Matt Heckler, “Haw River Ballad,” // GemsOnVHS™

Matt Heckler and I traveled outside of Charlotte, North Carolina to visit instrument maker Ryan Navey at his in-home assembly shop. I was picking up a new banjo he’d made for me, and Matt lives in Charlotte so was happy to come along. He imparted some knowledge on us and showed us around the woodworking tools and carvings, then Matt entertained us with a new song.

Matt decided to write a song with a few parameters. Not about drinking, or love, or dying or any of that stuff we all love yet probably fall back on too much. A good old fashioned song with some positivity. Here’s what Woody Guthrie had to say about it,

“I hate a song that makes you think that you are not any good. I hate a song that makes you think that you are just born to lose. Bound to lose. No good to nobody. No good for nothing. Because you are too old or too young or too fat or too slim or too ugly or too this or too that. Songs that run you down or poke fun at you on account of your bad luck or hard travelling. I am out to fight those songs to my very last breath of air and my last drop of blood. I am out to sing songs that will prove to you that this is your world and that if it has hit you pretty hard and knocked you for a dozen loops, no matter what color, what size you are, how you are built, I am out to sing the songs that make you take pride in yourself and in your work.”

Check out Matt’s new RECORD:
https://mattheckler1.bandcamp.com/releases
https://www.facebook.com/MattHecklerMusic/

And check out Ryan Navey’s banjos:
https://www.facebook.com/banjopage/
https://www.carolinabanjoco.com/

Big thanks to VJ Arizpe and Richard Harmon for making this episode possible.

Want to learn how to play this song? Check out these tabs: https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/matt-heckler/haw-river-ballad-chords-2660328

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