photo by Elizabeth Nihiser
So my birthday is coming up this next weekend and, much to my chagrin, one of my favorite Athens-born bands will be playing at Jackie O's on the 15th. The band I speak of is Joey Hebdo, which I realize is a persons name, the lead singer no less, but he doesn't always play with a band so, yeah. I first saw him my freshman year when he was in another band called Blackcoin, but they disbanded some time later. I didn't see him perform again until my sophomore year when he played a show in the basement of my frat, much to the disappointment of nearly everyone who weren't accustomed to partying and listening to what Hebdo himself describes as "adventure folk."
The way he ended up playing the frat was that he had lived with one of our members older brothers a few years back and he thought it would be a good idea to play a show in a frat to get his name back out there. Turns out not too many people enjoyed it but I loved it. I approached him after the show and said "Are you thinking of rushing this fraternity?" puzzled, he responded "no" and I told him I didn't think he would have made it anyway. Then I laughed and he gave me a copy of his CD un Ep and I loved it.
I see him nearly every time he comes to Ohio University and always encourage others to come with me because his shows are a lot of fun. This past year he came out with another CD entitled Prosciutto that I find equally enjoyable. He's always given them to me free on the condition that I give it to others and spread his music around to others, which I frequently do.
Its hard to describe his brand of adventure folk, so in the words of Rachel Stiller, "What I enjoy so much about your music is your freedom to just "rift on a known score" so to speak. Your music travels like a journey, and when you play its kinda like you invite the listener to hop in the car with you and ride shotgun. The car drives itself, you only appear to be behind the wheel. From an artist perspective, you're just as much the instrument as your guitar. The surrender is rare... No definite notes or road maps. Perhaps, just an idea of things you might like to see along the way."
If I were to compare him to other musicians, I might cite people such as Andrew Bird, the Beatles or Black Moth Super Rainbow, all groups having their own unique spin on the folk genre.
You should definitely check out his MySpace and listen to all of his songs really, but two of my favorites are Come for Me and Where Is the Love? If you were so inclined, you can also pick up his CD here. Or if you want to get one in person, you should probably just check out his show this Saturday at Jackie O's at 10pm.
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