Lucas Hicks - remarkable musician/human

Subject: Lucas Hicks - remarkable musician/human
From: katlaughing
Date: 11 May 06 - 10:55 AM

Our local paper had an interview, front page, of this young man when he came to visit family. He'd graduated from high school here a few years back. He is now back in Beliingham, Washington, where it seems he is a moving force in the music community. I found his story and take on life inspiring, so I am posting an entire article by him which I found online...kinds sounds like a young Art Thieme in some ways. To see pictures of him, etc. see where I got this article: click here

        
WHATSUP MAGAZINE - FEATURES
January 2006 Issue

In His Own Words: Lucas Hicks on music, Bellingham and living with cancer
        
by Lucas Hicks

I'M BACK IN BELLINGHAM. I came back because I wanted to be near my friends and to feel like I had a community. I was feeling sick of a half-hearted music scene that I didn't even feel a part of. I came back because I have a cancerous tumor that is threatening my life as a musician and I want to be where I can be playing music constantly with people I love and for people who are excited about what I do. Brent Cole asked me to write about coming back, about my observations on the current state of affairs in Bellingham, about my cancer and about my music. So here I go. I spent the last three years living in San Francisco and Oakland. I did a lot of street performing, played a lot of weddings and private parties and taught a music program for students with emotional disturbances. I missed Bellingham constantly and I returned about a dozen times while living in the Bay Area. I returned as often as possible to play some shows, visit friends and just to be in Bellingham. I came back so much that a handful of people I've talked with recently didn't even realize I'd left. And I guess in my heart I never did.

CONDOHAM

Yes, I've noticed Bellingham is changing drastically. It's more expensive, gentrifying, it's more difficult to live here as an artist. But guess what? It's happening everywhere. Any beautiful place that cultivates a thriving artist scene will face this struggle. But what are we going to do? I don't mean that rhetorically. When faced with this dilemma, besides complaining about it, what are we actually going to do?

We can run somewhere else where the squeeze isn't on as severely yet, we can give up, stay and gentrify along with the rich folk moving in, or we can do something to help the community continue to be the amazing place we fell in love with. We can try and help push the change in the direction we want.

I came back from living in San Francisco where the fight for a community like this is still happening, believe it or not. Sometimes it looked to me like the fight had been lost. Other times I would notice a vibrant community of artists down there who have had to ban together, get their shit together and resist all the more intelligently and soulfully. I didn't feel like a part of the community there, but I witnessed it. There is a great deal of people continuing to live life in meaningfully artistic and musical ways despite incredible challenges. We've got years before we face a San Francisco sized squeeze in Bellingham and we've got piles of strong brilliant people, so I have hope that some of us will do what we can to ensure a future for the type of community we want. We can see the direction things are heading, maybe that means we can prepare and prevent some.

I don't begrudge anyone who is leaving because they feel squeezed out, especially those folks who fought the good fight and left this community better for their efforts. I just don't want to invest energy into complaining about it if I'm not investing energy into figuring what I can do about it.

I think believing that you can run away from the squeeze is naive. Unfortunately, it's going to follow you. It's everywhere, and at some point you have to decide where you are going to take your stand. I've decided to take mine here because Bellingham has been so good to me and I will always love her. I want to fight on home ground and with friends.

SCHMANCER

I have cancer. A softball sized tumor in my right shoulder. It's called Desmoid Sarcoma or Aggressive Fibromatosis, a really rare form of cancer that the doctors don't know how to deal with. I've tried a lot of different things and continue to try a lot of different things. It's slow growing and might not kill me anytime soon, but it hurts horribly all the time and has messed up the mobility in my right arm something awful. Accordion is a lot harder to play than it used to be and frailing (one of the styles of banjo playing I do) has become painful to such a point that I avoid it lately.

What else do I say? Cancer is a big reason I returned to Bellingham. When I first got diagnosed, a bunch of angels I'm fortunate enough to call my friends threw a big benefit for me at the 3B. I got on stage to express my gratitude but got choked up and couldn't continue. At that point the large roomful of people clapped and clapped and clapped while I stood alone on stage in tearful silence. Jordan Francisco called it "claptotherapy".

The night of my benefit concert I felt like a whole community let me know they appreciated me. A lot of individuals approached me and let me know that I had somehow inspired them, moved them or touched them with my music. That phenomenon continues to happen. Many of these individuals are people I have great respect for. I have to acknowledge that without the crisis I'm facing, I might never have known how they felt. It's one of the greatest things I've gotten from my struggle for health.

I've been trying to return for the last two years. Health insurance and medical care worries prevented me from returning for a while, but I'm finally back where I should be. I am scared about my right arm's deterioration and that seems all the more reason to be performing as much as possible. I am scared about the things happening in Bellingham. The 3B, the Nightlight, Smash Your Guitar, The Weekly, all gone? Yes I'm a little scared, but Bellingham is still about the greatest place I've ever been and I want to hang on and fight for it's continued beauty. You can't swing a cat without hitting a musician I'd like to play with in this town, and I'm taking full advantage of it. I'm back and playing music full time, feeling happy, and feeling like part of a community. If cancer's killing me, then I'm dying happy. And If I'm getting better, then I'm living right.

MUSICAL PROJECTS

THE GALLUS BROTHERS: Devin Champlin and I play wild ragtime and old country blues. He's a great fingerpickin' guitarist and has a sweet voice. I get a chance to play my bizarre suitcase drum kit I made (see photo). We have a variety of vaudeville style stunts (I stand on his shoulders while we play a song, we juggle while playing the guitar together etc.) and have had a great showing at our recent concerts where crowds actually dance. It's always fun to be in a dance band and I feel especially lucky to be in a twopiece dance band. We play every Monday night at Boundary Bay beginning in January. Admission is free!

THE SQUARE DANCE: I started calling square dances about a year and a half ago. It's about the best community building activity I have ever been a part of. I call dances the last Sunday of every month at the Fairhaven Firehouse. Lots of young hip folks come, lots of families with kids, a great showing of an older generation show up and everyone dances with everyone else to a live, local old time band. People who expect to hate it have a blast. People who expect to like it end up hopelessly addicted, calling me in the middle of the night halfway through the month begging me to call dances more often.

This month's dance is Sunday, January 29 from 6-8 p.m. It's $3 at the Fairhaven Firehouse.

JILL BRAZIL: We reformed this band in early December in order to play the 3B once more before its demise. We have had our share of packed, wild shows there and we thought one more would be appreciated and fun. The line up has had to change because of logistics, but one of the many upswings of the new line up is that we will be playing regularly again. I'm incredibly excited about the current possibilities of Jill Brazil. We have the same unique approach to writing and are drawing from the same set base as before, but the possibilities for exciting new originals seem even greater now. It's a little weird to be playing saxophone again after all these years. I guess I'm surprised at how easily it comes back.

Jill Brazil next plays Saturday, January 28 at Chiribins with the Sweaty Sweaters and Hicks Machine.

HICKS MACHINE: My solo project involving a sample pedal and lots of beat boxing. Weird and fun.

THE TANGLERS: A banjo-accordion band. Sarah Holmes plays accordion to compliment my banjo playing and Ian Voorhees plays Bass. We play and sing a number of old time tunes, some klezmer music, a Venezuelan waltz, an Italian tarantella, some minstrel tunes from the 1800's, some Eastern European music and even a bluegrass tune or two.

The Tanglers are performing at Bison Printing Press on Friday January 6 with the great Ben Todd at 9 p.m. All ages. $5.

THE BRENT COALMINERS: I don't like most bluegrass. Most as in 99 percent. Most of it is slick and trite and predictable and the rowdiness seems contrived. And the fact that it is all the rage right now and every hipster on the West Coast plays it has burnt me out on it even more. So how did I end up playing banjo in a bluegrass band again? Because when it's great, when it's that small 1 percent that is genuine and raw and fun and sincere, bluegrass is really great. It's a raw, soulful howl of Americana. And Stell conned me into it.

I'm honored to have the opportunity to play with such an amazing line-up of musicians (Stell Newsome on Guitar and Vocals, Ian Voorhees on Bass, Chris Glass on fiddle).

My aim is to let Ian's unorthodox rockin' bass style pull us out of the expected, to shoot for the 1 percent that is good bluegrass, to write more weird instrumental pieces and vocal tunes that challenge the form and to let my distaste for all the tasteless Bluegrass out there help guide us toward something better. And if we don't succeed, I'll just kill the other members in their sleep and then burn down my house.

The Brent Coalminers play the first and third Wednesdays of this month at Boundary Bay. Admission is free.

Subject: RE: Lucas Hicks - remarkable musician/human
From: katlaughing
Date: 11 May 06 - 09:50 PM

Anyone in the Northwest know this young man?

Subject: RE: Lucas Hicks - remarkable musician/human
From: GUEST
Date: 12 May 06 - 04:10 PM

I used to see him play regularly with The Scrimshaw Boys, as well as a few other of his projects at the time. Always fun to see him, and a huge motivation to learn to play the banjo. I emmigrated from the 'Ham a year ago and have not gotten the chance to see him since he has been back.

Subject: RE: Lucas Hicks - remarkable musician/human
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 14 May 06 - 06:13 PM

Kat

This sure does hit close to home for me---as you knew it might.
He is describing much of my life all through the 1990s when I'd had four spinal surgeries, with not much relief, for the same damn symptoms that turned out to actually be MS--. It's been nine full years since I could play my instruments---and I've circled the wagons here in Peru, IL----intent on making things work as well as is possible for Carol and myself given both of our personal realities. Getting another CD out has been this years project---and it's now out on Folk Legacy.---This Mudcat place is still a real community in which I can function --- and I heartily thank Max, Dick, Bert, Joe, BBC and all for that. Even if it is ONLY a virtual community (as some here keep on pointing out), it feels awfully damn real for someone like me who doesn't get out and around much. So many of you have kept me supplied with music that the fact that cash isn't there to buy music just doesn't matter.

Yep, the more things change, the more they get different. And there is much to glory in --- all along the way -- in some of that new stuff. Could be that I enjoy the old stuff more, but the new stuff will always be with us. Might as well tolerate it when it's half way O.K.

Art

Subject: RE: Lucas Hicks - remarkable musician/human
From: GUEST,guest (claudia in seattle)
Date: 19 May 06 - 11:17 AM

So nice to see this posted here!!

Though I don't know him personally, I've had the pleasure of crossing paths with Lucas a few times over the last few months and he is as delightful in person as he is in writing. First met him when friends of his in Bellingham hosted a house concert to benefit New Orleans relief work and several friends of mine played. After the scheduled show, banjos and fiddles and dobros and washboards and more started coming off the walls and out of rooms and the night continued with Lucas and friends playing bluegrass, square dancing, juggling and otherwise filling me with glee into the wee hours.

He's still playing up a storm (at least five shows with his various projects scheduled between now and the end of May). Some of the instruments he plays (as he lists them on his MySpace site): Banjo, Saxophone, Accordion, Harmonica, Spoons, Bones, Suitcase, Guitar, Jug, Washboard, Vocals, Jaw Harp, Ukulele, Gourd Banjo, Piano, Beatbox, Marvelous Contraption…. some genres he's been known to play: Klezmer, Country Blues, Ragtime, Math Rock, Country, Old Time, Bluegrass, Eastern European, Progressive, junk hop.

His square dances are the talk of the town. I haven't (yet) made it up to see most of his music projects, but The Gallus Brothers (he and Devin Champlin) are pure joy! After their recent Seattle show, Lucas called an impromptu sidewalk square dance rehearsal which was great fun! I could fill pages, but the Pool or Pond website - http://poolorpond.net/lucashicks.html - has info, links to several of his MySpace sites, mp3s and a video clip of the Gallus Brothers from a show in Portland that's not to be missed! http://www.mizkittysparlour.com/podcasts/GallusBrosMKP.mov

Bellingham clearly has a wonderful, supportive, tight-knit community (much like this here Mudcat community seems to be… "virtual"? I don't think so! on the few occasions I've had to visit, what I've seen is as real as it gets). The love and warmth I've witnessed and felt radiating from these folks may or may not make cancer go away, but there's no doubt that it's powerfully healing. I came across this article of his a little while back, as the 6th turn-of-the-century house on my street was being torn down to be replaced by cheep new townhouses… his insight on sustaining a vibrant community through unwelcome changes was also powerful and timely.

Glad to see word getting out in the wider music world. Thank you Kat!

Claudia
[e-mail]
Seattle, WA

Subject: RE: Lucas Hicks - remarkable musician/human
From: katlaughing
Date: 19 May 06 - 11:37 AM

Art, thanks for taking the time to read it, darlin'...as I said, he sure reminds me of you, esp. the making ti work no matter what's happening.

Claudia, welcome to the Mudcat! Thank you so much for telling us more. Truly wonderful and thanks for the links, too. I will be sure to look them over. Please join us more when you have a chance.

All the best,

kat