PREVIEW
SONS OF THE SAN JOAQUIN
Strathcona Community Centre
Saturday, November 30
Jack Hannah, one-third of the family trio Sons of the San Joaquin, may have retired from teaching, but that doesn’t mean that he has stopped educating people. Over the phone from his home in sunny Fresno, California, he’s kindly giving me – a card-carrying city slicker – a quick lesson on the cowboy.
The baritone-voiced member of the western choral group has an incredible voice, reminiscent of vintage Disney Americana. It’s easy to mistake Hannah for one of the golden narrators behind those old crackly films about the western frontier. He’s definitely knowledgeable. A recreational cowboy himself, Hannah proudly speaks of the cattle drives in the late 1800s that would give the cowboy his classic characterization.
"That’s how the cowboy got his identity – because of the trail drives," he says. "Then Hollywood picked it up in the mid-20s, you know in the silent films, and began to exploit the chivalry and gallantry and the loyalty of the cowboy. I’m sure a lot of it is a myth, but nevertheless, cowboys are tremendous athletes. They are by nature kind because you have to be kind to horses. In order to get the best out of your animal, you have to treat them humanely. So there is a lot of truth in the qualities that are extolled by the mythological cowboy. It’s not all true, but most of it is."
To honour the cowboy, the Sons of the San Joaquin (Hannah, his brother Joe and Joe’s son Lonnie) have warmly offered an authentic western experience through their many albums and performances around the world.
Through their nostalgic music and introductions to songs, audiences hear often overlooked tidbits about the cowboy, such as how the songs that cowboys used to sing during long cattle drives were actually new words set to old Irish hymns. The music was tremendously popular until the late ’50s, and even though it seemed to have died after that, Hannah says there is still a heavy demand for it.
"We began to get heartened about it (when) we sang for a few Lions Clubs and things like that and the people just went wild. It was an indication there that the music was alive. I think the thing that Joe and I had forgotten was that there were 70 million people left in America that were very avid and staunch fans of the old Sons of the Pioneers – the original group that made this music famous. So, they’re still here and our audience is getting younger and younger – like you.
"You know what I think it is? This music was not written to be sold. It was written about life, it’s not a commercial novelty. It’s something out of the past authentic era that impacted our society – not only our society, but the world. The cowboy is still the king – he is an icon in Europe and in Asia. Oh my gosh, we go to Japan and Germany and places like that and the people just go crazy about the cowboy music.
"They dress like cowboys and they think the cowboy is inviolate, he’s genteel and that he is like Roy Rogers and Gene Autry."
The Sons of the San Joaquin’s popularity seems to be growing globally every year. The Hannah boys have performed in operas, Broadway plays and with major symphonies (in Phoenix, San Antonio, Cincinnati and South Chicago among other places).
Hannah says they know that their voices are their strongest suit. Without a doubt, he is right. Their music is comforting and almost enchanting – it’s also the next best thing to living in an uncomplicated world, where Doris Day musicals are on the television, people don’t have to lock their doors and the men in Stetsons are the unofficial knights of the land. |
