Pokey LaFarge
A live act influnced by early country, swing, jazz, folk, and even Vaudeville.
Pokey LaFarge, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and showman released his eighth studio album Rhumba Country in February of 2024. From Illinois, one of Pokey's grandfathers interested him in music and got him a guitar and a banjo. The other was a history buff and taught him about the Civil War and WWII. Somehow, this led to an appreciation for older blues musicians, such as Skip James, and then he heard Bill Monroe.
As Pokey LaFarge, the young man formerly known as Andrew Heissler, moved to the West Coast after high school earning a living busking, while traveling around the country. He released two solo albums and joined with other musicians to form the band South City Three in 2008. Three members, Adam Hoskins, Joey Glynn, and Ryan Koening performed and recorded with Pokey LaFarge and other band members until 2018.
As band members moved on to other projects, new musicians joined. The current band includes Pokey LaFarge on lead vocals and guitar, Kevin Carducci on bass and harmony vocals, Andrew Guterman on drums and harmony vocals, Erik Miron on guitar and mini pocket trumpet, Hank Mehre on keyboard and organ, and Addie Hamilton on harmony vocals.
The 2024 album, Rhumba Country is an upbeat collection of mostly original numbers, largely written during and shortly after the pandemic. After moving around the country for years, Pokey LaFarge moved to a home on a farm in Maine, a turn of events that resulted in a creativity explosion.
Like Pokey's childhood with the varied influences from his grandfathers, his music invites people and diverse genres to come together. The musicians who have influenced Pokey range from folk musician, Peter LaFarge to Fats Waller, Bill Monroe, Henry Townsend, and Emmett Miller. Pokey and Addie evoke the style of music and trends from the forties and fifties, the band's musicianship is impeccable, and the songs celebrated have a thoroughly modern sensibility.
