“My name is Wayne Hancock. I’m opening for myself.”
Sometimes it feels like the musicians who work the hardest and contribute the most time to honing their craft to be the best it can be are the least known. Thus how Wayne Hancock, who has been recording for 16 years and writing and playing music for even longer, comes to play a three-hour set to a half-full bar in Cleveland on a Wednesday night. Granted, it was a respectable crowd for a mid-week night in the CLE, but to fairly equate Hancock’s energy and caliber as a music maker, he should have been playing to a capacity crowd in the Ballroom.
While the man also known as “The Train” and his boys – Jerry Cochran on Fender Telecaster, Wyatt Maxwell on a Gretsch Falcon and Joe Deuce on doghouse bass – lurched a little as they launched their set, it only took a few songs before the wheels were properly greased, and they were ready to fly.
Pulling from his own healthy catalogue, as well as throwing in some classic covers, Hancock kept the crowd – many of whom were clearly Hancock stalwarts – happy with songs like “Johnny Law”, “Viper of Melody”, “Wedding Bells”, “Miller, Jack and Mad Dog”, “Take Me Back to Tulsa”, “Highway 54”, “That’s What Daddy Wants”, “Milk Cow Blues” and on and on, playing much of the show by request.
Hancock and band played a rockabilly and western swing-heavy set, but if you could stop dancing long enough to pay attention, watching the scene onstage was much like watching a jazz quartet. Hancock surrounds himself with top-notch players, and there is a dialogue that goes on between them spoken in music. Hancock, Cochran, Maxwell and Deuce could often be seen making each other laugh with musical jokes that non-musicians and novice musicians like myself just don’t get, but added to the enjoyment of the show just the same. There’s nothing that makes a show better than seeing great musicians enjoy what they’re doing.
Wayne Hancock’s road has had some major bumps in it and reviews haven’t always been the best, but like his nickname, he keeps rolling forward, and when he’s on, he’s a grade A entertainer not to be missed.