"Spook Handy really understands how to write a good song that says something important."
. Pete Seeger
*******
Spook addresses personal, political and spiritual issues through engaging and uplifting songs that come from both the giants of folk music Pete Seeger, Peter Paul and Mary, John Prine to name a few and his own ample supply of original compositions. The spirit of American folk music, its passion and sense of purpose, ring loud and clear in his concerts and its message seems more relevant today than ever, particularly at this critical turning point of American history.
This is the kind of music I want my kids to grow up with Billy Swanson . (music aficionado)
www.spookhandy.com
Best Folk
Artist 2004 - Bob Makin - Upstage Magazine
Best Folk Artist You've Never Heard Of
- About.com 2006
Biography
MUSIC FOR ALL SOULS
Is it any wonder that
Pete Seeger
is singing one of Spook Handy's songs?
Spook Handy has performed over 3000 concerts in his 23 years of performances, has written hundreds of songs, recorded 3 CDs with a
4th due out in the coming months, and now some of his own compositions are being performed by over a dozen other musicians.
Barry Gruber, Spook Handy, Peter Yarrow, Bethany
Yarrow + Pete Seegerat the Riverside Church, Manhattan, NYUniversal
Peace Day, Aug 5, 2005photo by SuZen suzennyc2002@yahoo.com
about Spook
Handy.
Spook Handy spent most of the first six years
of this particular lifetime growing up on a dead-end road in
Montclair,
New
Jersey. At the end of the road Railroad
Tracks proscribed Spooks domain of childhood play. Mom used to warn him that the tracks
meant trouble and there would be severe consequences for playing there! But, beyond the tracks lay a whole world
to wonder about - a world to someday explore and conquer. Spook made up all kinds of stories about
what happened on the other side of the tracks. Thus, in his formative years, he
learned that his imagination and creativity thrived on the other side of
trouble.
Naturally, when Mom wasnt
looking Spook wandered up to the edge of the tracks and one day
took a walk to the other side. At
the young age of six he learned that his life was to be lived in the world or
creativity and imagination. And for
him, the only way to get there was through trouble. So, when he graduated from
Rutgers
University,
Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in math and business, Spook turned down several
lucrative job offers in the actuarial field and bought his first guitar a $50
used Yamaha acoustic.
Within weeks, Howard
Schwartz, banjo player in the legendary bluegrass/country rock band Wood N
Strings serendipitously moved next door and days after that Spook was working as
sound technician and manager of the band.
By summers end, Spook could strum a few chords and so formed his first
duo called the K-9s (who played mostly dog songs) with his buddy Carl
Alderson and soon started an open mic at the college pub. He now runs
New Jerseys longest running open
mic The
Spook Handy Show with over 995 nights under its belt. In 1986, Spook co-founded his first full
band, the widely acclaimed Love Project and in 1989 formed a separate project Be
Here Now. Spook played his first
professional solo performance in 1989 and by 1991 left his bands to travel solo
on his first tour a 5-month sojourn through most of the 50 states.
about Spook's
Music.
The theme's of Spook's
songs range from spiritual to songs about social responsibility,
sometimes blatant, sometimes covert and are full of fictitious and real
characters who have walked through his life. Farmer Josh in his song, "Vote"
- nominated by Just Plain Folks for best
traditional song in 2002 - is a caricature of one of Spook's early
gurus. Sri Punkney in "The
Guru Shuffle" is the invisible master of a secret spiritual cult that only
existed in the inner worlds and to which Spook belonged for a short while. The
settings of many Spook tunes come from the many part-time jobs he's
had. They set the backdrop
for his popular Christmas song, "Santa's Night Off", as well as
"Paper Route" and "The Happy
Song".
The best description of Spook's musical style
comes from fellow songwriter briz who
says: "The
lyrical witt or John Prine, the humor of Arlo
Guthrie, the sincerity of John Denver, the boldness of
Bob Dylan and the courage of Pete Seeger meld
into a cohesive unit that emerges full of hope and promise."
As a
child his family had two contemporary albums - The
Beatles' "Hard Day's Night" and "Peter, Paul and Mary
in Concert." When he and his three
siblings made believe they were the Beatles, Spook being the youngest
and having last pick, always had to be Ringo. But that only strengthened his resolve
to become the best songwriter and performer he could. In college, Spook discovered
Donovan. Working
with Wood N Strings he was exposed to the very best of
bluegrass, country rock and fingerpicking folk and in the 90's he discovered
Grammy nominee Bill Morrissey.
Spook has acquired a
reputation for making his performances intimate interactive
experiences for audiences to long remember. His music has been described as "Songs
of peace, hope and survival."
His recordings are said to "Make you want to get up and do the
two-step, while the lyrics will put a smile on your face." And Spook himself has been called "a
master of wit" and "worth listening to again and again."
Awards and accolades:
Spook has performed dozens of prestigious festivals throughout
America,
including the Kerrville Folk
Festival and Susquehanna
Music and Arts Festival and has received numerous awards and accolades.
