The events of the past few years have forced musicians to change how they make and bring their songs to listeners, a litmus test of their perseverance in a historically hectic and strange time.
But the most dedicated had long been holding themselves to exacting standards, and in some cases a pivot out of necessity became a path to something new and redeeming.
Pokey LaFarge has been challenging himself as a musician since he was just a teenager. In the early 2000s, he set out on a hitchhiking adventure with the plan to busk and connect with other musicians, a mission that would prove fruitful: before long, he was releasing his first solo album and just a few years later, recording in Nashville.
A decade later, Pokey — born Andrew Heissler — was holding back-to-back Independent Music Awards honors for Best Americana Album, having established himself as a wizard of swing, jazz, and blues, sounds one of his two grandfathers had helped him discover as a young lad and that he would grow to emulate over the course of his career.
Though his voice is unmistakable and his old-time presentation is celebrated by his listeners, Pokey used the deviation of the pandemic to evolve his sound with 2020’s Rock Bottom Rhapsody and then more decidedly with 2021’s In The Blossom Of Their Shade, both released on New West Records.
Listen to Pokey LaFarge’s 2021 studio album, In The Blossom Of Their Shade, via Spotify:
Influenced by what he’s heard out of the South American, the Southwest and the Caribbean, In The Blossom Of Their Shade represents masterful, alluring songwriting by a man who grew up near the Great Lakes and but has ridden his curiosity and energy far and wide.
Pokey and his talented band visited Annapolis on Dec. 5 for a sold-out, incredible performance at Rams Head On Stage.
Backed by bassist Kevin Carducci, guitarist/trumpeter Erik Miron, keyboard player Hank Mehren, and drummer Andrew Guterman, Pokey invited his wife, vocalist Addie Hamilton, to the stage, too, as he shared songs from across his catalogue to push the seated West Street venue to the brink of all-out dance and jubilee.
Here are home-developed, home-scanned 35mm motion picture film images of Pokey LaFarge along with the night’s opening act, Louisa Stancioff, performing at Rams Head On Stage in Annapolis on Dec. 5, 2023. All photos copyright and courtesy of Casey Ryan Vock.
Pokey LaFarge
Louisa Stancioff
