LaFarge was born Andrew Heissler in Bloomington, Illinois.[3] The nickname "Pokey" was coined by his mother, who would scold him to hurry when he was a child.[4]
LaFarge took an interest in history and literature during his childhood, and was greatly influenced by his grandfathers. One was a member of the St. Louis Banjo Club who gave him his first guitar and tenor banjo. The other, an amateur historian, taught him about the American Civil War and World War II.[5]
He adopted the name "Pokey LaFarge" because it sounded like what he was looking for musically during the time he was moving around the country.[3] After graduating from University High School in 2001,[3] at the age of seventeen he hitchhiked to the west coast and earned a living as a busker on streets, sidewalks, and pedestrian malls. He met Ryan Koenig and Joey Glynn of the St. Louis band The Rum Drum Ramblers while he was playing on a street in Asheville, North Carolina. Koenig and Glynn began playing with LaFarge in 2008, and the addition of Adam Hoskins in 2009 resulted in the formation of the South City Three.[7][8]
Career
LaFarge in Reutlingen, Germany, May 2, 2012
LaFarge independently released his first album, Marmalade, in 2006.[9] During the same year, he toured with The Hackensaw Boys. His second solo album, Beat, Move & Shake, was released in 2008 by Big Muddy Records.
Riverboat Soul, the first album with The South City Three, was recorded in July 2009 at the Nashville studio of producer Phil Harris using vintage instruments and electronics. It was released in 2010 by Free Dirt Records and won the Independent Music Award for Best Americana Album.[8] The group's second album, Middle of Everywhere, won the same award in 2011. The band released Chittlin' Cookin' Time in Cheatham County produced by Jack White for his label Third Man Records.[8] White asked the band to collaborate with him on the song "I Guess I Should Go to Sleep" for his album Blunderbuss, followed by opening for him on tour.[9]
In 2013, LaFarge signed with Third Man Records and released his first album on the label, the eponymously titled Pokey LaFarge, accompanied by a larger band that included Chloe Feoranzo, Matthew Meyer, and T.J. Muller. During the next year, he signed with Rounder Records and released Something in the Water in April 2015.[9][10]
In 2017 his album Manic Revelations was released on Rounder Records.[11]
On January 22, 2020 LaFarge announced the release of a new album called Rock Bottom Rhapsody[12] which was released on April 10 on the New West label.[13]
LaFarge released his seventh studio album, In the Blossom of Their Shade, on October 15, 2021.[14]
On February 13, 2024, LaFarge announced the release of a new album called Rhumba Country to be released on May 10, 2024, on the New West label.[15]
Appearances
At the Square Room in Knoxville, Tennessee, April 17, 2010
The group was featured by NPR on the Tiny Desk Concert series in 2011.[16]
LaFarge wrote a song for the soundtrack of Brick By Chance and Fortune, a documentary directed by friend of the band, Bill Streeter, released in 2011.[17]
LaFarge and the members of the South City Three played on "I Guess I Should Go To Sleep", a track from Jack White's album Blunderbuss released on April 24, 2012.[18]
On September 23, 2012, LaFarge contributed to the soundtrack of HBO's Boardwalk Empire with his rendition of the pop standard "Lovesick Blues". The song was featured in the last scene and end credits of the episode "Spaghetti & Coffee"[19]
LaFarge collaborated with JD McPherson on a rendition of country legend Bob Wills' "Good Old Oklahoma", released on June 28, 2013. All of the proceeds from the track go to the Oklahoma City Community Fund's Tornado Relief endowment.[20]
Pokey & The South City Three recorded Jack White's track "Red's Theater of The Absurd" which appeared in The Lone Ranger's original score. The film was released on July 3, 2013 and the band made a brief appearance in the film.[19]
The group is thought to be "artfully dodgy ambassadors for old-time music, presenting and representing the glories of hot swing, early jazz and ragtime blues" who have "made riverboat chic cool again."[27]
2011 Independent Music Awards: Riverboat Soul – Best Americana Album
2012 Independent Music Awards: Middle of Everywhere – Best Americana Album[28]
2014 U-High Alumni Hall of Fame: Inducted by University High School in Normal, Illinois at the U-High Alumni Association Awards and Recognition Program on 26 September 2014[29]
2017 Ameripolitan Music Awards Western Swing Male – Winner
1 2 3 Craft, Dan (February 21, 2013). "Twin City Native Pokey LaFarge Digs Our Musical Roots". Pantagraph. Retrieved February 21, 2013. Wouldn't you know: Bloomington-Normal spawns a music original like Pokey LaFarge and Wikipedia tells the world that Benton, half a state away, performed the honors. 'Benton?' responds LaFarge in a bemused tone that suggests the popular online information resource should be consulted but never believed. 'No, I was born in Bloomington, at St. Joe's.'
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