By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times
Humbleman Band
Humbleman Band is one of the Philadelphia area’s longest-running rock bands — and a band which has been involved in projects all over the country.
The talented sextet, whose members reside mostly in the northwest region of the Philadelphia area, will have the opportunity to play a gig in its own backyard this weekend.
Humbleman Band will be the headliner at the Friends of Gorgas Park’s “Music Jamboree & New Ridge Brewing Co. Beer Garden” on August 31 at Gorgas Park (Ridge Avenue, Roxborough, www.facebook.com/humblemanband).
Humbleman Band’s current line-up is Charlie Cooper – writer, vocals, guitar; Wain Ballard – lead guitar; Kim Alexander – vocals; Boz Heinly – bass; Buck Buchannan – drums; and Rob Sanders – vocals.
“Humbleman Band was formed in 1999,” said “Cholly” Cooper, during a phone interview from his home in Germantown. “I was in a band with our drummer Buck Buchanan. Three of us were living near each other in South Philly and we gradually picked up people.
“The third guy was bassist Bruce Koch, who just died a year ago from a massive heart attack. That was a real loss – as a friend and as a bandmate.
“We weren’t sure we were going to pick up the pieces. We were using hired hands to fill in. We added a permanent bass player – Boz Heinly, who lives in Plymouth Meeting.
“Now, there are of us in the band and several of us live on the same block of Johnson Street in Germantown. We get along really well musically and as friends. We have a lot of respect for each other.”
Humbleman Band are not very prolific when it comes to releasing albums.
“We seem to have a cycle of putting out an album every five years,” said Cooper. “We put out an album a few years ago called ‘Least Bad of Humbleman 1984-2009.’ That album was a 25-year compilation starting with our days in 1984 as a punk band called The Proles.”
The band released its albums “Late Bloom” in fall 2014 and “Beautiful Day” in November 2018.
“‘Late Bloom’ was self-produced – and mostly D.I.Y.,” said Cooper. “‘Beautiful Day’ was also self-produced – and also mostly D.I.Y. We used REAPER.
“REAPER is a complete digital audio production application for computers, offering a full multitrack audio and MIDI recording, editing, processing, mixing and mastering toolset.
“After finishing recording it ourselves, we sent it out for the mixing. We had Scoops Dardaris do it. We were extremely happy with the mixing. We mastered it at Rittenhouse Soundworks in Germantown.
“Jim Hamilton, a percussionist and tap dancer from the Kensington area of Philly who toured with Boyz II Men, put the studio together. He’s a terrific talent – and he knows an amazing amount of people in the music world.”
For the most part, Humbleman Band is o.k. with using a proper studio – but just for mixing and mastering.
“We’re still into D.I.Y.,” said Cooper. “A few of us have home studios and we prefer working there. We still use DAW (digital audio workstation) REAPER.
“We’re working our way through a new record. We hope to out it out early next year. We have two tracks pretty much close to done.
“And some others are so new that they’re not even arranged yet. The soft target for the full album will be during the winter.”
HumblemanBand, a rock sextet that is socially conscious, features songs that band members have written and arranged – songs with lyrics inspired by current events.
“We went out to Standing Rock (Indian Reservation) in North Dakota,” said Cooper. “That inspired song – ‘AIM ’21.’ The title stands for ‘American Indian in the 21st century.’”
In July 2023, Humbleman Band posted the following on its website – “Once again, we will be taking skateboards to the Oglala Lakota Sioux tribe of Pine Ridge, South Dakota.
The Sioux have managed to build a skatepark with the help of some professional skateboarders and some corporate sponsorship. However, poverty is so pervasive there is little money for skateboards, pads, and helmets.
The reservation is home to over 45,000 members; over half of this population is under the age of 18; over 80% are unemployed; over half are below the poverty level; and the reservation has the lowest life expectancy of any region in the United States.
Dealing with epidemics of alcoholism, drug addiction, and depression affect the entire community. I have seen the joy and the pride these kids get from skating. It is a healthy and positive thing for them, and I’ve seen the passion with which they do it!”
Humbleman Band released an EP, “Ruff Ups,” in August 2012. The disc included “Two Fires Burning,” “Summer 2020 (The Other Side of This)” and “Homo Sapien.”
The band’s most recent single was “Tattoo Removal Man” two years ago.
“On ‘Beautiful Day,’ Kim (Epsom) wrote two songs, we did two covers, and I wrote the rest,” said Cooper, a native of Norristown.
“The two covers were songs by the late Gil Scott-Heron – ‘Lady Day and John Coltrane’ and ‘Alien.’ Gil Scott-Heron was a very influential voice in music and activism and most-known for his song ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’ and his poetry.
Humbleman Band, like Scott-Heron, has consistently delivered social commentary and positive messages, often with humor and a light touch, using spoken word lyrics, and generally delivered with dance beat arrangement. His influence upon the band has been strong.
Video link for Humbleman Band — https://youtu.be/01Clk69MaAU.
Humbleman Band’s set on Saturday will start at 4:30 p.m. Other acts on the bill are The Fiascos and The Big Jangle.
The event is free and open to the public. The rain date is September 1.
Tommy Froelich
Jamey’s House of Music (32 South Lansdowne Avenue, Lansdowne, 215-477-9985,www.jameyshouseofmusic.com) will present Tommy Froelich on August 30 and Prakash Slim and Chuck’s Alibi on August 31.
Froelich is a multi-talented musician, singer, songwriter, and guitar player from Chester County. His diverse writing style is inspired from his passion for classic old-school blues and good ole rock-n-roll. He captivates audiences with his smooth, soulful, bluesy playing style.
Froehlich’s love for the guitar started at the age of 12 and hasn’t stopped since. For more than 25 years he has played in multiple bands (country, rock, and blues) performing at local clubs, festivals, fund raising events, and much more in the Philadelphia area.
Among the many shows performed are: The World Café Live in Wilmington, the Paoli Blues Festival, Phoenixville Blues Festival, Philadelphia’s 2nd Street Festival, as well as many corporate and other special events for 102.9 MGK.
His debut album, “Roads Less Traveled,” was released on June 3, 2016 containing 12 original tracks crossing genres from blues to rock’n’roll and country influences. It was recorded at Noisy Little Critter in Thorndale.
Froehlich released an EP called “Time Well Spent” in May 2017, which was recorded at Philly Sound Studios in Philadelphia. Tommy has been a featured guest on Wilmington’s 93.7 WSTW Hometown Heroes local music radio show.
Prakash Slim’s new album, “8000 Miles To The Crossroads,” was produced by Grammy winning producer engineer Michael Freeman.
Ram Prakash Pokharel a.k.a. Prakash Slim was born mired deep in the blues. Born in a small village in Nepal, his father died at the age of 29, leaving his mother with three children to raise on her own.
Slim started listening to old blues records when he was a child, and he first played music by drumming on a set of gallon water jugs.
Because of his difficult childhood growing up in dire poverty, Slim is a genuine bluesman. He’s been playing and teaching music for a long time.
For more than 12 years he played lead, rhythm, bass as well as vocalist for various bands throughout Nepal.
After completing serious blues research with the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund in Mississippi and going through blues mentorship training with blues/jazz pioneer T. J. Wheeler, he totally shifted to country blues style.
Tickets are $20 advance/$25 day of show both nights. Livestream tickets are $15 for each show.
Every Sunday, Jamey’s presents “SUNDAY BLUES BRUNCH & JAM” featuring the Philly Blues Kings. On the second Sunday of each month, the featured act is the Girke-Davis Project which features club owner Jamey Reilly, Roger Girke, Glenn Bickel, Fred Berman and Colgan-Davis.
On September 4, the Sellersville Theater (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, 215-257-5808, www.st94.com) will present Rick Estrin & The Nightcats.
Rick Estrin & The Nightcats’ new album and the band’s sixth release, “The Hits Keep Coming,” packs a powerful punch, with phenomenal musicianship and lyrics—both serious and humorous.
Vocalist, harmonica master and songwriter Estrin, along with multi-instrumentalist/musical mastermind/producer Christoffer “Kid” Andersen, keyboardist/organ wizard/bass player Lorenzo Farrell and endlessly creative drummer Derrick “D’Mar” Martin, have created what Estrin calls, “the best music we’ve ever made together. This band is killer. I’m enjoying this more than ever. “It’s a blessing—there’s so much energy, so much collaboration. The band is just so good right now. And the live show is off the charts.”
Produced by Andersen at his legendary Greaseland USA studio in San Jose, California, the album captures the band’s chemistry and magic in what is certainly among their strongest and most urgent releases so far.
The band’s new album is modern blues at its most potent, intense and fun in all the right places, as Rick Estrin & The Nightcats deliver 12 groove-heavy, hard-hitting songs, including ten written or co-written by Estrin and two surprising covers (one obscurity from Muddy Waters, one from Leonard Cohen).
In addition to Estrin’s celebrated songwriting and peerless blues harmonica playing, he and the band are among the most entertaining and colorful showmen around.
Estrin’s signature streetwise vocals and hipster-cool look, Andersen’s eye-popping, off-the-cuff guitar pyrotechnics, Farrell’s mighty organ, piano and bass work and D’Mar’s dynamic, acrobatic drumming make every one of their live performances a must-see event.
Over the years, Estrin has won a total of seven Blues Music Awards, including awards for Song of The Year, Traditional Male Blues Artist, Instrumentalist—Harmonica, and twice, the prestigious Band of The Year (for Rick Estrin & The Nightcats).
Video link for Rick Estrin & The Nightcats – https://youtu.be/qepBrUuDti0.
The show at Sellersville on September 4 will start at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $25 and $39.50.
