There is no dust on Sault Ste Marie born, Edmonton based musician John Hewitt, who returns to Lethbridge to play the Lethbridge Folk Club, Sunday, Jan. 15 at the Lethbridge College Cave.
Hewitt brought his gentle folk stylings channelling the spirits of Tom Petty, John Prine and Bob Dylan to theThe Slice twice and the Owl Acoustic Lounge last year.
“ I do love Lethbridge. Me and my wife might even move down there to be closer to the border,” said Hewitt, who just released his third album, “Life Blood and Tears in December,” his third since 2020. He released it digitally, Dec. 1 and officially on Dec. 10.
“ Though I also have released a couple EPs and singles,” continued Hewitt, who left Sault Ste Marie in 2018 and settled in Edmonton.
He took advantage of a week off from touring and getting a new guitar to make the new album.
“ My friend Gord Holland, who fixes guitars and holds house concerts gave me this guitar and the songs fell out of it. That doesn’t happen often. So when it does, you’ve got to let it happen,” he said.
“ I didn’t even have all of the songs. I had three of them. So I wrote at night and recorded them the next day,” he said.
“ So if it wasn’t for having that week or that guitar, I wouldn’t have these songs,” he said, adding they were inspired by a period of reflection.
“ I was reflecting on a few periods of my life . And meeting people and listening to their stories. Somebody would say something and I’d write it down and it would become a song,” Hewitt said.
The new album is just Hewitt and his guitar and voice. The previous two had a band. He is pleased with the album and the stripped down sound.
“ I was working on another album. But I got that week and the guitar and did this album. Now that it’s out, I can focus on the other album I was working on.
“ I’ve always wanted to do an album like this, like early Dylan and Bruce Springsteen’s “Nebraska,” he said.
He had a very productive pandemic.
In addition to his albums, he also produces other artists and has released three of their albums recorded in his home studio.
“I’ve been calling the pandemic a blessing and a curse. The Beatles quit touring in 1966 and went into the studio. So I figured if I couldn’t play or tour, I might as well make the best of it and write and record,” he continued.
Hewitt tours in several incarnations including as a duo, a trio and with a full band, but the Lethbridge Folk Club show will be solo.
“I’d prefer to tour with a full band, but getting a five, six piece band on the road, with hotels and keeping mouths fed is expensive,” he said.
“ You’ll be hearing a lot of the new record and a little from every album, plus some John Prine and Bob Dylan and Tom Petty. Without Tom Petty, I wouldn’t be playing guitar and singing songs,” he said.
“ And I’ll play some songs that haven’t been recorded yet. I have about three or four albums worth of material that hasn’t been recorded yet,” he continued.
John Hewitt plays a relatively early Lethbridge Folk Club show in the Lethbridge College Cave, Sunday, Jan. 15. Doors open at 6 p.m. Cathy Hawley will be opening the show. Tickets are $25 non members, $30 for Folk Club members.
— by Richard Amery, L.A. beat Editor
