Former Constantines lead singer Bry Webb met his “favourite songwriter in the world,” folk music legend Michael Hurley, when both were in Sackville, N.B., over the weekend to perform respective sets at SappyFest 7. The 70-year-old Hurley is well regarded for a left-of-centre career that spans nearly 50 years and includes some of the wittiest, most heartfelt music in the American songbook.
Remarkably, the Oregon-based Hurley never had occasion to visit New Brunswick before SappyFest organizers invited him to play there, and he made the most of it during two wonderful performances. A couple of hours before his Vogue Theatre show on Sunday night, Hurley met Webb on a busy Bridge Street. You can listen to their conversation down below or read it right here.
Bry Webb: I wanted to talk to you a little bit about memory. Can you tell me what your earliest memory is?
Michael Hurley: Oh, it’d be hard. I remember being in my crib. I guess this was before I had language. I needed to get attention and I had to protest and kick my legs and holler.
BW: Could you tell me about the circumstances surrounding [blues and jazz historian] Frederick Ramsey III getting involved with your first album and the beginning of recording and releasing records?
MH: Yeah, well he was kind of a neighbour living where I grew up, where my family was situated. The way I actually met him was he picked me up hitchhiking just because I had a guitar with me, with no case. I didn’t know that he was an expert on the blues or anything, but he said, "Well, what kinda music do you play on that guitar?" And I said, "Oh, the blues, y’know," and I probably twanged a few notes for him. He said, "Well, if you wanna really learn some blues from old records, up at my house I got a lot of old blues records and you could learn some more." And that’s how I met him. And I said, "Well, this old guitar is – y’know." He said, "Oh, that Stella guitar, that’s what a lot of those guys played. Don’t be embarrassed by having a Stella." And then I didn’t really see him for years to record. I guess around ’64 or some time, other people who went there to listen to records said, "You oughta record this guy, Michael Hurley." So, I ended up going to his house and he recorded a demo of three songs, which he liked and, within a week he brought it to [Folkways Records founder] Moses Asch in New York City, who said, "Sure, let’s do an album of this." When we did that, he was up for another one. It was nice to meet Moses Asch. He said, "I’ll bet you never thought you’d be making a record, did you?" That’s the first thing he said to me. He thought it was funny that I was there I think.
BW: Did you enjoy the recording process in that situation?
MH: Well, I was in kind of a nervous turmoil about it, you might say. It wasn’t sheer, relaxed pleasure like it is today, y’know, to record. I was facing a lot of self-imposed obstacles and fear.
BW: You’ve travelled a lot and lived in a lot of different places. Bellemeade, for example. I wonder about. Can you visit there now?
MH: Bellemeade? That’s the name of my business and it’s a place in Richmond, Va., where I lived in the '90s. I could go back there. I have been back there a few times but not too recently.
BW: Do you enjoy going back to places that you’ve lived before?
MH: Yeah, like the area where I met Fred Ramsey, in Bucks County, Pa. I do go back there and play a gig sometimes. I lived in Vermont for about 20 years and went back there and played a bunch of gigs. New York City is where I really like to go back to and I hope I can get back there this year. I was there last fall. I was in Philadelphia last fall and central Pennsylvania — all familiar territory from growing up.
BW: You played with the Holy Modal Rounders. Do you still connect with the Rounders to play music?
MH: Well, there’s one guy, Dave Reisch, the bass player. He plays in a lot of bands in Portland, Ore., and I live near Portland now. So, one of the bands that he plays in is called the Croakers and that’s my band. It’s a four-piece and he’s the bass player and he was once in the Holy Modal Rounders and he still would be. Sometimes they have a reunion every once and again.
BW: You’ve increasingly written songs about food in the last few years. Do you remember a favourite meal or the circumstances surrounding a favourite meal?
MH: Well for today and for this whole trip to New Brunswick, I had the greatest fish and chips over at the Teaser bar in Amherst. So I can recommend that. It’s high-class fish and chips. It had a baked potato and they brought me peas with it, and they were good peas, and the fried fish was good. I will always remember Amherst, N.S., for this. If I come back here, I’ll be right over there.
For up to date information about Michael Hurley, visit his site. Bry Webb and the Providers perform at the Summer's End Folk Festival on Grand Manan Island, N.B., on Aug. 24 and 25. For more info about Webb, visit his site.
To hear this full conversation between Michael Hurley and Bry Webb, you have two options. You can download it here if you just right-click and “Save target as” to grab the MP3. Or to stream it instead, just press play.
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