Born in the hills of the Midwest, Joey Hebdo has traveled coast to coast performing the adventure music he loves.
“You don’t have to stick to just one style; good music is good music,” Hebdo said. “A lot of my songs are about traveling, what you find out while traveling, being on the road and being on your own.”
Hebdo will play at Casa Nueva, 4 W. State St., on Saturday. The show will draw largely from his album Prosciutto in hopes that a free solo show will garner the artist some more young fans.
The album is loosely based on the imagery he experienced while traveling in Italy, and he expressed that picture through his songs.
“Prosciutto is Italian ham and I just thought it fit the whole vibe of traveling,” Hebdo said. “Maybe my personality was dried out like the ham, but it’s exotic and dreamy.”
He calls his music “adventure folk,” a moniker that he came up with while writing the album, and he said it just stuck. However, Hebdo said his new work is more raw.
The new music will be released on two new currently unnamed six-track albums. Each one has a different theme and mood, which is why Hebdo said he decided to divide the release dates between the summer and fall.
“(These albums) are more about working through some demons,” Hebdo said. “I’m more stationary when recording this one. I’m not on the road.”
Hebdo is also the frontman of the Lennon Orchestra, a local Beatles cover band with more than 70 songs in its repertoire. Junebug, drummer for the group, said they have been playing about once a month lately but try to keep the project fresh each time.
Despite a generational gap, Hebdo said in his Facebook bio that he draws heavily from the Beatles’ era of music. At times he even feels that he was born in the wrong era because he connects with the time period so well.
Junebug said he met Hebdo back when he was still a student at Ohio University and has always been a very dedicated musician, both in the cover band and in his own musical ventures.
“Just like with any individual songwriter, his music is about him and filled with his quirks,” Junebug said. “As a performer, he really has a real energy to him, and he’s very charismatic. Girls are always right up front smiling at him.”
wh092010@ohiou.edu
