Photo by Calfa Photography via larrypenn.com
Larry Penn - Kitchen Picking 2012
Larry Penn - Kitchen Picking 2012
“I’ve never known an artist whose work was as genuinely connected to the pulse of the working people,” says Milwaukee’s Marc Revenson, a.k.a. Lil Rev, of his mentor and ongoing inspiration for the folk musicians in the city and far beyond, Larry Penn.
“He put his money where his mouth was, and he wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty in the process. He was the real deal,” Rev acclaims of his late fellow troubadour. Penn’s legacy of music, activism and overall life of giving toward causes in which he believed, will be the focus of the latest annual tribute concert at Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co.(224 West Bruce St.) at 5p.m. Sunday, Dec. 5. Penn died at age 87 in 2014.
So giving and committed were Penn and his peers in their pursuit of justice, Rev recalls that the elder singer once told him that they “marched so much, we marched everywhere! We marched so much we neglected our kids!” Songs of his such as “Father Groppi's Gonna Get You,” referencing the Roman Catholic priest renowned for his participation in marches for racial equity and other issues, reflect Penn’s time demonstrating on the street of the city.
If Penn’s public face was that of a singing, songwriting guitar player, with an agreeably gruff voice honoring the working class on albums such as Workin’ for a Livin’', Rev got to know him more closely as an affable friend.
“I had a lot of years to enjoy Larry’s company and music. He became so dear, a friend, a mentor, an inspiration,” Rev recalls fondly. Speaking of his interaction, he adds, “I really just fell in love with his whole family. I will always cherish the Friday night sings around his kitchen table sipping cheap whiskey and swapping songs. Larry was always agreeable to meeting for breakfast, at a late-night greasy spoon, talking on the phone or socializing at his south side home.”
|
|
Brutally Honest
As for Penn's personality and refusal to bend to technology’s demands on so many people's time nowadays, Reb says, “He wasn't in a hurry; he didn't have a cellphone that he was looking at every two minutes. He was brutally honest. He was unbelievably loyal. He was one hundred percent trustworthy and expected integrity from the people he called friend. He had old world grit. and he stood by his morals and values. He judged you by your character and everyone got a fair shake unless you f**ked it up. I just loved the man.
“It’s important to say that Larry touched so many lives in Milwaukee,” Rev continues. “There are dozens of folkies, songwriters, labor historians, Teamsters, Wobblies [members of Industrial Workers of the World], workers and old friends and family who will all forever be indebted to the imprint he left upon our lives. We are all better because of his time here.”, Rev points to how artists can continue to benefit from Penn’s arguably richest legacy: his music.
“Younger songwriters should study Larry's work," Rev says. “There is an elegant simplicity unfettered by the busyness that is synonymous with today’s contemporary singer-songwriter lot. Larry wrote about what he knew and he started by being local. Much to his surprise, local often transcends and winds up further afield, simply, because others can relate.” Among those who related enough to Penn's songs to record and sing them in concert include acoustic music such as Claudia Schmidt, Utah Phillips and Pete Seeger.
Not Fade Away
“The idea for the tribute concert was based on a collective willingness amongst many players in Milwaukee whom all felt that Larry’s legacy was too important to let fade away," Rev says of what will be the seventh annual show commemorating his work and life (canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns). “I also promised Larry days before his passing that I would do everything I possibly could to keep his music alive.” Another part of Rev’s effort to keep Penn's artistry in the public’s memory is The Larry Penn Legacy Project, the goal of which, as Rev explains is “to build a digital footprint for Larry's life story and music. Larry didn’t have much on the net” at the time of his passing.
As for the concert, sharing the bill with Rev will be local folkies John Stano, Jay Hoffman, Will Branch and Craig & Patty. Of the tribute concert's format, Rev offers, “We ask that each performer do at least two to three of Larry's songs and one to two related songs” about themes dear to him such as social justice causes, the Great Lakes, trains, and trucks. And though the show should attract many already familiar with Penn, Rev entices newcomers by saying. “Larry’s music reinterpreted by his regional friends and fellow musicians will lift you out of the winter blues, get your toes and fingers tapping, lure you into a world of song that's home-grown and yet otherworldly in its depth and strength.”
