Pokey LaFarge takes his St. Louis-made album on the road
by Jade
June 15, 2017
"I always said that baseball was my number-one love, but it must be music because I could be at the Twins game right now," quips Pokey LaFarge. "I've never been to Target Field, and I heard it's nice."
LaFarge is in the Twin Cities for a show in the First Avenue Mainroom. Before the gig, LaFarge stopped at The Current for a live in-studio session hosted by Jade. "This will be my first time performing at First Avenue," LaFarge says. "We got the bus parked there and walked around and just soaked up the vibe earlier on and saw the 'Purple Rain' star and all the stars they have on the walls over there."
The show at First Avenue is in support of LaFarge's new album, Manic Revelations, just released on May 19. The album was the crowning achievement of a year LaFarge and his band dedicated to staying close to their home of St. Louis, Mo., where they ultimately recorded the album. "We made a serious point of emphasis to stay off the road and cap the touring schedule at 60 dates [in 2016], so then going to record the record in the latter part of last year, if we were to do that in another city, it would kind of be contrary to that whole mentality of staying home," LaFarge explains. "We wanted to record at Native Sound because those are our buds and that's our hometown studio and that's our street, Cherokee Street, that's where we kick it. It was just the perfect recipe."
Over the past year, however, LaFarge has traveled from St. Louis a bit downriver to Memphis, where he earned the role of country singer Hank Snow on the CMT series, Sun Records. "They wanted to cut off all my hair so that they could do the toupee because Hank Snow is known for his toupee, but I wouldn't let them cut off my hair," LaFarge recalls. "So we just glued down the hair with this thing called Gaf Quat, which is like the most condensed hair gel you can ever have, and you have to apply it once you take it out of the jar or it'll just harden on the stick that they apply it with. Then they put the toupee over it, and it was a blast."
Hear more from LaFarge about who else he'd like to play as an actor, and then a more serious look at the themes on Manic Revelations, including the confrontational theme of the album and the connections to the events in Ferguson, Mo., near LaFarge's hometown.
And don't miss the conclusion of the session — where LaFarge recovers in perfect style to a guitar-string break on live radio.
Songs Performed
"Bad Dreams"
"Good Luck Charm"
"Silent Movie" (not completed due to string break)
All songs from Pokey LaFarge's 2017 album, Manic Revelations, available on Rounder Records.
Hosted by Jade
Produced by Derrick Stevens
Engineered by Michael DeMark
Visuals by Nate Ryan
Web feature by Luke Taylor
Resources
Pokey LaFarge - official site
CMT: Sun Records - official site
