Pokey LaFarge at the Orpheum Theatre -- August 26.
Friday, August 26, 7:30 p.m.
Orpheum Theatre, 57 South Kellogg Street, Galesburg IL
Performing blues, folk, country, and Americana music that, according to NPR, “evokes the old-timey spirit of a thousand crackling 78 RPM records” whose “energy makes them feel new and alive,” Midwestern singer/songwriter Pokey LaFarge headlines an August 25 concert at Galesburg's Orpheum Theatre, the artist's most recent album In the Blossom of Their Shade described by PopMatters as "vintage stuff that never sounds old as much as ripe and ready for cruising."
A Bloomington, Illinois native currently based in St. Louis, LaFarge developed an early interest in American literature and history, as well as roots music of the 20th Century. By his teens, he was combining his passions into his own music, accompanying himself on guitar, mandolin, and banjo. After graduating from high school, LaFarge adopted an itinerant lifestyle – as well as the nickname Pokey – and traveled around the United States, often performing on street corners. LaFarge also crossed paths with a handful of like-minded musicians and he was soon touring with his own combo The South City Three, featuring Adam Hoskins on guitar, Joey Glynn on standup bass, and Ryan Koenig on harmonica, washboard, and percussion.
In 2006, LaFarge released his self-produced debut album Marmalade, and after several additional independent releases, Jack White invited LaFarge's trio to accompany him on the song “I Guess I Should Go to Sleep” from White's 2012 album Blunderbuss. LaFarge and his band also opened several dates on White's subsequent tour, and in 2013, White signed LaFarge to his own Third Man Records label, which released his eponymous debut album. The respected roots-music label Rounder Records, meanwhile, released LaFarge's 2015 Something in the Water as well as 2017's Manic Revelations, an album that found its artist drawing inspiration from 1960s soul music. The album also inspired PopMatters to call Magic Revelations “what happens when the muse hits and the creative juices start flowing as if by magic," with Paste magazine deeming it “all sass and swagger, with plenty of juke-jump energy to spare.”
Since then, LaFarge also appeared in the 2020 Netflix movie The Devil All the Time and contributed to its soundtrack, and the musician released Rock Bottom Rhapsody in 2020 and In the Blossom of Their Shade last year. The former led The Arts Fuse to state that "We see the artist’s personal vulnerability like never before," and the latter, according to American Songwriter. "simulates the amiable ambiance of a tropical stroll along sunny shores."
Pokey LaFarge brings his tour to Galesburg on August 26, admission to the 7:30 p.m. concert is $25, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)342-2299 and visiting GalesburgOrpheum.org.
