. I always liked Neil Young a lot, Frank Zappa…. Most of them are dead, it seems, ha-ha... Van Halen…Jimi Hendrix…God, I could name a hundred of them, so it’s kind of difficult. I don’t have any particular style or gender that I really like. I like Rock better than anything, but beyond that I like classical, I like jazz, I like everything, you know. Especially when it’s live. I like live music. It doesn’t matter what it is. They don’t have to be famous either, they can still be great! So…Yeah…I really don’t know!

What is your message to the world?

My message to the world? Well. Chill out and slow down a little bit! Take it easy! Don’t push ourselves into more crises, wars and all that stuff! Things will take care of themselves! More or less… I think.

And what would you like to say to the people walking up and down here every day, walking past you?

I would like to say: “Please help me out every morning, because I really need it, it’s my only income. Apart from that, enjoy the music! And thank you very much for the great bonus I got the week before last week, with the Residential Orchestra. It was really fantastic, what everybody did. It took care of a whole month of problems for me. Great!

Thank you very much.

Thank you! Bye.

.No

You can buy Chuck Deely's music on weekday mornings opposite The Hague Central Station, in the afternoon in The Hague's Grote Marktstraat, weekend evenings, same address from him personally,