Artist of the Day | JOHN WORT HANNAM
ARTIST OF THE DAY
20.10.2020
JOHN WORT HANNAM
LOCATION
Lethbridge, AB
GENRE
Roots Songwriter
CURRENT MEMBERS
John Wort Hannam
Depends on the day but it can include:
Jason Valleau on bass
Scott Duncan on fiddle
Steve Fletcher on keys
Kyle Harmon on drums
With the current pandemic, the state of the music and touring industry has dramatically changed. Where were you when everything was brought to a halt?
In the short term I was looking forward to a show with my band the following week at the National Music Centre in Calgary. That obviously did not happen. In the long term I was finishing up on some songs, creating demos and preparing for a trip to Tennessee in May to make an album with Black Hen Records' Steve Dawson at his Hen House Studios. I was also staring down the best fall and winter touring schedule I've had since I started this crazy business 20 years ago. It was heartbreaking to see it all evaporate in about a 36 hour period. But what can you do? You can either curl up and die or just keep going.
How has that affected your plans for the coming months? Did you have a tour planned, upcoming album release?
The tour dates cancelled for this fall/winter are rescheduled for 2021 but to be totally honest I'm not convinced they will take place at that time either. I hope I'm wrong but I think we're in for a long haul here. Fingers crossed that I'm dead wrong. I went ahead with making a record with Black Hen Records but instead of going to Tennessee I am doing it remotely. I'm in Lethbridge (conveniently in a studio/rehearsal space a block from my house), the engineer is in Vancouver, and the producer Steve Dawson is in Tennessee. So I'm happy to report there will be a new release in 2021 after all.
What have you been doing to fill/make the most of your new-found free time at home?
I had a real flurry of songwriting right at the start of the shutdown. It's slowed down but I'm still managing to squeak out a song here and there. I spent some time learning some new software so I could do some live streaming and virtually played a few summer festivals. I also decided it was high time to write down all my songs, some of which were only housed in my head. Over the past few months I have been picking away at charting out all the lyrics and chords to all the songs I've ever recorded; the result being a 75 song songbook.
What was the first thing you did/place you went to now the country is starting to slowly re-open?
I'm still pretty much hunkered down save for trips to the grocery store and home depot but I'm excited at the prospect of playing with my band again. I'm also ready to patronize my favourite pizza joint down the street, "Two Guys and a Pizza" - the best pizza pies in southern Alberta.
Favourite Starlite Room Moment?
Discovering and binging on all the amazing Starlite Room Session artists.
Do you have a message for everyone at home reading this?
It's hard to be a human even at the best of times - Covid just accentuates this. But it will pass. See you on the other side of the curve.
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