Pokey LaFarge is a musical locavore
Andrew Heissler was born on the flat plains of central Illinois and grew up in a small city called Bloomington, right next to Normal.
As a kid his mom tagged him with the nickname Pokey. And when it was time to begin his musical career he adopted the last name of LaFarge.
But the performer Pokey LaFarge isn’t his alter ego. Pokey is Andrew and Andrew is Pokey. In fact, he gets testy if asked if he’s just assuming the persona.
“You think Bob Dylan did that, or Madonna. Most people who know me, know my personality, my life and my music are one and the same,” said LaFarge in a recent interview. Along with his band he’ll perform in Ottawa on Friday at Ritual.
But there is a musical homage in his name and in his appearance (call it retro Hank Williams).
“I think for the most part the interests stem from the fact that I was searching for something that was raw, something that was honest.” He found what he was looking for in the blues and older forms of country music. “Even when I search today it’s for something that is raw, that has melody, that has a groove, that has a story.”
And he believes that people today are generally searching for things that are more tangible.
“I definitely had that bug at an early age.”
People, he believes, have less grasp of what is real today.
“What is their identity? What it means to be an American? What does it mean to be 22? Folks are walking on eggshells trying to figure themselves out.”
LaFarge doesn’t consider himself to be political, though.
“I’m more on the lines of a (Jack) Kerouac chronicling life itself, not necessarily a political life. Life as a skill, life as an art form. I’m trying to experience everything in life that I can. The education I get from that is more exciting and stimulating than anything I get politically.”
He is also all about the beauty of acting locally.
“My life, and the people around me, I can influence and change. The world has become too big. ... That’s why people are looking at things that are smaller. People are growing their own food, making their own clothes. People are making their way towards local politics more so than ever because it they realize that’s the only thing they can change.” His love of Kerouac started at 14. “On the Road changed my life. At the same time I was reading (John) Steinbeck and Mark Twain and listening to old blues and country and things that painted this portrait of America that I certainly wasn’t getting in a small town in Illinois. That’s something that I sought out.”
And he has been taking a journey as an artist and as a human being ever since.
“I think curiosity is the most important thing. I think in a lot of ways, that is what makes people great. It is what causes innovation.
“I’ve become less a preacher than a person who tries to lead by example.”
Curiosity first led LaFarge to classic rock, where he realized there was more to discover.
“I just kept digging back. I’d look at back of the record and see the discography and then go find that stuff. This was pre-Internet, so the library and older friends were the sources.”
With the music in hand he started to evolve his “look.” Think ’50s chic. “I certainly don’t want to look like a bum.”
Retro at the time he adopted it, these days it’s more trendy.
“So I’ll have to come up with new look. Maybe I’ll have to grow a mullet.”
Still, there is method to his image.
“Everything I wear today is handmade and non-sweat shop. It’s just a matter of expressing myself. I get that people might see the way I dress and the music I play as a novelty, but I’m more interested in the juxtaposition. Look at Janelle Monae playing pop music but wearing old school vintage clothing.
“I find the concept interesting. I don’t listen to what critics say. I continue to be myself; it’s made me happy and made me successful. Musicians are usually 10 steps ahead of what the rest of society is doing.
“I do think I am onto something and my peers are onto something. A lot of people between 20 and 40 are trying to become more local with things. I do think the music reflects that.
LaFarge, who now lives in St. Louis, Missouri, is also true to his Midwestern U.S. roots. “I am a product of this place. I understand people here more than other places. I’m also frustrated by people here more than other places.
The government left us behind. People had ways of life taken away (factories/ farming) and are struggling to find replacement to feed families. But culturally the Midwest is just as strong or stronger.
“This is happening in Canada. We’ve been all over Canada. People making beer again and people are growing food again.”
LaFarge says he can’t afford to live in L.A. or Nashville, but he can afford St. Louis and he can use that as a base to get just about anywhere.
LaFarge has a new album he’s touring behind. Something in the Water is on Rounder Records. It took him about a year to record. But some of the material came from bits and pieces from years ago.
On this CD he says he wanted to strengthen the rhythm, make it deeper and heavier. He has drums on every song for the first time. And he’s added three and four-part harmonies to enhance his singing.