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March 29, 2024
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People: Hank: Alive and Well and Living in Cornwall

Hank and the Skinny 3 play Saturday at 2 Alices
Hank and the Skinny 3 play Saturday at 2 Alices
January 16, 2007

When the band Hank and the Skinny 3 takes the stage this Saturday at 2 Alices Coffee Lounge, there’s no telling exactly what his songs will sound like because, for Hank, a song is a living, organic thing that interacts with the people and the space around it.

You can guess, however, that his music will have a driving, kind of techno, rhythm that washes over the listener, transporting you wherever your mind is free to go. And it will have the soul-searching flavor of country slide guitar weaving through the tunes. (Listen to Hank and the Skinny 3 here.)

Hank, whose real name is Michael O’Neill, plays guitar in the band, along with Gary O’Connor on slide and bass guitar and Martin on drums. He describes his music as lounge, psychedelic, folk rock, and you have to give a listen to hear how it all comes together in one big sound.

Hank moved to Cornwall from New York City in part to have a better environment for his six-year-old son but the music scene of Manhattan is where he developed much of his sound. “I came to New York (from St. Paul, Minnesota) at the end of punk rock and the start of ‘no wave,’ he says, adding, “’no wave’ was sort of primitive rhythm and noise infused with music.”

Hank started recording music in a small studio, worked as a recording engineer, and eventually embraced the craft of songwriting.

“I used to spend a lot of time writing lyrics,” Hank explains, ‘and then had to understand chords and transitions to make the words into a song.” He’s been working on songs for a new album for the past five years, giving them a chance to breathe and take on the form they will have when the final tracks are laid down on vinyl.

“Recording music is magic, not an assembly line,” he says. “You may take weeks recording vocals.”

Hank appreciates the chance to play in public, with real people and real instruments, bringing people together in a community as opposed to listening to music in isolation, as more and more people do. There is nothing pre-packaged or programmed about his music.

He finds life in Cornwall very inspiring – the mountains, the river, the people – and it impacts how he creates music and art. If you listen carefully to his lyrics, you get clues to the changes he is going through.

In addition to music, Hank designs art posters, mostly for 2 Alices, and he revels in what he calls his “non-commercial success” that allows him the luxury to refine his art and music.

You can also hear music that Hank plays with another band he formed, mostly with musicians from Minneapolis. It is called Cash Carson. Listen here.


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