Archive
Subscribe
Search
Login
Subscribe
Put Some Altitude in Your Glass
31: Jack Hadley Drops a New CD: Daybreak In Alabama The Langston Hughes Project
Aug 13, 2020
31: Jack Hadley Drops a New CD: Daybreak In Alabama The Langston Hughes Project
15
30
00:00
25:41
IN THIS EPISODE
LISTEN ON
Apple Podcasts
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Spotify
YouTube
YouTube
Pocket Casts
Pocket Casts
Castro
Castro
FULL TRANSCRIPT
0:00
Welcome everybody to Denver Wine Radio. I'm Paul Buonocuisti. It is a very special day today because we have blues guitarist and artist, singer-songwriter Jack Hadley in the house. Welcome back to the winery, Jack.
0:16
Good to see you. Good to see you too, and thanks for, uh, thanks for having me. Thanks for doing this. Oh, man. I appreciate it. You're welcome. You're welcome. So you've been busy. [laughs] I have been. Yeah.
0:27
You dropped a new CD- Yeah... called Daybreak in Alabama, the Langston Hughes Project. Yep. I've been listening. It's awesome. Thank you. You're welcome.
0:37
And, uh, so, uh, tell us how the, how this project came about, and also who was Langston Hughes? Sure. Um, first of all, Langston Hughes
0:46
was, uh, he was one of the leading figures of the Harlem Renaissance, so you know, born at the beginning of the 20th century, um, in Joplin, Missouri and moved to New York City, um, you know, kind of in the '20s and '30s, and that's when he, you know, became, uh, really active in social movements.
1:07
Uh, the, the literary circuits, uh, that were going on at the time, he was right in the middle of that.
1:13
And, you know, really known for his poetry, but he wrote plays, um, you know, newspaper articles, all kinds of stuff like that. Yeah. And, uh, yeah, really some powerful stuff.
1:25
And he was doing that, he was doing it, like, in his 20s, ri- Yeah... I mean, a lot of as a- Yeah... started as a- Very young, yeah... teenager and then, yeah, went into his 20s. Yeah, so. Okay, so you took, um,
1:37
his poetry- Mm-hmm... and put music to it. I did. And, uh, the first thing I did was, because the guy had so many poems, I, [laughs] I was kind of overwhelmed and I thought, "Well, you know, you need to just
1:53
start looking at this stuff-" Mm-hmm... "and reading it first of all, and find some, some themes and some topics that,
2:04
that appeal to you," that a- that appealed to me kind of right away, and stuff that I felt like I could write the music to. And for some reason, I just thought, "Oh, well, the words are already there.
2:21
This should be easy." [laughs] And of course, it was not. It was the complete opposite. You know, normally when you write a, a complete song, there's, there's no real, there's no real formula.
2:35
It's just kind of a magic process. Mm-hmm. Sometimes you come up with the music and the words at the same time, or a lot of times what I have done is I will write the words first, so it's like a story,
2:48
and I start working with different melodies, and I, and I do it that way, but I'm already connected somehow. Yeah.
2:55
And this was completely different because it's somebody else's thoughts, somebody else's words, and I had to interpret the stuff so that it made sense to me.
3:04
So like, for example, the first song is called, the first poem was, uh, As We Grew Older, and it's real short. So you know, you have to figure out, well, how do you create a song out of this?
3:20
You've gotta repre- repeat certain lines, um, come up with a hook. And I have to tell you, there was, some of these songs were written four times, five times- Yeah... six times.
3:38
Uh, there were a couple that were easier, but it was, yeah, it was a process. And somebody asked me a couple weeks ago,
3:50
they had just gotten, uh, uh, it was a friend of mine, and they'd just gotten a CD in the mail, and she said, "Well, wow, is this stuff that you had, um, you know, did you just have these melodies, like, sort of laying around and then just kinda combined them?"
4:04
I said, "No, this was actually almost two years in the making." Oh, wow. Yeah. And the whole timing of when this came out and the situation in the world right now, and especially in the United States,
4:19
it's just something that happened. There was no plan. Right. [laughs] I didn't plan to just, like, "Oh my God, George Floyd, I gotta get this out right now." It just sort of happened, you know, in this way. Yeah.
4:34
That's, um, yeah, it was just, it was meant to be that way. So- Yeah... how did you, uh... Well, and what gave you the idea then, a couple years ago, your- Yeah... to start a project like this?
4:44
I will try to keep this concise- Okay... because the way this started was I, I met a guy who was a musician, and he said, "You know, I was thinking that it would be really cool,
4:59
uh, to do a project based on the poetry of Langston Hughes, and it would be really cool if, if it could be done with, you know, sort of a jazz and blues combination." And this person has a jazz background.
5:16
When he said this to me, I immediately, "Oh my God, that's a great idea. Let's do it." So that's the beginning of this. Mm-hmm. And the idea was for us to work together and write the music together,
5:34
and I would sing the songs, and we would both play. So to make a long story short, this did not work out at all. I would say
5:46
six months into this, we were getting together and trying to write stuff and come up with these songs, and I realized this person is not... This is not what he wants to do.
6:00
This is either too hard for him, or he's never done this before, or he's uncomfortable- And the songs weren't being written. And so I would go home, and I was like, "Oh, my God, have I made a mistake?
6:16
I thought this was a great idea, and it's just not working out." And so finally, what happened was I came to the point where I realized, you're gonna have to just do this if you want this to happen.
6:29
This is not what he wants to do. He wants to play- Mm-hmm... he doesn't wanna write.
6:34
So we had some discussions, and he admitted that, "Yeah, that's- that's what's going on, so I'll just kinda wait for you to create this music."
6:43
So at that point, I took over the entire role of songwriter, creator, et cetera. And that was the rocky beginning of this project. Mm. And I'm the kind of person that, you know, I don't wanna give up,
6:58
uh, because I thought it was a great idea. And I had talked to my wife about it, and she thought it was really cool, and was like, "God, yeah, let's...
7:08
You should go ahead and do that because you haven't done anything like this." So yeah, went ahead and got started, and one thing led to another. Uh, the songs finally came together, found a studio,
7:20
um, you know, got the money together, uh, and found the different players to do this, and I- I'm just real happy with- Nice... with the end results. [laughs] That's awesome. I'm, I'm real glad that it's done.
7:34
[laughs] Mm. But I'm, I'm happy with it, too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, so yeah. So obs- I mean, obviously that was an obstacle- Oh, yes... [laughs] It was a big one... having a, a writing partner. [laughs] But- Yeah...
7:45
but, um, any- anything else on the way, uh, that got in your way? Or just- Well- I mean, was it, was, was it smooth sailing after that? [laughs] You know, it, it was. Um,
7:59
of course, there's always a, there's always a money issue- Yeah... because it costs a certain amount to record. Sure. And, um, you know, in addition to just recording the music, for people who are not musicians,
8:14
I mean, the recording is just the beginning. Because then what has to happen is the engineer has to mix everything, then it has to be mastered so it sounds like it's supposed to be on the radio.
8:28
Because otherwise it'll sound like, oh, these guys just did this in the garage, and they just burned a CD. Right. [laughs] So there's all that, and all these things cost money. And, uh,
8:40
I had to, you know, convince, ask the players if they would accept a certain amount of money- Mm-hmm... [laughs] to do this.
8:48
And, you know, wasn't what they were used to getting, and I get it, and I'm, I'm just real grateful that, uh, you know, they accepted that. Yeah. So. Well- Yeah... yeah, I'm sure they saw the value in this and- Mm-hmm...
9:01
and, uh, just being a part of a project like this has- Yeah... has to be rewarding to them. Yeah. I think so, too. Yeah. Of, uh, after, after I listen to it, there's a wide variety of styles- Oh, yes...
9:13
and, and topics, too. Yeah. Of course, his poetry is- Mm-hmm... uh, goes all, all over the place, but, um- Yeah... so was that, uh, did you specifically do that on purpose, or just- I did. Yeah. I did that on purpose.
9:27
Um, number one, because I wanted to, I wanted it to be interesting to people, but also interesting to me, so I could challenge myself. Uh,
9:41
you know, the topic of God, for example, you know, the, what did his poem mean? What does it mean to me in a song form, and how can I put that out? And there's a poem called Suicide, which on its surface is just like
10:00
you want to avoid that. But as I read the poem, and I started thinking about it in my mind, it was, "You know, you could make this work into a powerful song." And, you know, not something that's going to,
10:16
like, blow up in somebody's face or make somebody do something that, um, that isn't a good thing or a positive thing. Uh, so all of those, all of those issues were important to me.
10:30
And like you said, I wanted to spread it out into a wide- Yeah... range of subjects and do something different- Yeah... for myself and for, for everybody else. No, that's, that's great.
10:42
And then, you know, in the, in the song God, your song and his poem, one of the lines really resonated with me, which was, "Better to be human than God." Yep. It just, it was, it's amazing to me, so. Sure does. Yeah.
10:57
Yeah, I agree. It resonated with me, too. It's, uh... Wow, I never thought of it like that. Yeah. You know, God, whoever he or she is, God could be lonely, too. It's just I'm by myself. Yeah. You guys have got it made.
11:13
[laughs] In a way. Uh, one of my favorite tracks on here is, uh, My People. That's probably my favorite track on, on the whole, whole CD. Mm-hmm. So wha- what was your favor- or what is your favorite track?
11:29
If you can pick one. [laughs] Yeah. Uh, that is, um, that's one of my favorite tracks. I like, um, As We Grew Older because it's different.
11:42
Uh, it's a side of me that a lot of people don't know that I do, which is play the acoustic guitar, that I started out playing acoustic music. And, um, that was one of the tunes that I struggled with
11:56
because it was short, and I... It was a short poem, and I made the assumption, "Oh, I got this made." Mm-hmm. And it was just one dead end after another. And I decided, "Well, why don't you just strip this down?"...
12:14
and play this the way you would've played it as a teenager. Um, because, you know, I started out playing folk music and, like, early blues and stuff like that. And my mother-in-law in St. Louis
12:29
found this tenor guitar for me at a garage sale, and she called me up and she said, "Jack, I found this guitar. I thought you might be interested in it." And she sends me a picture.
12:40
It, a tenor guitar only has four strings. Fuck. So it's a different kinda guitar, and you have to play it in a different way. And I thought, "Oh, man." So looks cool.
12:51
I thought I could make it sound good, so I got the guitar, took it to my luthier and he fixed it up, and I started playing it and looking up how to play it, because it wasn't like a six-string guitar. Yeah.
13:03
And I'm playing this thing, and I got a rhythm going, and to my ear it sounded like a mandolin. And that's how I started rolling with As We Grew Older. Oh, wow. That's, so that's the sound in that- That was the sound...
13:19
song. Yeah. Yeah. 'Cause it sounded like a mandolin a little bit, but not quite [laughs] to me. Right, but not quite. Not quite. Yep. Yeah. Oh, that's cool. Maybe we should play a little bit of that, uh- Mm-hmm...
13:29
right now. All right. This is As I Grew Older from Jack Hadley's Daybreak in Alabama, The Langston Hughes Project. [upbeat music] It was a long time ago.
13:49
I have almost forgotten my dream. It was a long time ago. I have almost forgotten my dream.
14:12
But it was there then, in front of me. Bright like a sun, my dream.
14:32
And then a wall rose, rose slowly, slowly, between me and my dream.
14:49
[music stops] Yeah. Yeah. [laughs] And, uh, you know, getting back to your question of what my favorite tracks are here, that's one of them
15:00
just because of the creation story behind it, and I, and I'm really happy with the way it sounds. But the other one that I like quite a bit is I Dream A World, because it's a hopeful song, and it's kind of a dance tune.
15:15
Mm-hmm. It's funky, and it's got a lot of the elements that I, that I like bringing to the music when I, when I play live. Uh, so there's that one. Yeah. That is absolutely right. [laughs] I Dream A World.
15:29
When I hear that, I was listening this morning and, um, yeah, it just reminded me of you playing here. Definitely. Yeah. Yeah. And, and actually, the title track, the last song, Daybreak in Alabama, is also
15:44
a hopeful, beautiful song, poem.
15:48
And, uh, when you start thinking about the words and his description of what he is looking for and, you know, the idea of Daybreak in Alabama, which can have some negative connotations- Mm-hmm... for some people.
16:03
Some people, sure. Uh, it just turned into a beautiful statement to me. So, yeah, like that one quite a bit, too. And tell, yeah, and tell me about the, um, the order of the tracks on here. Did you place them- Yeah...
16:16
in a specific way to convey a- Yeah. I did. And I, I wanted to have sort of a flow, maybe not quiet, but sort of going up and then coming down as well. Um,
16:35
you know, sort of calm, folk, acoustic sorta themes, and then hard-driving music on the next track or the track after that. Mm. So yeah, there's a, there's a pace that you, you wanna do when you're creating a CD.
16:51
Um, but yeah, it was especially important on this. So tell me what you, kinda this is a two-part question, but oh, I know, what did you learn, what did you learn about yourself, or did you learn- Oh [laughs]...
17:02
during this process? Yeah. I learned, one of the things I learned about myself was that it's really important to let yourself go, and I realized that part of my songwriting block
17:21
was kinda self-imposed. I was trying to put myself into a box, and approaching songs, some of the songs, with a preconceived idea of what I'm supposed to be playing.
17:38
"Well, Jack Hadley, you're, you are this, so you need to write it this way." Hmm. Yeah. And the breakthrough came for me when I decided to, you know, you need to stop thinking about that, about style,
17:56
because your background is gonna come out anyway. You should just write the song. Just free yourself, write the song, and it's going to write itself.
18:05
So that's one of the things I learned about myself, is that I was not as open as I thought I was. [laughs] And that bothered me. Bothered me a lot, but I, I think I [laughs]
18:16
I think I broke through Yeah, I, um, I, I understand. [laughs] Yes. 'Cause, yeah, when you're in a creative, or you're trying to create something, and yeah, and you, you've got years of how you've done it.
18:29
[laughs] Mm-hmm. Or what people, or what you think people expect. Yes. And yeah, so you have to, yeah, you have to totally forget that and- Yeah... do your thing and what, and what, and what comes out, so. Absolutely.
18:42
Yeah. So, um, and so the second part of that question [laughs] would be then, and, and what's the message you wanna convey to your audience, to your listeners? I mean, when put- with putting something out like this.
18:56
Yeah. I wanted to, I wanted to just get people to, to think about the lyrics. You know, I think you can feel a song when you hear it, but I wanted people to think about
19:11
what the lyrics, what the poems were trying to say, and realize that, you know, this guy wrote his poetry years ago. And, you know, a Black man trying to make it in
19:29
the early 20th century in a completely segregated society, all kinds of problems, obstacles. And unfortunately, a lot of what he's talking about, it's still real today. Um,
19:43
maybe not as blatant in many ways, but in some ways it's out in the open. Like the whole issue of, um, being held back, not being able to, um,
19:59
realize who you are because everybody's going to see that, oh, you're a Black person. Um, that's the number one thing, and nothing else really matters. So I, I just want people to think about the subject
20:16
of the poems and that the things he was talking about back then are still relevant today. Yeah, a- absolutely.
20:23
I just, I mean, I, when I went, I went and read, and, and to be honest, I had, I'd really never read any of his poetry. It only... My wife had read some, uh, while she was, uh, working on her doctorate. Yes.
20:36
And so, and she t- told me, uh, about him and really profound things that she learned and, uh- Yeah... and reading him.
20:46
And so, um, so then when you dropped this off a couple weeks ago, [laughs] the CD, um, yeah, I started, I've been reading some of the poems, and especially the ones that you, you wrote songs to. Sure.
21:00
And, and yeah, and you, you read it. At least I'm, I'm reading it and can really feel the, the emotion. And, and you think, I think back, well, well, it was the '20s, but then yeah, it's so relevant to today- Yeah...
21:17
everything he wrote. So. Yeah. Um- You know, there's a, like the second, the second track, Merry Go Round, you know, as, as a kid trying to be on a, on a merry go round and l- living in a segregated society,
21:36
you know, asking the question, um, where do I go? Is there something for me? And yet, even today, um, you know, we, we have these videos of people being questioned when they go to a swimming pool.
21:50
You know, "Do you live here?" Like, "What are you doing here?" Yeah. Um, you know, and they're doing this to kids, too, still today. Um, yeah, so it all ties in.
22:00
And yet at the same time, you know, serious subject matters, but, uh, hopeful. I think he was hopeful at the same time, um, you know, as, as I am. I mean, I think about this stuff, but
22:16
I'm, I think I'm a positive person. I'm a thoughtful person. There are things that bother me- Mm-hmm... but, uh, I don't think it's gonna do me or anybody any good to approach this kind of music in a negative way.
22:33
Like if you to look at the song titles and go, "Oh, suicide, I'm just, I'm not gonna even... Why listen to that? I'm, I'm gonna pass that up and move on." Um, yeah, so that's, you know, that's how I feel about it.
22:47
Oh, a- and just to, to get back to, uh, you know, the obstacles of doing this. Oh, yeah. One of the things that I had to straighten out before I could even get started with the writing was the legal part of this
23:04
because- Yeah... yeah, you can't just... Well, you're not supposed to. I know some people have done this, but you cannot take someone's work and just use it. Right.
23:15
You gotta [laughs] get this all straightened out, so, you know- That's what, that's what copyright infringement is. [laughs] Exactly right.
23:22
Didn't wanna go to jail, so, uh, I called my lawyer, told him what I was trying to do, and he goes, "Oh, no problem. I'll take care of this." So, um, I, once I selected the poems,
23:36
he contacted the, uh, Langston Hughes Foundation, and there's a, a group that manages all this stuff for them. And so, you know, got the paperwork drawn up, the agreements. Mm-hmm.
23:49
And once that was in place, yeah, I was ready to go. They were very, uh, I dunno, what, what is it? Welcoming or cooperative to- Oh, yes... the... Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They were.
24:01
And, uh, you know, part of the agreement is, uh, you know, you gotta make sure that you give credit wherever this appears, you know- Yeah... music by Jack Hadley, arranged by Jack Hadley.
24:12
Lyrics copyright the Langston Hughes Foundation. So it's all clear this is where this came from. Sure. And, uh, there's also the money part, too.
24:21
You know, whenever I sell [laughs] anything, I've gotta split the money with them, which is fine. I, I totally get it. Yeah. [laughs] Well, that's awesome. This is, this is an awesome piece of work, man. Hey, thank you.
24:31
This is just really cool. And hey, it, it, it opened up my eyes and, uh, just even more, uh, more for me to learn- Right... learn from and, um, and do better, be, be a better human being, so. All of us.
24:48
And then of course, great music. [laughs] Thank you. So, yeah. Thanks for coming down today. Appreciate it. This is Jack Hadley. Daybreak in Alabama, The Langston Hughes Project, brand new CD. How do we get it? Yeah.
25:02
Go to my website, jackhadleymusic.net, and actually, you can stop by here at Bona Quisti Wine. Paul's got a couple of copies as well. I do. Um, you can get the digital music- Okay...
25:14
on all the, uh, platforms now, so- Okay... that's an option, too. Great. Yeah. All right. Well, we got, get out and get this. Go out and read some Langston Hughes. Very easy to do.
25:26
And, uh, and enjoy some music from Jack Hadley. Yay. So all right. Thanks, Paul. [laughs] Thanks. The only radio station in the world inside a working winery. This is Denver Wine Radio.
25:39
Presented by Bona Quisti Wine Company
New episodes, straight to your inbox.
Subscribe
