Upper Lake >> Rob Ickes spoke of his multiple Grammy nominations as if discussing a particularly pleasant and sunny day. He’s won the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Dobro Player of the Year 15 times and admitted that he’s “probably one of the top players at this point,” but he never sounded as if he was bragging. He made a Grammy-nominated record with Mike Auldridge, he’s worked with Dolly Parton and Don Henley, and yet Ickes remains firmly rooted to the Earth.
It might have something to do with the music he plays. In 1980, Ikes and his family attended a bluegrass festival in Grass Valley. There, he experienced the culture of the music. Bluegrass didn’t stop when the performers left the stage; musicians played their acoustic instruments back at their campsites all weekend long, no amps required. Ickes was immediately hooked.
“There’s a simplicity to it that I like and immediacy that has a pureness about it. I think when people get into bluegrass, they like the purity of it. People do it because they love it,” Ickes said. “I think that comes through in the music.”
And it’s a refreshing change from the norm. “Sometimes when I hear stuff on the radio, you can hear the money,” he added. “I think there’s a pureness to it that appealed to me.”
Naturally, the Tallman Hotel Meeting House is an ideal venue for music that doesn’t require anything more than a musician and an instrument. The room seats a cozy 40 people, who get an up close and person view of the songs as they’re being played. This is where Rob Ickes will be performing tonight for the hotel’s Concerts With Conversation series.
Joining Ickes will be Nashville guitar player Trey Hensley. Though he’s only 25 years old, Hensley is “one of the best guitar players on the planet,” Ickes said. “He has soaked up so much music so quickly, it’s pretty bizarre.”
The two played the same concert back at the end of 2014, and Ickes has performed a handful of times at the hotel over the years. He’s always thrilled to make a return. “It’s great because it’s totally acoustic,” he said. “As a listener you get a pretty rare experience, very intimate and real. You’re up close and sharing things as they happen.”
Ickes described his and Hensley’s’s music as Americana, with elements of blues and country. They use no amps, pedals, edits or effects. If they want to play louder, they have to strum harder. Softer music requires a lighter hand. It all comes from the fingers. “You have to create every sound or every mood,” Ickes explained. “I think a really good acoustic musician is part musician and part magician.”
Together, Ickes and Hensley draw on a wide range of influences. Ickes listened to jazz and blues in college and found inspiration in guys like Tony Rice and Miles Davis. Hensley looks to groups like the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers. Then there’s Merle Haggard, a favorite of both musicians. “We just try to play really good music and not really label it too much,” Ickes said. “We both have big ears as far as what we listen to so i think that comes out in our shows.”
Ickes met Hensely two and a half years ago just after the young musician moved to Nashville. Just a few months later, the two were playing together on and off. They recorded an album, which was nominated for a Grammy this year, and in November they decided to turn their music venture into a full-time project. They have 70 shows booked so far this year, including two trips to Europe this summer and one to Australia in the fall.
So what brings two internationally touring, Grammy-nominated musicians to our little corner of California? Ickes’s brother, Pat Ickes, lives in Upper Lake, just down the street from the Tallman Hotel, and he introduced Rob Ickes to the hotel’s owner, Bernie Butcher. A guitar and banjo player, Pat Ickes often joins his brother for a song or two during his shows.
Though it may be surprising considering his experience in the music industry, Ikes is not entirely comfortable in front of crowds. He looks at his shows as a way to learn how to relax on stage. Ickes and Hensley often improvise during their performances, so it can be a challenge for Ickes to get to the point where the music flows without much thought. He wants to do his best to insure he connects with the crowd. “There’s a back and forth with the audience and the performer,” Ickes said. “It doesn’t happen at every show but when it does happen that’s what it’s all about.”
Tonight’s show featuring Ickes and Hensley will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Tallman Hotel Meeting House. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased by calling the hotel at 275-2244. The Tallman Hotel is located at 9550 Main Street in Upper Lake.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
