John Wort Hannam in Rosebud

Laureen F. Guenther
Times Contributor

 

Juno-nominated musician John Wort Hannam will perform in Rosebud’s Opera House, Oct. 18, to celebrate the release of his sixth CD, Love Lives On.
The album includes “Man of God,” which is about Indian residential schools and was performed at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission closing ceremonies in Ottawa this June.
Love Lives On is Hannam’s first album since he became a father three years ago.
“I find that I get a lot of inspiration from my son on this last record … this record, more than any other, gives an insight into me as a person, and not just me as a songwriter,” he said. “For the first time, I’ve touched on things like trying to find a balance … how do I keep this little career of mine going, and pay my mortgage, but also be around and watch my son grow up?”
With lyrics like “I roll, roll, roll down the highway with an ache in my bones and a song in my heart and you on my mind,” and “I love you, my kid. You’re getting so big but it’s me who has grown,” the opening track Roll, Roll, Roll describes that search for balance.
Those values are also reflected in title song. Hannam started writing it after he and his son Charlie went walking and came to a freshly-laid cement sidewalk.
“It was way too good to pass up,” he said. “We grabbed a stick and I held Charlie’s hand and we wrote Charlie and Dad in the cement.”
Then he began asking himself, “Why do we do that? Why do we want to put our handprint in cement or carve our name in a picnic table? Love of a place and love of a home and love of family and people will live on long after we’re here.”
Hannam and his four-piece band – Hannam on guitar, Scott Duncan on fiddle, Jason Valleau on upright bass, and Bob Hamilton on lap steel and pedal steel – will perform all 11 songs from Love Lives On, as well as favorites from previous albums.
Church of the Long Grass, an earlier song that Hannam wrote after sitting on a horse overlooking a valley, and telling his friend, “this is my sanctuary … if I belong to any church, it’s the church of the long grass,” is one song that “seems to be a song that gets requested a lot,” he said.
Hannam invites everyone to make the trip to Rosebud for the concert in Rosebud’s Opera House, Sunday, Oct. 18 at 2 p.m. Buy tickets at rosebudtheatre.com or 1-800-267-7553. Sample Hannam’s music at johnworthannam.com.