Aaron Williams & The Hoodoo make first Menasha appearance

 By Jim Lundstrom

Guitar, bass and drums. In the hands of three masters those instruments become something more than individual voices. They become the almighty power trio.

 The power trio creates a maelstrom of sound that seems utterly impossible for just three people. Think of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, Blue Cheer, Rush and The Jam.

 Add Wisconsin’s own Aaron Williams and the Hoodoo as 21^st century representatives of the power trio.

 In just two years together, this Madison-based trio has wowed audiences wherever they play and earned accolades from listeners who have heard the debut album It Ain’t Easy. Real Blues Magazine, with an international readership, named it the best blues/rock CD of 2009, which resulted in European requests for the disc (Europe continues to hold the blues in higher esteem than we do in America).

 Aaron Williams believes the key to the success of the band is having three musicians pulling in the same direction – himself on guitar and vocals, powerhouse drummer Eric Shackelford and the mysteriously named bass player Z.

 “I’ve been in other bands and this is one that has really taken on its own head and is moving very fast, and we really love it,” Williams said recently by telephone. “Most bands, I believe, get together because they love the music, and the friendships involved are kind of secondary, whereas the three of us have one goal, three guys working for that and we all work very hard. It really makes a difference when you agree on things. In two years we have never had a fight. It’s kind of been a fairy tale that way.”

 Everyone knows the components of a fairy tale: a humble hero overcomes adversity in a cruel world ruled by ogres or witches or some other miscreant and possibly magical creature.

 In the Aaron Williams and the Hoodoo fairy tale, the ogre is a combination of elements that keeps its hob-nailed boot on the throat of the blues.

 The twist to this story is that while Williams is a major fan of the blues, he readily admits he is not a purist as a player.

 “I absolutely love blues,” he said. “I listen to it pretty much all the time. I really don’t get into rap or country or other music that’s out there, but when it comes out of my fingers it doesn’t sound the same way. I still like the old stuff, I just can’t play it that well. Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy are incredible, but it’s just something I can’t do. It is what it is. Blues is the main influence, but we put in rock. We’re not going for particular sounds, but playing what’s inside and seeing what happens. That’s what we’re trying to do.”

 That recipe has obviously been working. The band made history in May when it became the first blues-based band to win Artist of the Year from the Madison Area Music Association (granted, the MAMAs were only introduced in 2004). The band also brought home four other awards that night – Blues Artist of the Year, Blues Album of the Year, Blues Song of the Year and Drummer of the Year for Shackelford.

 At a time when blues gets less respect than jazz in the mainstream world, Williams is happy to be a champion of the genre. He just wishes people would get over their blues inhibitions.

 “There’s really two kinds of groups in the blues world,” he said. “There’s one group that’s really trying to push the boundaries and move the blues in a way Muddy Waters did when he made it electric. There was a big uproar about that. And then there’s the group that really holds on to what they think the roots are. I think what’s really holding back the blues is having these two opposing camps. If people would just let the music go and just enjoy it for what it is, I think any music can survive. That’s really the thing I look at, liking the music for what it is.”

 Asked to name a band he admires that does its own take on the blues, without hesitation Williams conjures up an answer.

 “Right now my favorite band is a band out of Ohio called The Black Keys, a two-man group. They don’t call themselves a blues band, but they have a definite blues influences, the old swamp delta blues with a nasty kind of sound.”

 If you want to get a sense of where Aaron Williams and the Hoodoo are coming from, check out aaronwilliamsandthehoodoohome.com, where you can listen to music and order It Ain’t Easy. But better yet, catch a live show.

 “We push our live show,” Williams said. “Our music really needs to be experienced rather than listened to on a CD. A lot of bands say that, but we are a live band and crowd interaction and making sure they’re having a good time is very important to us. Our mantras is, you’re only as good as your last show. It’s fun to get people to enjoy what you’re playing.”

 The band makes a rare Valley appearance during the biggest party weekend of the summer, playing Friday, July 2, at Naut’s Landing in beautiful downtown Menasha. Central Wisconsin residents can catch them at Weston Fest in Weston on July 22.