The word “roots”, in reference to music implies back to basics, straight, no hokum in what the musician does. It also suggests the artist is not beholden to what the rest of the world thinks, that the artist pleases himself or herself first.
Alberta’s John Wort Hannam flies into Barrie Tuesday night, Nov. 14, as part of the Songwriter Series at Donaleigh’s Irish Public House. He indicated to BarrieToday that he’s not blown away with technology – his quotes were conveyed by way of his “dumb phone”, but speak eloquently just the same.
“I write lyrically-driven prairie music something not unlike John Prine, Loudon Wainwright, and Tom Russell,” he says, describing his sound. “The instrumentation on this tour is guitar/fiddle duo which gives it a bit of a west-meets-east coast sound.”
Like St. Paul on the road to Damascus, Hannam confesses to having an epiphany this year as a songwriter, during a stay in Banff.
“The Singer-Songwriter residency I attended in March was the first time I really had the opportunity to play my unfinished songs to some song writing veterans. The ability to put my songs under a microscope – and have feedback from other songwriters – really helped fine tune the songs and finesse my song writing craft. I'm playing a bunch of new songs I wrote in Banff on this tour.”
As roots isn’t a form of music that will blow away with the wind – whether the record companies get behind the artist or not -- it follows that the roots musician would have to be very strong. Hannam explains that his strength comes from listening to – and composing – “image-laden songs; songs that play out like movies in your head. I also love listening to great singers that can move me to feel something. This is the kind of strength I strive for.”
Among his building repertoire of new songs, his favourite is called Ain't Enough.
“The song is simple in its arrangement but attempts to say a lot in its simplicity. It's a song about how people are fundamentally influenced and changed by the landscape they live around.”
What’s more, John Wort Hannam will be cutting a new album in early December back in Banff, and “I'll be playing a bunch of those new songs at Donaleigh’s.”
The home of the Songwriter Series Donaleigh’s is located at 28 Dunlop St. E. To learn more, click here.
