by Gretchen Wing
Special to the Weekly
On Thursday, February 18 at 7 p.m., KLOI, the Shark Reef Rounders, and Friends of Lopez Library invite the public to attend an “Around the Fireplace” concert of someone who sounds like he’d fit right in here: Andru Bemis.
In the words of his website, Bemis has spent the past 15 years “wander[ing] the ends, edges and in-betweens of North America like a musical Johnny Appleseed, tuning neglected pianos and bringing joy to audiences wherever he goes. Traveling almost exclusively by foot, thumb, and public transportation (trains and boats are his favorites), Bemis carries the tools of his trade in his pack: a piano tuning kit and an assortment of battered musical instruments—banjo, fiddle, guitar, and occasionally banjolele.”
Although currently residing in Ohio, Bemis called South Haven, Michigan home for years. Acclaimed by Indiana’s ThisIsHappening as “Michigan’s premier neo folk artist,” Bemis has played violin since the age of five, is self-taught on the guitar, banjo and banjolele, and is currently teaching himself to play a 130-year-old reed organ. Isthmus.com says, “Straddling the boundary between punk rock and mountain music, Bemis is known for taking traditional songs most people have never heard and adapting them in ways that are both inventive and memorable.”
Oscar-nominated actor, comedian and singer, John C. Reilly, has twice invited Bemis to travel with him as the opening act and fiddler/banjoist for John Reilly & Friends. Reilly calls Bemis “my favorite opening hobo.” Highlights of these sold-out tours include New York’s Lincoln Center, a NPR Tiny Desk Concert, Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music, and Milwaukee’s historic Miller Brewery Caves. Bemis has also performed with Dan Bern, Tony Furtado, Sarah Lee Guthrie, Charlie Louvin, Over the Rhine, Amanda Palmer, Noam Pikelny, Sam Shepard, the Steel Wheels, Two Man Gentlemen Band, Woody Pines, and countless others.
Andru Bemis’s performances are spiritual, enlightening and entertaining for all audiences. His powerful tenor voice and instrumentation harken to a time before television; Pennsylvania’s WPSU says he “sounds like he should be on some dusty old 78 record.” His repertoire includes originals and carefully selected folk songs, some rarely heard today.
In addition to, or perhaps because of his music, Bemis is an activist. In 2007, after spending months every year on passenger trains to performances, Bemis spearheaded a letter–writing campaign to encourage Amtrak to offer specially-priced seasonal rail passes for touring performers. Though ultimately unsuccessful, the campaign resulted in hundreds of letters to Amtrak. Afterwards, Bemis took a six-year break to start Foundry Hall, a performance venue and community music organization in South Haven, Michigan. There Bemis learned piano tuning, and now he tunes pianos in any community he visits.
This event is not ticketed, but generous cash donations to support KLOI are encouraged and will be greatly appreciated.
