E.158: Adam Greuel | The High Hawks

Amy Gabay 00:00
This podcast is brought to you by Artspire presented by the Pump House Regional Art Center to attract, engage, and connect artists in the community through an Art Fair and Sale on Saturday, June 12. Information is that artspire.thepumphouse.org. Musician Adam Greuel plays in a variety of bands from Horseshoes and Hand Grenades to Rucksack Revolution. But we have him here to talk about one of his newest projects, the High Hawks. We talk about influences, ties to the driftless region and more. You can find more conversations, food reviews, live music and events on our website, lacrosselocal.com. I’m Amy. And I’m Brent. And this is La Crosse Local.

Adam Greuel 01:34
My name is Adam Grewal. I was born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. I play now with the High hawks and got a project called Berens and Greuel with comedian Charlie Berens and another project called Rucksack Revolution, with my friend Sarah Voss, Dead Horses. And you know, I got into music at a young age, you know, I was really kind of, you know, stoked and just pumped up from watching some of these bands at our local county fair. May have been the Wood County Fair. And I remember seeing Nitty Gritty Dirt Band as a young guy. Man, this is just so cool. The interaction between the crowd and the artist, and I kind of fell in love and it hit me right in the heart. You know, here we are however many years later, like 25 years later. And it’s my career. You know,

Brent Hanifl 02:33
I saw Nitty Gritty Dirt Band at Trempealeau Hotel about 10 years ago. It’s probably one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.

Adam Greuel 02:41
Yeah, that’s awesome. I got a show coming up with at Trempealeau Hotel. You know it’s the coolest thing. Like, maybe two years ago, two, three years ago, I was down in Nashville and hanging out with a friend Vince Herman from Leftover Salmon. And, you know, as part of the story about Nitty Gritty Dirt band, falling in love with music, and he’s like, well, I’ll pick you up at breakfast time tomorrow. And he picked me up. And we drove and we had lunch with Jeff Hannah, the guitarist, and singer songwriter from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. its just so cool to eat fried chicken with two of my heroes. Vince and Jeff.

Brent Hanifl 03:28
That’s wild. You talked about Trempealeau? What are your ties to the Driftless? You seem to enjoy the area. I see you doing a lot of fishing. What’s your ties to this area?

Adam Greuel 03:37
Well, you know, my tie is just loving the environment down there. It’s just such a unique place from a landscape perspective. And I really love fly fishing for trout. And there’s so many miles and miles of great trout fishing. In fact, as we talk right now, I just got busy for seven days straight doing a work thing and now I got an off day and I’m going down to the Driftles for fly fishing.

Brent Hanifl 04:04
So you run around with a number of bands, or at least you did before the pandemic. You know, Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, Rucksack Revolution. But we want to talk to you about the High Hawks. So how did the high hawks come about?

Adam Greuel 04:16
Well, the High Hawks essentially spurred from the idea, you know, we were all being really good friends and wanting to spend more time together. All the guys in the band, we’ve all gotten along and maybe played in various projects. But really, there’s always been a sense of fellowship, Vince and I became really good friends. Almost immediately upon meeting one another and with both him and Tim Carbone and Chad Staley. I’m quite a bit younger. So I’ve been watching those guys perform for like 15 years or so, you know, I’m 30 right now but I started watching when I was 15. So there’s that kind of tie. But you know, Chad Staley, who lives in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Him and I kind of had this idea, why don’t we get this group of guys together and see what kind of music naturally comes from it. We weren’t quite sure exactly what that would sound like. But you know, a lot of times when there’s good, good camaraderie and good fellowship with a group of guys, the music that comes out of it can be pretty strong. To just, you know, the way energies dances, people’s energies dance that way. What came out of it is this kind of cool, sort of rugged Americana, kinda rock and roll band. It’s just really a pleasure to get to both be hanging out with everybody, but also now realize, like, we made this music that’s really cool and went in and cut a record. And so you know, it all kind of serendipitously came together, but really, based on the fact that we all enjoyed each other’s company and wanted to find ways to spend more time together.

Brent Hanifl 04:31
Speaking of this area, Wednesday, June 2, you’re doing an outside show. The High Hawks with the Smoking Bandits at Pearl Street Brewery. What can people expect from that show? You know, you said rock and roll, like, what’s the show gonna be about?

Adam Greuel 06:15
Well, it’s gonna be a damn good time. The Smokin Bandits and the High Hawks and the Pearl Street Brewery that’s gonna be a hoot, no matter how you slice it. But you know, the music is like, almost like an old country Americana rock and roll sort of thing. Think of like the band, the kind of thing where there’s, there’s several different songwriters, and several different singers. So you kind of get this eclectic show from the High Hawks. And, you know, frankly, Vince Herman is, is one of the best entertainers music has ever seen. He’s just really, really interesting to watch, you know, anytime you can see Ben Terman, you know, and then you got Tim Carbone, who is one of the best fiddle players to ever tour around this country. Like, these aren’t exaggeration, these guys have been in the music scene for so long and just have chops for days. So, you know, it should be a really cool show. I always love Pearl Street, and then you throw the Smoking Bandits in there do and it’s been a while since they’ve been played in scotty. So that’ll be a treat. Man, the first time I ever stepped on stage was with the Smoking Bandits. On Earth Day, Earth Day when I was 13 years old. I remember getting up there and saying vigor ever and a couple other tunes with Chavez Daily. And then, you know, me and Pat Ferguson are very close friends, to this day, as he’s kind of embarked on a solo career, actually produced his first album, a lot of cool ties going on. And that’s really, that’s gonna be a really special night, you know, in part because the kind of the camaraderie between Pearl Street Brewery and horse shoes, you know, the High Hawks and Smokin Bandits, its all the bunch of us kind of coming together, it’s gonna be a really, really special night.

Brent Hanifl 08:15
Separate from that maybe any one of your projects. What are you excited for in 2021? I mean, to get back on the road pretty much or what are you looking forward to?

Adam Greuel 08:24
This time period, the great pause, if you will, you know, it was really an interesting time for me, I did all of my 20s, 10 years, I was on the road extremely hard. And firstly, I slowly gotten a little worn out, and maybe wasn’t taking enough time to go catch the fly, or spend some time with my family. So for me, it’s really been a reminder of balance, you know, I want to, to play enough shows where I can, you know, make ends meet and feel like I’m getting out there and doing the thing I love and furthering my career and, but I also want to make sure that I’m taking time to fill that kind of spiritual well, and yeah, talking with folks about this time period, I kind of heard that being like, it’s been nice to be at home and hang out with the family. So balance really. Make no bones about it. Like, to me live music has been a big thing to fill up my spiritual tank since the whole ride began, you know, when I was 19 years old, and so I’ve been missing that. But another thing that I’ve been focused on is doing different projects, and kind of keeping everything fresh, you know, so that’s why there’s like the High Hawks there’s this project, Tuttle Kuhl Greuel with Kyle Tuttle on banjo Jared Kuhl on mandolin and the stuff with the comedian Charlie Berens, who’s one of my really good friends, those two national plan with them and stuff with Sarah from Dead Horses called rocksack revolution, you know and then horseshoes is really excited to be out, you know playing again this summer. June we’re kind of focusing more concise dates like you know, in like 15 shows, I think this summer and that’s gonna be just a blast to get back with my brothers and music.

Brent Hanifl 10:27
You’re involved in so many different groups. Where’s the best for people to find out more for the show? They should probably just find the High Hawks on Facebook.

Adam Greuel 10:34
Yeah, for sure. The High Hawks on Facebook. Facebook has kind of become like the information hub. Yeah, so it’s weird like I don’t even personally have like an Adam Greuel website right now because I just don’t know if people really go to them as much. It feels like Facebook is the thing but you know, Facebook and Instagram on there for sure. If you just Google any of these projects, you know, you’ll see the dates on there too. But yeah, the High Hawks have a Facebook page that’s kind of how we get our our information out there.

Brent Hanifl 11:12
Awesome, well I can’t wait to see see you guys play June 2 at Pearl Street Brewery with a High Hawks and Smoking Bandits.

Adam Greuel 11:18
It’s gonna be a hoot! it’s gonna be a really good time.

Amy Gabay 11:26
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