Allison Hadley Photos
Hintz.
Cafe Nine rang in the new year Wednesday with a tribute concert to Hank Williams, curated, emceed, and finished out by Nathaniel Hintz, himself decked out in a partial nudie suit and bolo tie, helping to channel the country legend in spirit — and in spirits.
Hintz raised a whiskey toast to Williams towards the end of the evening. Williams passed away en route to a concert in Charleston, W.V., on Jan. 1, 1953, at the tender age of 29, leaving behind a musical legacy and mythology that generations of musicians have felt the influence of. The hard-drinking, hard-feeling, yodeling country star gifted the world with songs of heartache and spirituals, fast paced and slow drawled tunes.
Proceeds from the ubiquitous tip bucket are, it was announced, destined for a local recovery organization to be determined.
The evening began with a rotating cast of local musicians, including Jacob Siegel, Tom Burgess, and the group Junebug Saddle, all playing their own spins on Williams classics. Burgess, himself in a signature Williams-esque hat, took on a jaunty “Jambalaya” and “Honky Tonkin.’” The joy of playing Williams was palpable and contagious. Even the songs that were in the genre of, as Burgess noted, “Poor old me, I’m Hank and no one loves me,” seemed to radiate a joy that came from just playing the music.
Junebug Saddle alternated between toe-tappers and sadder songs, including “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.” Robert Obie brought it back with the quirky and wonderful ode to a cigar shop statue, “Kaw Liga.” The two-song, quick change rhythm of the first part of the evening gave a sense of being in a large, Hank Williams-themed jukebox that kept the honky tonk going all night.
The crowd, a lively 40 strong or so, all mouthed the words along to each of the songs, with that specific anticipatory smile of singing along to something that has occupied many an airwave. The beauty of Hank Williams’s legacy goes beyond his legendary songwriting; his music is so ubiquitous it creates an instant warm place of nostalgia in the heart of the listener. Who can stop themselves from smiling when they hear the yodels of “Lovesick Blues,” or the universal feelings of “Hey Good Lookin’”? The crowd at Cafe Nine — all ages, from all walks of New Haven life — certainly couldn’t.
After the rotating cast of musicians opened the evening, the last hour or so of music came from the mellifluous stylings of event organizer Nathaniel Hintz and his backing band, going through an all-star selection of Williams tunes and showcasing Hintz’s yodels and spot-on Williams inflection. The time warp effect almost brought one back to a small honky tonk in 1952.
The night ended with all musicians onstage singing to the rafters the spiritual song to end all of them: “I Saw the Light.” With the room singing along, one couldn’t help but think that these moments of gathering to honor musical ancestors was a wonderful way to ring in a new year and a new decade — and hopefully another 10 years of honky tonking and yodeling all around.