Tom Hanway ~ The Badbelly Project: Hesitation Blues
Joyous Gard Records ~ JGCD 1964


Badbelly with washboard Tom Hanway, a.k.a. Badbelly, is an entertainer who walks the paths of the country bluesman, jubilee gospel singer, folk troubadour, banjo picker and studio session man. Badbelly is an original who talks the talk and walks the walk. In May 2005 Tom Hanway released The Badbelly Project: Hesitation Blues, his tour de force country blues and gospel recording incorporating Delta, Texas, early Chicago, West Coast and East Coast (Piedmont) guitar styles. The Badbelly Project was the band and album title coined by Tom’s first wife, Kathleen Low, who sadly died in 2002. ‘Your Long Journey’, a duet with Lucy Kaplansky, is lovingly dedicated to Kathleen. Supporting musicians include Vassar Clements on fiddle, Larry Campbell (Bob Dylan Band) on mandolin, Trip Henderson on harmonica, Denny McDermott on barnyard percussion, Lucy Kaplansky, and Lincoln Schleifer (New York Rock & Soul Revue), who co-produced and played doghouse bass.

Badbelly performs solo on acoustic guitar, banjo and resophonic guitar. Badbelly and Mike O’Connor (blues harp/vocals) perform together as The Badbelly Project, firing up audiences with their jubilee country blues and gospel songs. They are steadlily gaining a following through their concerts, festivals, school, TV and radio appearances. Mike O’Connor cites Paul Butterfield and Little Walter as two huge influences on the harp. O’Connor is a versatile musician who has performed with world-class traditional players, including Ron Kavana (The Bucks), Micho Russell, Sharon Shannon, Jackie Daly and Michael McAuley.

Tom Hanway has traded licks onstage at festivals, concerts and on Broadway with many greats including Jorma Kaukonen (Jefferson Airplane/Hot Tuna), Warren Haynes (Allman Bros./Govt. Mule), Rick Danko and Levon Helm (The Band), Prof. Louie and the Crowmatix, Merl Saunders (Jerry Garcia Band), Derek Trucks (Allman Bros.), Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Jack Lawrence (Doc Watson), Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys, Doc Watson, Vassar Clements, Peter Rowan, Tony Trischka, Bill Keith, John Herald (Greenbriar Boys), Buddy Cage (New Riders of the Purple Sage), David Nelson, Zen Tricksters, and the Provincetown Jug Band. Hanway performed with fiddler Kenny Kosek in the off-Broadway bluegrass musical, Feast Here Tonight. In 2000, Hanway recorded ‘Hot Corn, Cold Corn’, a radio broadcast with David Bromberg -- live from Studio A -- for WFUV’s City Folk Live II CD. Tom performed with Ritchie Havens for the latter’s Natural Guard nature walks for children. He has recorded on dozens of albums and has several releases of his own.

Tom has played major festivals in the United States, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Holland, Switzerland, England, Wales, Scotland and Shetland. He has also performed in Australia and, in his college days, busked the streets of Paris and Amsterdam, singing and picking the songs of Lightnin’ Hopkins, Rev. Gary Davis, Doc Watson, Merle Travis, Jesse Fuller, Robert Johnson and Ralph McTell.

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