Pokey LaFarge (born Andrew Heissler, June 26, 1983) is an American musician, writer, and actor.

Early life

Pokey LaFarge Square Room Knoxville TN April 2010

LaFarge was born Andrew Heissler in Bloomington, Illinois. The nickname "Pokey" was coined by his mother, who would scold him to hurry when he was a child. LaFarge took an interest in history and literature during his childhood, and was greatly influenced by his grandfathers. One was a member of the St. Louis Banjo Club who gave him his first guitar and tenor banjo. The other, an amateur historian, taught him about the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. In his early teens, he discovered an appreciation for older blues musicians like

Skip James Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902October 3, 1969) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter. AllMusic stated: "This emotional, lyrical performer was a talented blues guitarist and arranger with an impressive ...

Robert Wilkins Robert Timothy Wilkins (January 16, 1896 – May 26, 1987) was an American country blues guitarist and vocalist, of African-American and Cherokee descent. His distinction was his versatility: he could play ragtime, blues, minstrel songs, and g ...

, and

Sleepy John Estes John Adam Estes (January 25, 1899 or 1900June 5, 1977),
known as Sleepy John Estes, was an Am ...

. After hearing

Bill Monroe William Smith "Bill" Monroe (; September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter, who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the " Father of Bluegrass". The genre take ...

at age 16, LaFarge traded the guitar his grandfather had given him for a mandolin. He adopted the name "Pokey LaFarge" because it sounded like what he was looking for musically during the time he was moving around the country. After graduating from University High School in 2001, at the age of seventeen he hitchhiked to the west coast and earned a living as a busker on streets, sidewalks, and pedestrian malls. He met Ryan Koenig and Joey Glynn of the St. Louis band The Rum Drum Ramblers while he was playing on a street in

Asheville Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous ci ...

, North Carolina. Koenig and Glynn began playing with LaFarge in 2008, and the addition of Adam Hoskins in 2009 resulted in the formation of the South City Three.

Career

LaFarge independently released his first album, ''Marmalade'', in 2006. During the same year, he toured with

The Hackensaw Boys The Hackensaw Boys are a string band based in central Virginia that formed in 1999. The band has drawn on many musical influences and are " own best for rowdy, energetic live shows." They have performed at Bonnaroo, Lockn', FloydFest, and the All ...

. His second solo album, ''Beat, Move & Shake'', was released in 2008 by Big Muddy Records. ''Riverboat Soul'', the first album with The South City Three, was recorded in July 2009 at the Nashville studio of producer Phil Harris using vintage instruments and electronics. It was released in 2010 by Free Dirt Records and won the Independent Music Award for Best Americana Album. The group's second album, ''Middle of Everywhere'', won the same award in 2011. The band released ''Chittlin' Cookin' Time in Cheatham County'' produced by

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975), commonly known as Jack White, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo the White Stripes. White has enjoyed consistent critical and popular success and is widely c ...

for his label

Third Man Records Third Man Records is an eclectic, vinyl-focused independent record label founded and owned by Jack White, Ben Blackwell and Ben Swank. The company operates out of three locations—Nashville, Tennessee, Detroit, Michigan, and Soho, London—with ...

. White asked the band to collaborate with him on the song "I Guess I Should Go to Sleep" for his album '' Blunderbuss'', followed by opening for him on tour. In 2013, LaFarge signed with Third Man Records and released his first album on the label, the eponymously titled ''Pokey LaFarge'', accompanied by a larger band that included Chloe Feoranzo, Matthew Meyer, and T.J. Muller. During the next year, he signed with Rounder Records and released ''Something in the Water'' in April 2015. In 2017 his album ''Manic Revelations'' was released on Rounder Records. On January 22, 2020 LaFarge announced the release of a new album called ''Rock Bottom Rhapsody'' which was released on April 10 on the New West label. LaFarge released his seventh studio album, ''In the Blossom of Their Shade'', on October 15, 2021.

Appearances

*The group was featured by

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

on the ''Tiny Desk Concert'' series in 2011. *LaFarge wrote a song for the soundtrack of ''Brick By Chance and Fortune'', a documentary directed by friend of the band, Bill Streeter, released in 2011. * LaFarge and the members of the South City Three played on "I Guess I Should Go To Sleep", a track from

's album '' Blunderbuss'' released on April 24, 2012. * On September 23, 2012, LaFarge contributed to the soundtrack of HBO's '' Boardwalk Empire'' with his rendition of the pop standard "Lovesick Blues". The song was featured in the last scene and end credits of the episode "Spaghetti & Coffee" * LaFarge collaborated with JD McPherson on a rendition of country legend Bob Wills' "Good Old Oklahoma", released on June 28, 2013. All of the proceeds from the track go to the Oklahoma City Community Fund's Tornado Relief endowment. * Pokey & The South City Three recorded Jack White's track "Red's Theater of The Absurd" which appeared in ''

The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in ...

''s original score. The film was released on July 3, 2013 and the band made a brief appearance in the film. * The band played on episode 136 of ''The Marty Stuart Show''. * The band appeared in the documentary film '' The American Epic Sessions'' directed by Bernard MacMahon and recorded "

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the ...

" on the first electrical sound recording system from the 1920s. The film premiered June 6, 2017. *The band appeared on '' Conan'' on August 17, 2017 and performed "Better Man Than Me" *He appeared as "Hank Snow" in the 2017 - 2018 CMT Television Series "Sun Records" *He appeared as "Theodore" in the Netflix film '' The Devil All the Time'' and contributed to the soundtrack.

Musical style

The group is thought to be "artfully dodgy ambassadors for old-time music, presenting and representing the glories of hot swing, early jazz and ragtime blues" who have "made riverboat chic cool again."

Genre

His repertoire consists of a mix of

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

, early

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott J ...

for string instruments,

country blues Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in t ...

Western swing Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands. It is dance music, often with an up-tempo beat, which attracted huge crowds to dance ...

Vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

, and Appalachian folk.

Influences

Musicians that have influenced him include

Howlin' Wolf Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer and guitarist. He is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time. Over a four-decade care ...

Jimmie Rodgers James Charles Rodgers (September 8, 1897 – May 26, 1933) was an American singer-songwriter and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as "the Father of Country Music", he is best known for his distinctive rhythmi ...

Milton Brown Milton Brown (September 8, 1903 – April 18, 1936) was an American band leader and vocalist who co-founded the genre of Western swing. His band was the first to fuse hillbilly hokum, jazz, and pop together into a unique, distinctly American hy ...

and the Musical Brownies, Modern Mountaineers,

Sleepy John Estes John Adam Estes (January 25, 1899 or 1900June 5, 1977),
known as Sleepy John Estes, was an Am ...

Henry Townsend Henry Townsend may refer to: * Henry Townsend (Norwich) (1626–1695), early American colonist born in Norwich, Norfolk, England * Henry Townsend (Oyster Bay) (1649–1703), American colonist born in Oyster Bay * Henry Townsend (missionary) (1815� ...

, Frank Fairfield, Fats Waller, Emmett Miller, and Willie Dixon.

Members

*Pokey LaFarge - lead vocals, guitar, guitjo (2006–present) *Adam Hoskins - guitar (2009-2018) *Joey Glynn - upright bass (2008-2018) *Ryan Koenig - harmonica, washboard, guitar, guitjo, snare drum (2008-2018) *Matthew Meyer - drums (2014–2018) *Chloe Feoranzo - clarinet, saxophone (2013-2015) *Timothy Muller - trumpet, trombone (2013-2015) *Kevin Carducci - bass, harmony vocals (2021-present) *Andrew Guterman - drums, harmony vocals (2021-present) *Erik Miron - guitar, trumpet (2022-present)

Discography

Studio albums

* 2006: ''Marmalade'' (self-released) * 2008: ''Beat, Move, and Shake'' ( Big Muddy) * 2010: ''Riverboat Soul'' ( Free Dirt) * 2011: ''Middle of Everywhere'' (Free Dirt) * 2012: ''Live in Holland'' (Continental Song City) * 2013: ''Pokey LaFarge'' (

Third Man Fielding in the sport of cricket is the action of fielders in collecting the ball after it is struck by the striking batter, to limit the number of runs that the striker scores and/or to get a batter out by either catching a hit ball befo ...

) * 2015: ''Something in the Water'' (

Rounder Rounder(s) or The Rounder(s) may refer to: Film and television * ''The Rounders'' (1914 film), a comedy short * ''The Rounder'' (1930 film), a comedy short * ''The Rounders'' (1965 film), a western comedy * ''Rounders'' (film), a 1998 poker f ...

) * 2017: ''Manic Revelations'' (Rounder) * 2020: ''Rock Bottom Rhapsody'' (New West) (release date 4/10/20) * 2021: ''In the Blossom of Their Shade'' (New West) (released 10/15/2021)

EPs and singles

* 2011: "'Chittlin' Cookin' Time in Cheatham County'" (Third Man) * 2013: "Central Time/St. Louis Crawl" (Third Man) * 2016: "Goodbye, Barcelona" b/w "Blue Morning Lullaby" (Rounder) * 2017: "Riot in the Streets" (Rounder)

Compilations and other appearances

* 2009: ''Face a Frowning World: An E.C. Ball Memorial Album'' (Track: "Poor Old Country Lad") * 2009: ''The White Belt'' (with Joe Manning) (Karate Body) * 2012: '' Blunderbuss''-

(Third Man) (Track "I Guess I Should Go To Sleep") * 2013: ''You Don't Know Me: Rediscovering Eddy Arnold ''-

Eddy Arnold Richard Edward Arnold (May 15, 1918 – May 8, 2008) was an American country music singer who performed for six decades. He was a Nashville sound (country/popular music) innovator of the late 1950s, and scored 147 songs on the ''Billboard'' cou ...

(Plowboy) (Track: "Lovebug Itch") * 2013: '' Boardwalk Empire Soundtrack Volume 2'' (AVKCO) (Track "Lovesick Blues") * 2017: '' Music from The American Epic Sessions: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' ( Lo-Max/ Columbia/

) (Tracks: "

" & "Josephine")

Honors, distinctions, and awards

*2011 Independent Music Awards: ''Riverboat Soul'' – Best Americana Album *2012 Independent Music Awards: ''Middle of Everywhere'' – Best Americana Album *2014 U-High Alumni Hall of Fame: Inducted by University High School in

Normal, Illinois Normal is a town in McLean County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town's population was 52,736. Normal is the smaller of two principal municipalities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area, and Illinois' seventh most ...

at the U-High Alumni Association Awards and Recognition Program on 26 September 2014 *2015 ''Something In The Water'' was named one of Peter Jones' Best Folk Albums of 2015 in the Folk Department of

WTJU WTJU is a Variety formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Charlottesville, Virginia, serving Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia. WTJU is owned and operated by University of Virginia. History WTJU was founded in 1955 when ...

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

radio station. * 2017 Ameripolitan Music Awards Western Swing Male - Winner

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lafarge, Pokey 1983 births American male singer-songwriters American bluegrass musicians American country singer-songwriters American bluegrass music groups American street performers Singer-songwriters from Illinois People from Bloomington, Illinois People from Normal, Illinois Musicians from St. Louis Living people Singer-songwriters from Missouri 21st-century American singers Country musicians from Illinois Country musicians from Missouri 21st-century American male singers Swing revival musicians Third Man Records artists Rounder Records artists Western swing performers