Liam Hayes
6/13/8
Schubas Tavern in Chicago
It was a big night at Schubas with the premiere of local band Allá’s Es Tiempo now seven years in the making. Brothers Jorge and Angel Ledezma brought a large ensemble with a psychedelic backdrop to visually enhance the exact presentation of their music. I’ll let Garin discuss this more in depth, however, and will cover opener Liam Hayes in all his folk glory.
Liam Hayes is also a local musician but, beyond that, it’s somewhat difficult to find out much more information about him. His two solo albums outside of band Plush, 1998’s More You Becomes You on Drag City and 2002’s Fed seem to be lost gems with little reason why. The songs are soft and gentle where they need to be and styled in a classic folk way that make you think of timeless folk pieces. Stripped down on stage, the songs let Liam’s voice and guitar playing be their guide as eased into just the right amount of gentleness to keep them from rocking out but with finger plucking intricacies that made them more interesting. These would be the perfect inserts to everything from pale winter mornings all the way to sunny summer Sundays. They have a sense of light, of an open window and streams of brightness flowing through them.
What discourages me is how little I know Liam Hayes, a folk artist who lives in my own city. Between a poor skeleton of a wikipedia entry and a too short interview on Pop Matters, there is not too much out there I can even find. Perhaps, he’s somewhat reclusive though that wouldn’t fit in the profile of someone who appeared on indie cult film High Fidelity as himself (Note to self: rewatch High Fidelity for the Liam Hayes appearance)
Still, Liam Hayes is definitely not seeking publicity out as he hasn’t seemed to jump on the myspace music bandwagon and in seven years of seeing frequent shows in this city, I haven’t seen him once yet. Yet, Liam’s music obviously runs far and deep. Not a minute after I posted photos of him on flickr, for instance, one of my fellow photographer contacts from France had favorited all of the photos of him and asked/wrote achingly: “Liam Hayes!! When will he come back? When will “Fed” be properly released outside of Japan?”
Liam, if you’re reading, know this..people love your music so keep making it!