"Tenderly, like a whisper, they began to play, feeding off each other, growing more confident with each note. There was nothing else just then, only the music, sweet as evening breeze, heartwrenching, pure ... this was the moment we had traveled so far to find ... " - The Boston Globe -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hokum's Heroes play early 20th century pop, twining together the roots of early Jazz, Country Blues, Ragtime, Folk, Vaudeville, Hokum, Gospel, Stringband, Jug Band and Gin House Blues while rendering the result with spontaneity, modern sensibilities and a big backbeat. Its various members have worked on the frontlines of some of America’s best music, having performed and recorded with 1920s-30s stringband legend Howard ‘Louie Bluie’ Armstrong (appearing with him in the PBS documentary "Sweet Old Song"), Morphine, Jim Kweskin, Tarbox Ramblers, Either Orchestra, Michael Hurley, Gunther Schuller and many others, at venues as diverse as The Montreal Jazz Festival, Lincoln Center, The Boston Folk Festival, The Country Music Hall of Fame, and The New York City Blues Festival, garnering praise from the New York Times, Boston Magazine, The Boston Music Awards and more along the way. A Hokum’s Heroes performance offers a glimpse of a time before record stores and radio stations divided music up - when blues, rags, folk, jazz and more sat side by side on the shelf as popular songs. Though such a day is long gone, Hokum’s Heroes is intent on keeping it’s spirit very much alive. Just a few things that have been written about the group &/or it’s members... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
" . . . talented ... heroic ... offers a hint of the sort of music Howard Armstrong and his chums were playing for nickels on Knoxville's old Vine Street in the 1920s . . . " - Metro Pulse, Knoxville, TN ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The best I've heard in a long time." - Howard 'Louie Bluie' Armstrong ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“ . . . killer players . . . ” - The Boston Phoenix -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“ . . . the essence of unaffected musical storytelling . . . ” - Nat Hentoff ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“ . . . sweet, effortless, old-timey . . . ” - The New York Times --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“ . . . graced with a deep stylistic understanding of the early era of
recorded pop . . . a gorgeous, fun sound . . . ” - The Boston Herald ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Some of the best musicians I ever worked with." - Jim Kweskin -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“ . . . musical skills in abundance . . . ” - The Boston Globe --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
" . . . casual glory...This band is relaxed and talented . . . " - TCAN News ----
