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By Natasha Francois
With his Prohibition-era suits, Fedora hats and
perfectly pomaded ‘do, Pokey LaFarge (real name
Andrew Heissler) looks like he could have just
stepped out of a speakeasy.
The sharply dressed singer and band (formerly
known as the South City Three before they
expanded to five members) hail from St Louis,
Missouri – “smack dab in the middle of the good
ol’ USA” – and perform music that harks back
to the very building blocks on which American
music was founded. What’s more, they play it on
authentic vintage instruments, which include
archtop, parlour and lap steel guitars, an upright
bass and a tenor banjo.
But although their genre-blurring music– steeped in
Western swing, ragtime, bluegrass and early country
and jazz – conjures up the sepia-toned days of old,
LaFarge says he’s no throwback.
“Ultimately I view my material as modern since
I’m writing it from a modern point of view, says
the 30-year-old troubadour. “Any artist takes
lessons from the past. I’m telling today’s stories
about my life.”
He prefers to be thought of as a “preservationist”,
keeping American traditions alive. “I’m influenced
by my own contemporary point of view. It’s
important for people to remember that any
legendary musician has one foot in his roots and
one foot in the future.”
So perhaps the best way to sum up the “Riverboat
Soul” of Pokey LaFarge is to use one of his own
quotes: “It’s not retro music, it’s American music
that never died.
“This isn’t a new art form, this is a current and
enduring art form. We invented rock ‘n’ roll,
country, country swing, western swing, jazz, blues
… these things that were invented in America have
been around 100 years and the roots go way deeper.”
No one thinks of classical music as retro, he says,
“although it’s been played for hundreds of years. Just
like the Irish are still playing folk songs that haven’t
lost any of their relevance.”
Misconceptions arise due to the increasingly
globalised culture in which we live. “People aren’t
used to hearing this music anymore. They don’t hear
a solo on a clarinet anymore, they don’t hear a solo
on a piano anymore.”
Although the day dawned grey and dismal, the
atmosphere at this year’s Atomic Festival 2013,
organised by Mel Freeman, was electric.
Held at Hamilton’s Classics Museum and Jukebox
diner, Honey L’Amour was the face of this
year’s event and presided over the Miss Classic
competition, which drew a number of beautifully
turned-out ladies to the stage. The title of Miss
Classic went to Ella Jane Macedo, who will host
next year’s event.
The men poured over the vintage car collection
inside the Classics Museum, and admired the
vintage cars that lined the car park outside. Food
was available from the Jukebox Diner and bands
such as The Southern Diplomats and Jason Tapp
who played an amazingly authentic Johnny Cash set
to the crowds throughout the day.
The ladies from Debonaire Doos, The Vanity Case,
Decadia Vintage and the Sweet Painted Lady set
up a luxurious pamper parlour inside the diner
and provided complete vintage hair-styling and
makeovers. Glory Days was also there in force: ladies
pored over copies of the magazine while getting their
hair backcombed and sprayed into submission!
All in all, the third annual Atomic Festival was an
outstanding success and Mel is looking forward
to making next year’s event even bigger. With a
full weekend of vintage goodness, including more
children’s entertainment and more bands, Mel
wants to give everyone that comes more bang for
their buck! Visit www.atomicmarketnz.com
By Von Vonski
When Glory Days heard that Sal Valentine and the
Babyshakes were playing a rare gig in the capital we
were all over it. PIKDAT Promotions did a great
job of raising the sartorial bar on a Saturday night
by organising a fantastic gig combined with an old-
fashioned prom, complete with prom king and queen.
Sal Valentine and his musicians acted as the house
band, playing in the interludes between the varied
performers of the night. These were stoner rock three-
piece band Rackets, and the legendary Goodshirt.
Goodshirt played a fantastic set, with all the
classics, but I was not the only one to feel old when
they played a cover of Sierra Leone, and maybe only
five members of the audience knew the words.
Sal and his band then took the stage – resplendent
with twinkling lights – to bring the house down
with his own brand of swing and soul. Sal always
puts on a great show, and the addition of the short-
skirted Dropdead Dancing Girls was inspired.
Fine work PIKDAT and Sal Valentine – don’t be
strangers here in the capital!
By Claire Gormly
Deadbeat Dance!
Atomic Cocktail

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“Music has evolved so much in the past 100
years but not as much in the last 30 years as far
as I’m concerned. As the world becomes more
globalised, culture is kind of stifled on a local
level, at least musically.”
It was at an early age that the avid history buff
first discovered the blues. “I had been listening to
the old blues since I was about 14, but when I was
17 I heard Bill Monroe, so I started playing the
mandolin and researching further.”
Ragtime, country, swing, jazz and bluegrass
jumped out because they were so different to what
he was used to hearing on radio and TV. It was
the soul richness, the honey, the purity and the
authenticity that spoke to him and inspired him to
delve deeper into music’s back catalogue and begin
writing his own songs.
The first Pokey La Farge record, Marmalade, came
out in 2007. He now has five albums under his belt,
mostly released on different record labels. The band
signed to Jack White’s Third Man for their 2013
album Pokey LaFarge.
Inspired by the exploits of his literary heroes, who
include Kerouac, Twain and Steinbeck, Pokey
embarked on a wanderlust lifestyle, hitchhiking and
busking his way across the country after leaving
school. “It was about wanting to be immersed in a
different side of American culture that was never
really popularised,” he says.
Now, travelling is a way of life. He spends the bulk
of his time on the road (he spent almost all of 2013
on a world tour) and is finally heading to our neck
of the woods in March 2014 where he’ll headline the
WOMAD festival in New Plymouth. He’s looking
forward to his debut tour of Aotearoa: he knows we’re
referred to as “Kiwis”, has heard a lot about the beauty
of the South Island and done his homework when it
comes to reading up about the history of American
soldiers stationed here during World War II.
However, the more he travels, the more he hankers
for home. “My roots are important to me, I think
that’s pretty apparent in my song writing,” he says.
“I’m proud to be from the Midwest and what it’s
always stood for and continues to stand for. Hard
work, family structures. I come from a hardworking
family and a lot of people I know are hardworking.
There’s also the underdog quality.
“St Louis people are humble, certainly not
pretentious”, he says. “Almost too humble at times.
And we’ve been overlooked, especially in regards to
music history.”
St Louis is a city defined by music, especially its
role in the development of blues, jazz and ragtime.
The rivers were the early bloodlines of the nation
he says. “They were the early roads of the country.
As well as transporting goods, they also transported
music up and down the rivers. That’s how
knowledge was spread.
“St Louis has always been a melting pot, with people
passing through on the railroads and highways,
and riverboats and wagon trains. It’s always been
a crossover place and has never cashed in on one
particular sound, that’s why people tend to forget
about it.” At the same time, Pokey says, the music
continues to flourish on an underground level.
Ask him what he loves about the river city and
he’ll rattle off a long list which includes the music,
mountains, the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, soul
food, BBQs, baseball and rich history of the area,
even the distinctive clay bricks from the region.
And as his lyrics on the song Central Time attest,
he’s a proud spokesman for the Midwest:
“The Missouri is my right arm, the Ohio is my left/
But I’m livin’ on the Mississippi River where I like life
the best/ I don’t mind the west coast, and I don’t mind
the east coast/ Oh baby, but I ain’t gonna live on no
coast/ I’m just a plain ole Midwestern boy/ Gettin’ by
on Central time...”
When asked to name his favourite era in history,
Pokey is quick to name the modern epoch. “Today is
the most exciting period in history because I’m here
now and I can change it.”
However, when pressed, he cites the 1920s (“It’s such
a fertile period of history; music was exploding”)
and the World War II era (“It’s a tremendously
important period; millions of people died so we can
have what we have today”).
He puts the recent swing back to the past down to a
desire for quality. “That’s why there are more people
obsessing about old clothes or old buildings,” he
says. The quality is far superior to things that are
being created today.
“I think most people will agree that it was a classier
time. There was better quality in the photography,
music, food and the clothing. Clothes were, more
often than not, American made. They were made
with better material too. I have suits and clothes
from the ‘30s, you can’t beat the way they were
made. From the ‘50s onwards, they got too boxy.”
Luckily for LaFarge, one of the advantages of being
constantly on the road means he gets do to plenty
of thrift-shopping along the way. “I enjoy most
things vintage if you will, but I do use a computer.
Hell, you can’t get away from that. My fixations are
pretty simple: old cars, 78rpm records, hats, shoes,
old instruments and my girlfriend, who is indeed
vintage-clad herself.”
Pokey LaFarge will be playing at the WOMAD
World Music Festival, held in Taranaki, from
the 14–16 March 2014. For further information
and to book your ticket visit www.womad.co.nz