(upbeat music) - [Announcer] This is a production of South Dakota Public Broadcasting.

(upbeat music) (crowd cheers) ♪ Hey ♪ - Welcome to "Levitt In Your Living Room".

I am your host Apolonia Davalos.

We love our sponsors.

So first a sincere thank you to Dan and Arlene Kirby, the South Dakota Arts Council, and The Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation.

(upbeat music) The Levitt Shell Sioux Falls is part of a national network of outdoor Levitt music venues and concert sites dedicated to strengthening the social fabric of communities.

Presenting a broad array of musical genres and cultural programming, Levitt venues bring together families, friends, and neighbors of all ages and backgrounds.

Learn more at levitt.org.

Today we are in the presence of greatness.

We welcome an American hero and American blues legend, singer, songwriter, musician, Alvin Youngblood Hart.

A veteran of the United States Coast Guard, featured in many films, including Martin Scorsese's documentary, "The Blues".

Recipient of Downbeat International Critics Poll Award for Best Blues Album.

Blues Music Award winner, and Grammy winning artist, we praise Alvin Youngblood Hart.

Alvin welcome.

- Thank you very much.

- Yes.

Thank you for being with us today.

- Great to be here.

- So tell us who is Alvin Youngblood Hart?

- Mostly Alvin is the guy that drives the van, loads the equipment, and all that.

We just got done, the sound check, just rushed over here to make it, you know.

Mostly just the guy that rushes around to get somewhere, you know, glad we made it here.

- I'm so glad you did.

Welcome to Sioux Falls, we can't wait to just, you know, really dive into what the blues means to you.

So what is the blues?

- Well, I don't know.

You know, it's just the people that are running everything.

You know?

This is just something they put on, labeling music.

I mean, I don't consider myself a blues artist or any of that, you know?

Just, you know, basically a musician, you know?

Trying to express myself through music the way I know it, you know, and then learn more about it all the time.

You know?

- Yeah, 'cause yeah, you can't put your music, your sound in a box.

Cause you, you rock and roll, right?

Swing.

All that, there's so many different elements, reggae, and you're the musician's musician.

What inspires you?

- Mostly, you know, well, my biggest inspiration was the bedside radio when I was a kid, you know?

Just turn on the radio and sometimes leave it on all night, whatever pops in your head and maybe stays in your head and inspires you to pick up the instrument the next day.

And "Let me try that," you know?

That's how it's just kept going for the last 42 years or so.

- So do you play every day?

- I try to.

I haven't played for two days.

And so just because I've been loading and driving, and all that kind of stuff.

But yeah, I try to play every day.

- So outside of all the things that you do, are you a farmer as well?

I think I see some things on your social media with snakes and land and I'm like, this guy is fearless.

- Well, I mean, I come from a long line of farmers.

I wouldn't call myself one.

I come from a long line of farmers, you know.

We gotta, I guess we got a little tree farm.

I think the trees farm themselves though, you know.

I just cut the grass, drive the tractor and cut the grass.

(Apolonia laughs) - The ultimate driver.

Van, tractor.

- And tractor, yeah.

- So when you, what do you write about then?

In terms of, I mean, for me, and I'm not a blues musician, but I love the blues because I feel like it, it just speaks to, if I imagine myself on land and a sunset or a sunrise, like, the blues music can capture that in such a way that really radiates life, you know?

In terms of what you write about, what motivates you?

- Well, the best song writers, regardless of genre and all that, you know, are the ones, for me anyway, are the ones that can pretty much write about anything, you know, and just pull something out of the blue.

And I never fancied myself a songwriter.

I know people who do.

I know people who are on the road in the van with the note pad going at, you know.

If they're not engaged in something else, they're trying to write, you know.

But it doesn't quite work that way for me.

But you know, I look for inspirations where I can pull them out of the air, you know?

Making notes on my phone.

You know, if I get a line in my head.

"Hey, that rhymes," or whatever, you know.

But I mean, that's part of, I guess, part of the enjoyment is the challenge, you know, of trying to write a song because I didn't set out to be a songwriter.

It was by necessity when the opportunity came to make records.

It's like, "Oh, you got to write songs too?"

So I didn't think about it beforehand so much.

You know, I just wanted to play a guitar, I guess, you know, whatever.

But you know, for the last 15 years or so, I've been really trying to dig into that world of writing and whatnot, you know.

That's the biggest challenge of the whole thing, you know.

For me, anyway.

Some people it's a big challenge for them just to go up on stage or whatever, you know.

I got over that, I guess.

After, what?

A quarter century, I got over that.

But the writing thing is my big challenge.

- And we get to witness that all tonight in just a moment.

Tell us about "Big Mama's Door," the "Might Return" version.

What is this song about?

- "Big Mama's Door (Might Return)", well, we kind of stole that from a Jimi Hendrix record, where it's "Slight Return."

But because there's two different versions of "Big Mama's Door," there's the acoustic version, and then we call the electric version "Might Return."

But basically, you know, it's a song about going home to grandma's, you know.

So.

- That's something we all can look forward to.

- Yeah, well, the funny thing was when I was a kid, I was born on the west coast, my parents, we say they were refugees from Mississippi, you know.

I was born on west coast.

So whenever my mom wanted to go home, we'd get in the car and drive a couple of days to go to my grandparents' place in Mississippi, you know?

And I thought everybody's grandparents lived in a log cabin in the middle of nowhere back in those days, you know.

So when I get back to school, you know, in kindergarten or first grade, "Where you been?"

I'd tell them these adventures.

So that's pretty much kind of what that's all about, or the foundation of it anyway.

- Oh, awesome.

And that too is like a blessing to have that experience.

Everyone, let's listen to and return to "Big Mama's Door."

(upbeat music) - All right!

♪ Goin' down to Chickasaw, gon' take that right hand road ♪ ♪ Goin' down to Chickasaw, gon' take that right hand road ♪ ♪ Yeah, I ain't gon' stop 'til I come up in big momma's door ♪ ♪ Yeah, I come up at big momma's ♪ ♪ Folks down at Chickasaw say, they all know my name ♪ ♪ Folks down at Chickasaw say, they all know my name ♪ ♪ And when I'm down there, man, they sure be glad I came ♪ ♪ Yeah, they sure be glad I... ♪ ♪ Girl that I'm loving got that great long curly hair ♪ ♪ Girl that I'm loving got that great long curly hair ♪ ♪ But her mama and papa, man, they sure don't like me there ♪ ♪ No, they sure don't like me there, Jack ♪ ♪ What you gonna do when you find your biscuit roller gone?

♪ ♪ What you gonna do when you find your biscuit roller gone?

♪ ♪ Man, what about it?

♪ ♪ Get up in that kitchen, man ♪ ♪ and roll 'em 'til she come home ♪ ♪ Yeah, gonna roll 'em until she come home, baby ♪ ♪ Get up in the wood, man, we sure had lots of fun ♪ ♪ Get up in the wood, man, we sure had lots of fun ♪ ♪ When I come 'round that corner, gonna see my pony run ♪ ♪ Yeah, you gonna see my pony run, where you goin'?

♪ ♪ Goin' down to Chickasaw, gon' take that right hand road ♪ ♪ Goin' down to Chickasaw, gon' take that right hand road ♪ ♪ Goin' back to the woods ♪ ♪ And I ain't gon' stop 'til I come up in big momma's door ♪ ♪ Yeah, I come up there at big momma's door ♪ (audience applauds) - Thank you.

What an awesome song.

you've played... You were born on the west coast and you have experienced family in Mississippi.

You've played in new Orleans, Tennessee now.

I mean, you've truly played all over the world, but you have these roots.

How would you describe the difference of music within these?

The people you've collaborated over the years?

Between the west coast, New Orleans, Mississippi, Tennessee, what, I don't know, what resonates with you from these places?

- Well, I mean, at my age, you know, a lot of the music now is more, I guess, more homogenized and the musicians' experience.

So I don't think I find too much difference, you know, among the musicians, as far as like regions and things like that anymore.

I mean, there probably are differences if you dig really deep with that.

But I mean, most of the people I ended up playing with, you know, we're just, I guess, coming from you know, the same basic foundation of, you know...

I mean, we can go from anywhere from like, twenties, thirties, blues, country records to you know, rock and roll from the sixties and seventies that we grew up on, you know?

And I think for myself anyway, that's where I'm mostly mining, you know, my inspiration.

Whatever you want to call it.

- Well, what was it like when you first picked up the guitar?

- It was like this secret magic world that I wanted to be a part of.

I wasn't sure I could.

I wouldn't say forbidden.

It was just mysterious, you know?

Like you didn't think just anybody could do it.

Back in those days, just anybody couldn't do it, you know?

You had to have something special.

Maybe your parents think you had to have somebody teach you to do it, you know?

Which I really didn't have anybody teach me to do it.

But it wasn't like nowadays, you know, I'm always messing with the kids of today, young guitar players and stuff, they have everything handed to them.

I mean, I think it started in the eighties, they had like videotapes, you could buy lessons and things.

Now, you know, you can just click on a YouTube, "Hey, I want to learn to play this" you know, and it's like, it's handed to you.

It's funny, with us, We were like, putting on the LP.

And I put my hand on it, slowing it down.

"Hey, how'd he play that?"

You know?

Listen to it 10,000 times, things like that, you know?

Or I always say it was when we were teenagers, you know, my crew I hung around with, it was like the video game of our day, you know?

We're each learning different moves.

"Hey man, do you know this?"

You know, and you'd play that and exchange stuff like that, you know?

So it was a lot more fun.

Well, that's just me talking, reminiscing, but I say it was a lot more fun back then, you know, back in the seventies, late seventies, learning to play the guitar than it appears to be nowadays.

- Sure.

More raw.

- Yeah, it was.

- So you have...

I feel that people have gone to you over the years for inspiration, education, mentorship.

In particularly the film world.

Like I mentioned, Martin Scorsese's documentary, "The Blues."

Most recently, Catherine Bainbridge's "Rumble: The Indians Who Rock the World."

You have "Black Snake Moan" with Samuel Jackson and "The Great Debaters" with Denzel Washington.

Like what is the difference between mentoring, educating throughout and being a part of the score for these types of projects versus something you create for your album?

- It's not that much different.

I mean, because again, the initial spark for all of it comes from the same place.

And the people that call me and work on those film projects, whatever, were calling because they probably heard me do something on one of the records or something.

"Hey, that might work on this and that," you know.

And I'm always thrilled to try and you know, work outside of the capacity of just playing shows and stuff like that.

I mean, actually being in the film, like "The Great Debaters," you know, actually being in the film and part of the action.

You know, that was a big thrill.

Sitting in a director's chairs next to Denzel, you know, while he's making high-level decisions and all that kind of thing.

Or just laughing, you know.

That was quite an experience, you know.

- So for you, what has been a piece within your many masterpieces that have meant the most to you?

That you have given back and was received by the audience?

Could it be a performance, concert or a song that you've released?

- Well, I mean, there was an incident not long ago where we had this really bad show, you know.

(Apolonia laughs) - Really?

- Yeah.

- And after that show, a fan came up to me and had written a note on a piece of paper about one of the songs he wanted me to play that night.

You know, which was like, I thought, you know, a song that didn't resonate with people.

In fact, it was one of these songs, "Stomp Dance."

And he asked specifically for that song, you know.

Which I was like, "Well, all right then.

"Maybe there's a couple of people listening," you know?

"I better stick with it, bad show or not, you know?"

So, all right.

- Right.

So what is "Stomp Dance" about?

- Well, it's sort of just about nothing.

You know, just kind of feeling in yourself and trying to feel some empowerment, you know.

Sitting there.

It started, I was just sitting on the back of the bumper of the van somewhere in Oregon.

I don't know how many years ago.

Just started playing a little riff there and a bird landed on the phone wire up there.

And that was the first line of the song.

"I'm like a bird on a telephone wire," you know.

"Sit on my perch and watch the world transpire."

So it started from there.

Just started rhyming and feeling good, so.

- Oh, wow.

I love this.

Everyone you watching, stand up, dance, feel empowered with "Stomp Dance."

(upbeat music) - ♪ I'm like a bird on a telephone wire, baby ♪ ♪ Sit on my perch and watch the world transpire, baby ♪ ♪ Go ahead and [Indistinct] baby ♪ ♪ I'm like a slab on a [Indistinct] baby ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ [Indistinct] ♪ I know the man with the magic power, baby ♪ ♪ He watch over me every waking hour, baby ♪ ♪ [Indistinct] ♪ ♪ On a cigarette tower, baby ♪ ♪ He take off the heat like a cool rain shower, baby ♪ ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ I've seen all, all that I wanna see ♪ ♪ [Indistinct] ♪ ♪ [Indistinct] ♪ ♪ I've seen all, all that I wanna see ♪ ♪ [indistinct] ♪ ♪ I can fly ♪ ♪ I can fly, baby ♪ ♪ I'm like a bird ♪ ♪ I'm like a plane, yeah ♪ ♪ Hey ♪ (audience applauds) - Be sure to check out Alvin Youngblood Hart.

Give him a follow on all his social media platforms.

And we'd like to thank our sponsors for bringing us here together today, Dan & Arlene Kirby, the South Dakota Arts Council and the Mortimer and Mimi Levitt Foundation.

Well, so you've been a part of many collaborations and bands over the years.

Right now we have Alvin Youngblood Hart and the Muscle Theory, right?

Who are these band mates?

Who are The Muscle Theory?

- These band mates are Bill Block on bass who has been playing with me for 10 years?

11 years.

These years are going by pretty fast, 11 years.

And Brian Wells on drums, who I met in 2017.

So he's been with us since then, you know.

- Do you have any fun band traditions right before you get on stage when you guys play together?

- No, just getting there on time.

Getting there on time, that's a tradition.

That's a tradition all bands should follow.

- Yeah.

(Apolonia laughs) Be on time!

- Showbiz.

- Mm-hmm.

- And so I imagine you've played with many instruments over the years, and the guitar we're gonna be, you know, maybe there's many that you work with and resonate with you.

Do you name your guitars?

Do you have a story with them?

How did they find you?

- Yeah, well, that's funny.

People ask me, you know, "Do you name the guitar?"

I don't really name the guitars like Lucille or anything like that, you know.

But then some of them do have names you know, just by association of maybe where they came from or something like that.

You know, I mean... Or some of them are named by other people, but not by me, but the names stick, you know?

- So you have been of service, you served in the Coast Guard.

And what was that journey like?

How did that find you?

And then, you know, you served and then back into music.

Like, what was this journey like for you?

- Well, I was an at risk youth.

No.

well, I was, man, I don't have to make light of it.

You know what I mean?

All the youth are at risk of something, you know?

I was getting a little old to be called youth.

I had to figure out, you know, some kind of direction in my life.

I was not disciplined enough to stay in school, you know.

When I was trying to go to college.

Not really disciplined enough to deal with that at that time, because music, I guess, was kind of this all encompassing thing, took a lot of focus and energy and stuff, you know.

Which was fine.

I mean, you know, I was always working some job here or there.

We always joke about, I was a teenage teamster.

We could write a Bruce Springsteen song about that or something.

I was a teenage teamster, you know, and different stuff like that.

And I think by the time I hit my early twenties, I was ready to just do something more, I don't know, more constructive or constructive and or adventurous, you know.

And I was coming out of some store one day and made a wrong turn.

And next thing I was standing in front of Coast Guard recruiting office.

And next thing I said, I do.

(Apolonia laughs) Or I swear, whatever you say.

I don't know.

I swear.

I don't know.

And I was in, and I was active duty in Coast Guard for seven years.

And probably if I wasn't, you know...

The funny thing was, while I was in the service, I still ended up playing at festivals and things like that on my days off, you know.

If it probably wasn't for that, I might would have stayed in maybe, you know.

Retired.

I could have been retired doing this right now.

(Apolonia laughs) But yeah, no, you know.

I had a great experience, you know, those seven years.

And I learned to work on these radio transmitters which pretty much work in the same way guitar amplifiers work.

So I saved money on guitar amp repairs for the most part, which is fun.

I've always been into like, tinkering, electronics and stuff like that.

So I do a lot of tinkering, repairing amps and guitars and all that kind of thing now.

So that paid off for me.

Our bass player Bill is also a veteran himself, you know, of the army.

So that's how we kind of get along that way, you know.

Having that shared experience, so.

- A brotherhood.

My mother was in... She served in the Air Force.

And when I was thinking about, you know, serving myself, she goes, "You should do the Coast Guard "because everyone loves the Coast guard."

Is that true?

- I think so, yeah.

(Apolonia laughs) - So with that, and it's amazing to learn too how you transferred those skills into further musicianship.

- That was a lucky one.

- Yeah?

- May we all... What has been, again, with everyone that you've played with over the years, is there... Something that keeps us going, right?

Keeps us playing.

And what... You know, and you're a very present person.

Like you mentioned, looking at the bird and you just kind of incorporated it, it's in your song.

Do you find yourself, is there, we were talking about the youth, mentoring anybody through the music process?

- If I do, it's not... Like, I don't do it intentionally.

But every now and then, yeah.

Randomly happens, you know.

I'm mentoring my band members.

(Apolonia laughs) - And what about your family?

Do you sing about your family?

Especially, you know, especially those in Mississippi.

Do they get inspiration or little shout outs in your music?

- Oh, well, yeah.

Obviously my grandma, big mama, you know.

It's a funny thing.

On the recording of "Big Mama's Door," There's a little sample of my aunt Helen, who, when my grandmother died, my aunt Helen kind of became my grandmother.

One of my mom's older sisters.

And we had a little sample of her.

She's passed on since, but a little sample of her opening the door.

This was live and it was real.

And I saved it and I put it on the record.

It actually opens the song and she says, "Come on here, Youngblood."

You know, so.

(Alvin laughs) Yeah, I try to keep the family laughing, and hearing their little tidbits and stuff.

They know when it's something about some of them or whatnot.

Yeah.

- Yeah, it's a wonderful code.

(Apolonia laughs) That they are in on.

- Yeah, I have to sneak something in there about my dad, at some point.

- Please do let us know when that happens.

Do you have a close relationship with your father?

- Oh yeah, yeah.

Too close.

(Apolonia laughs) - So our next song, we're going to be listening to "Watchin' Brian Jones."

- Oh my goodness.

- Who is Brian Jones?

- Brian Jones is credited as being the founder of The Rolling Stones.

And this song, actually, I wrote...

I had an injury, a knee injury a few years ago, and I was kind of convalescing at home and sat down late one night with the guitar.

Turned on the TV.

And on the TV was a film called "Stoned," which is about the last days of Brian Jones.

And so while I was watching this film, which I've been doing since I was a teenager, playing the guitar while watching TV.

I mean, that's some of the things, first things you learn are to play TV theme songs, you know.

But so anyhow, I'm just playing while I'm watching this movie.

And then by the end of the movie, I kind of have the song, you know, about... Well, I guess about myself and this injury and watching Brian Jones on TV.

You know, and he's the subject, you know.

He's kind of trying to deal with this romance.

He's watching Brian Jones.

He's long dead and gone, but not me.

I'm still here, here I am, you know.

So that's what it was about, more or less.

- Oh, wow.

See, that is fun.

Oh, he's smiling down from heaven.

"Hey, thank you."

Well, let's all, you're watching TV now.

So for those of you who have instruments, get out your guitars as you're listening, pluck away.

- [Alvin] Play along.

- Play along to "Watchin' Brian Jones."

(upbeat music) - ♪ I'm watching Brian Jones ♪ ♪ And I can't leave my home, yeah ♪ ♪ A God damn disease ♪ ♪ They're selling my knee ♪ ♪ Oh, hit me, hit me please ♪ ♪ Somebody ♪ ♪ Somebody ♪ ♪ Hit up me ♪ ♪ Somebody ♪ ♪ I'm watching Brian Jones ♪ ♪ I'm a call you on the phone, yeah ♪ ♪ So tired of being alone ♪ ♪ Can't get a hold of you ♪ ♪ Boy, turning blue, yeah ♪ ♪ Oh, what the hell I'm gonna do ♪ ♪ Somebody ♪ ♪ Somebody ♪ ♪ Hit up me ♪ ♪ Somebody ♪ ♪ I'm watching Brian Jones ♪ ♪ You know, that cat from The Rolling Stones, yeah ♪ ♪ He long dead and gone ♪ ♪ But baby, not me ♪ ♪ Oh, can't you see, yeah ♪ ♪ I'm alive as alive can be ♪ ♪ Somebody ♪ ♪ Somebody ♪ ♪ Hit up me ♪ ♪ Somebody ♪ (audience applauds) - I love learning about what goes behind the music.

Is there anyone that you still consider yourself learning from?

- Oh yeah.

I mean, you know.

I still, like, you know... Music is this lifelong exploratory journey and you couldn't have told me when I was 15 years old, first picking up a guitar that I would ever be going into a recording studio.

First of all, making a record.

Second while going into a recording studio with the likes of Taj Mahal, to play on my record or whatever, you know.

And you know, Taj has been like a big source of inspiration and education.

I refer to him as our fearless leader.

So... You know.

Any time I'm thinking about, "Oh, I don't know if I made the right decisions in life "about this music thing," whatever, you know, I think about, well, "At least you got to play with Taj Mahal, man."

You know?

That wasn't bad.

- Do you see yourself looking forward more towards something like, "Man, I need to record a record, "or play with this person or that?"

Is there a further dream or are you just kind of like, whatever life brings?

- Mostly the latter, but yeah.

I mean, there are things you need to do in the biz, or whatever, you know.

And yeah, I definitely, I need to try and work on a record for what it's worth these days, I don't know.

It's all different, you know, the way records sell and all that kind of thing, I guess it doesn't really matter, but it's definitely something.

That's a goal I have for the coming year.

If we're allowed to continue coming here.

(Apolonia laughs) - Right.

Yeah, it is a blessing to be together right now.

Live music is back and to have you here perform at our Levitt Shell Sioux Falls.

So this is very exciting.

Is there any other thing I haven't asked that you would like to share with us?

I mean, you've had such a journey through the many things you've delved into and the people you've collaborated with.

Or any words of hope or encouragement as we continue on?

- Well, you know, I'm just glad to be here.

This is fantastic up here.

You know, I like traveling around the country anyway, you know.

And this was a great destination.

Hopefully we'll get to come back sometime, you know.

We're having a good time up here, so.

- Well, how can people continue to learn about you and your music and your journey?

- You can find me hanging around in all the...

I won't favor one over the other.

All those social media outlets, you know.

Or as we call them, anti-social media or whatever, you know.

But yeah.

- Well, be sure to check out the one and only Alvin Youngblood Hart.

We're so thankful that you have joined us in the studio today.

You are truly, this has been a dream for me.

- Oh, thank you for having me.

It was a pleasure for me to be here.

- Yes.

So give him a follow on social media.

Be sure to attend whatever live performance he graces the stage.

As we rock out to the non box... you can't box it in.

This ever expanding dream that is the blues.

Thank you for joining us.

We like to, again, thank our sponsors, Dan & Arlene Kirby.

The South Dakota Arts Council and the Mortimer and Mimi Levitt Foundation.

I am your host Apolonia Davalos, and I love you.

(upbeat music) (crowd cheers) - ♪ Hey ♪