Alberta-based folk musician John Wort Hannam took to the stage at Centre 64 on Friday, Nov. 24, treating guests to songs from his prolific discography spanning more than two decades in a nearly three-hour performance.
This was his first time ever in Kimberley, a stop along their tour that included Penticton, Kelowna, Rossland and Twin Butte, Alta. on their way home to Lethbridge.
Hannam played several tracks from his latest release, 2021’s “Long Haul,” but dipped into the deep wells of his back catalog as well. This year marks 20 years since he released his first album, 2003’s “Pocket Full of Holes.” Ahead of their performance, Hannam told the Bulletin that he hopes to get back in the studio again soon but needs to write some new songs first.
“That’s actually been a little bit of a struggle since COVID, that took the wind out of my sails a little bit in terms of writing,” he said, adding he’s applied for a residency at the Banff Centre and hopes to get in their soon and get working on new material.
Hannam was joined on stage by fiddle player Scott Duncan and Jason Valleau on the stand-up bass and the trio, who’ve played together for 16 and 12 years, respectively, do a lot with a little: producing beautiful melodies and soaring harmonies and especially after the intermission, getting the whole crowd rocking out.
A folk artist in the truest sense of the term, Hannam is equal parts musician and storyteller. Each song was accompanied with deep background lore, sharing tales of his experience as a husband, a father, a Canadian. He commands great range not just vocally, but in the depth of emotion and honesty he conveyed.
He also had a great sense of humour and wit, and regularly had the audience in stitches.
“Thank you to Centre 64 for putting us up in a very nice hotel, we’re staying at The Larix,” he said at the beginning of the show. “We stayed at a Super 8 in Kelowna. I called down to the front desk and said I’ve gotta leak in my sink. The manager said, “Oh go ahead, I do it all the time!”
He quipped about forgetting a wedding anniversary three years in a row before launching into “Long Haul,” the titular track of his latest album.
Before playing “Hurry Up Kid” he shared a heartfelt and wildly relatable experience of parenting through the pandemic, sharing how he didn’t like how he was parenting when he urged his son to hurry up to log into various Zoom calls or Teams meetings.
Hannam bared his soul sharing the painful experience he had about five years ago when he lost his voice. He said he’d try to sing and just air would come out, or at best he’d sound like he was “going through puberty.” Through all the tests he did, it got to the point where he hoped doctors would find something, just so that they’d have something to cut out.
He said that doctors frustratingly said everything looked good, but asked him, “How’s your life?” He thought that, given how much of his identity is comprised of singing, if he fixed his voice, he’d fix his life, but discovered he had it backwards and after dealing with some childhood stuff and making reparations with people from his past, his voice came back.
The band welcomed Mike Stack to the stage to play harmonica for a few tunes. Originally from Nova Scotia, Stack is a recent transplant to Kimberley after having put Calgary in the rear-view. Together they performed Hannam’s cover of Kasey Chambers’ song, written about small towns like Kimberley, entitled “The Quiet Life.”
At one point Hannam said someone recently asked him if he is ever going to put out a greatest hits album, to which he replied, “I think you need to have one first.”
Fans in the crowd vocally disputed this humble claim, and Hannam asked, which one they think qualifies. The resounding response was “The Church of the Long Grass,” from his 2009 album “Queen’s Hotel.” Hannam joked that if he ever does put out a greatest hits, it’ll be a 45, with that track on the one side and the other side blank.
Centre 64 provided the perfect setting for this soul baring, intimate expression of story through song, giving attendees a warm and peaceful venue to take in a unique and touching performance.