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| Chip Hanna returns to Valley from Berlin | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| By Chris Hansen Orf, Get Out | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| May 8, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
But good news for Valley music fans: Hanna is back and working local clubs again. “My wife, Erin, got a job in Europe,” Hanna says, explaining that Europeans have a fondness for the music Hanna plays. “It seems that they are looking for the real thing more than Americans are to me. Country music is distinctly American. I think that (Europeans) don’t get too much old-style country in Europe. “Plus,” Hanna adds, “Johnny Cash is huge over there.” Hanna’s introduction to country music came in his home state of Louisiana, where his mother, Martha, was a country singer who played on local country jamborees, local country station WYNK and who once shared a bill with the great Loretta Lynn. “Country music influenced me in ways I didn’t comprehend until I got older,” explains Hanna. “I’d be riding with my dad and as we’d be going along I would say 'Can we listen to something else?’, meaning I didn’t want to listen to WYNK. He’d say 'This is my truck, I’ll listen to what I want.’ “Now old country is the only thing that relaxes me and lets me hear the complete song, not just the sum of its parts,” Hanna says. Hanna turned to playing drums and toured with punk bands such as U.S. Bombs and One Man Army, but the singer insists it wasn’t a rebellion against his country upbringing. “No rebellion, I just wanted to play aggressive pocket music on the drums,” explains Hanna, who says he sees a lot of parallels between the DIY punk ethos and the way old country stars toured. “Those early touring artists, not to mention the black artists, toured under worse conditions than today’s average band — no highways, no motels, no fast food, no GPS, no cell phones and no computers.” Hanna eventually returned to his classic country roots, finding himself inspired to write his own music on guitar by listening to the solo guitar and vocal music of Buddy Holly, Hank Williams Sr. and Johnny Horton. Hanna moved to the Valley after meeting his wife, Erin, who is “a Phoenix girl,” and began playing with Valley bluegrass band Busted Hearts, then put together Chip Hanna and The Berlin Three upon his move to Germany. Back in the Valley, Hanna is set to release his latest CD . “ 'Old South Jamboree’ was released in Europe on February 1st. ...,” says Hanna, “and the American release is pending.” >> Chip Hanna performs 8 p.m. Monday, May 12, at Last Exit Bar and Grill, 1425 W. Southern Ave., Tempe. Free. (480) 557-6656 or lastexitlive.com. Contact Chris Hansen Orf by email, or phone (480) 898-5684 |
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