BACKSTAGE PASS ARTICLE SEPTEMBER 1997
BUCKY HALKER
Written By: MIKE O'CULL
Depth. Some artists have it and some artists don’t. Music in the 1990’s is filled with countless one-hit-wonders, one-trick-ponies, and one-time things that seemed important at the time, but couldn’t hold up on the long haul. Now and then, however, you run into someone different, someone with something on their mind, someone with the ability not only to entertain, but to INSPIRE. Chicago’s Bucky Halker is such an artist. In an age of cardboard cutouts, he’s the real deal.
Bucky Halker has been performing internationally since the early ‘80’s. In the Chicago area, he is still best known as the leader of The Remainders, one of the city’s most popular bands of the early ‘90’s. Halker and band romanced audiences across the Midwest with a heady mix of roots rock, zydeco, Tex-Mex, and pure pop poetry. Since The Remainders demise, Halker has been performing his songs as a solo act, both around the Midwest and in Europe. He was Artist—in-Residence for the state of Minnesota in 1988, and he is a touring artist with the Illinois Arts Council. A Ph.D in American History, his book, “American Labor Protest Songs 1865-1900” was published by the University of Illinois Press with an accompanying cassette in 1991.
A Wisconsin native, Bucky had his first extended stay in Chicago in 1982 while going research on the American labor movement. A short time later, he moved to the city for good. At this time he released his first album “ A Sense of Place” which captured the acoustic folk material he had been writing since his early twenties. His second album, “Step’N Blue”, featured nine electric and acoustic blues songs. The Remainders released one self-titled CD in 1993, just as the outfit was breaking up. At the same time, Bucky also released another acoustic album, “Human Geography”, which featured a number of guest musicians.
In 1997, Chicago’s own Whitehouse Records released Halker’s newest and best effort to date, “Passion Politics Love”. Recorded with his band The Complete Unknowns (guitarist Brian Dunn, drummer Phil Levin, and bassist Gordon Patriarca), the disc is a perfect vehicle for Halker to showcase what he does. From the Midwestern rock of “Fire and Ice” and “Big Rock Candy Mountain” to the ultimate honky-tonk twang of “Heaven in Milwaukee”, the set is overflowing with great song writing, strong vocals, and the kind of instrumental prowess that sends lesser lineups running for cover. Sounding at times like a ballsy John Hiatt and at others like the Buck Owens of the Midwest, the record is the culmination of Halker’s life, work, and vision up to this point.
So far, response to the album has been positive. “I’ve been getting airplay on about 60 public and AAA stations across the country,” says the tall, white-haired Halker, and in some markets, like Madison and Boston, it has been substantial.” It should be noted that the album has also been doing well in Europe, where it was release in late 1996, and has been receiving airplay there as well.
Speaking of Europe, Bucky just returned from what has come to be his yearly tour across the Atlantic. “I played a bunch of solo dates, mostly small clubs, in Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium,” says Bucky, “and the crowds were great. Next year, the plan is to try to go over with the band so we can play some bigger rooms and keep building on the base I already have.”
Not one to take it easy, Bucky is already planning a couple of new projects. As always, he continues to write songs with his eye on yet another album. As we sat talking at Harrigan’s Pub in Lincoln Park, I got the sense that Bucky will be shooting for a new album every year or so for as long as he is able to pick up his guitar. Another project involving labor songs, this time done by a variety of guest artists, is also in the planning stages.
There have been many stages in Bucky Halkers’ musical career, with more to come, I’m sure. Artists with this kind of depth are always a work-in-progress. With the kind of talent displayed on “Passion Politics Love” and his dynamic live delivery, however, the next stage of moving from the clubs to the concert hall shouldn’t be very much work at all. If you listen, it sounds like the work has already been done.
