Nat Myers performs at USD
Kentucky folk blues artist visits campus
Ashley Nichols / Assistant Arts & Culture Editor / The USD Vista
The Kentucky Blues came to town in the form of a musician named Nat Myers. Nat Myers, a blues musician from Kentucky, gained traction after playing live shows in New York City and Kentucky. On October 14th, Nat Myers gave a performance in the French Parlor of Founders Hall to a small group within the USD community. He performed his original songs, folk blues hits, and spoke on historical figures within the blues.
From Oct. 11 to Nov. 7 he is going on a folk tour with Willie Watson across the U.S. and Canada. However, Myers didn’t get into blues industry in a normative way. Through the form of poetic writing and reading, he pursued a life of telling stories through music. Growing up, he loved narrative writing and fiction, appreciating the metrical structure and learning the rules of verse in poetry. He always played the guitar while reading poetry, looking at each song like a Shakespearean sonnet. Now, he continues to experiment when writing and performing blues music.
In college, he studied English and came across many different influences in poetry. His poems started to focus on the ten mile radius of the small part of Kentucky he’s from: Kenton County. Many of his songs focus on his small town, his simple life, and his family and friends. When blues music became more popular, Myers believed that mass produced sound was able to preserve its magnificent sound. During his performance, he started talking about the different remedies he started playing on his 1920’s National Guitar, his thick Kentucky accent transformed into a deep and soothing tone. His foot tapped, his hat was tilted, he smiled through each lyric, and he enticed the crowd with every beat. He recommended checking out where the blues are in your hometown, too. Myers’ humbleness and character is obvious through his language and passion about the Kentucky blues.
Dr. Tim Randell, a professor in the English department, interviewed USD’s distinguished guest about intellectual concepts, inspirations, and his background.
Myer’s favorite musician growing up was Charlie Patton. Charlie Patton, an African American man, inspired Myers because he is also a minority playing in the world of Kentucky Blues.
As a half Korean man, Myers stated, “If i’m not smokin’ my Korean long tobacco pipe in one of the Joseon dresses with a Korean top hat on my head” he continued, “then I don’t know exactly what is mine in this country at all.” Charlie Patton was the king of the blues. Myers went on to say if a 5 ‘4 man can hollar like that then so could he. Myers, here, is combating the stereotypes of musicians that don’t normally play the blues. However, he knows that if Charlie Patton can do it, so can he.
Nat Myers is extremely well versed in everything blues, but he also says that even with all of his knowledge there is someone better to speak about it. Many people don’t have the guts to say what he admits.
“I’m kinda socratic about it,” he noted. “I gotta admit that I know half of nothing’ when it comes to the larger conversations.”
Nat Myers’ authentic candor and sound resonates throughout each room he enters. He won’t claim his sound to be his own at first, but it doesn’t take long for the crowd to realize there’s no one like him. His music isn’t pure; it’s raw, rigid, and anything but perfect. But, it’s his unique sound that continues to make entire crowds’ mouths drop in awe – especially the first time he sang the soothing blues to the USD community.