Hear an interview with Hem in the Echoes Podcast.
In the alternative rock, irony drenched landscape of Brooklyn, the band called Hem stands out for their sincere lyrics and nearly pure acoustic sound. They’ve been recording since 2001 and despite a litany of travails that might give Job pause, they’ve persevered, flourished and been reborn with their first new album in five years. It’s called Departure and Farewell and was supposed to be an ending, but instead, it’s a beautiful CD of redemption. There’s no hemming and hawing, when I talk with Hem.
Some Key Hem Comments
Sally Ellyson: I grew up on Hee Haw and Lawrence Welk.
Gary Maurer: The joke was we wanted to do a record that sounds like a cross between Lawrence Welk and Hee-Haw, as close as we could get. But then we met Sally and she made us the classy act that we are now.
Sally Ellyson & Dan Messé of Hem live on Echoes
Dan Messé: Oh, absolutely. I mean there were divorces, babies. I was struggling with a pill addiction during the middle of this period.
Dan Messé: It was quite a process, but I will say
that there’s, that tension between the, the sort of almost uplifting music and the sad lyric, for me it’s about this comfort that takes place. And that’s inherent in Sally’s voice. That’s what I hear in her voice. It’s a balm that is very healing.
Hear the complete interview in the Echoes Podcast.
~John Diliberto (((echoes)))
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