The daily Astorian., July 30, 2015, Image 32

GRAB BAG book shelf • glimpse • wildlife • pop culture • words • q&a • food • fun
Submitted photo by Sarah Taft
Michael Hurley will perform at the Sou’Wester Lodge at 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 1.
Five Minutes With ...
MICHAEL HURLEY
By RYAN HUME
Get to know Michael Hurley, local transplant and legendary folk singer, before he
takes the stage with Nate Lumbard and Au Dunes at the Sou’Wester Lodge at 8 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 1. Not known for settling down, Hurley currently has three albums in
the works that he hopes to have completed by the year’s end, and he has a standing gig
with his band The Croakers at the Laurelthirst Tavern in Portland every third Friday of
the month. Find out more about Bad Mr. Mike at snockonews.net
Your debut album,
“First Songs,” appeared on
Folkway Records in 1965.
What is your favorite thing
about writing and record-
ing these days? Is there
anything you miss from
that time?
Well, my favorite thing is
singing, to answer that ques-
tion. Things I miss from ’65?
There wasn’t so much law
bothering people back then
as there is today. I miss the
freer freedom of the Ameri-
can. Today you can’t feel so
free — unfortunately.
How did you get the
nickname Snock? And why
has it stuck through the
years?
I proclaimed myself to be
Snock. To me, it’s a sound, a
specifi c sound — similar to
claves, you know? Knocking
pieces of hardwood togeth-
er to make music. That’s a
snocky sort of sound. I force
a lot of nicknames for myself
and others. I sort of have my
own language. It’s part of
that. Sometimes words for
things aren’t enough for me
to describe something, so I
throw a few more words at
it to describe it for myself.
Then there’s other words
and phrases in the English
language that off end me,
so I have to avoid the use of
those. But I am tired of Snock
by now. I’ve been Snock
since ‘61. So I am going back
to Mike — that’s what my
dad called me. Currently it’s
Bad Mr. Mike or Big Mike.
Snock is old hat now.
Since your song, “Port-
land Water,” was released
in 1976, I assume you have
passed through Oregon
on and off for a number of
years. As you are known to
have a bit of that wander-
ing spirit, how long have
you been around the North
Coast?
This is my fourth year in
Knappa. Before that I lived
in Astoria proper — though
there’s nothing really proper
about it. I started residence
here permanently in 2002,
but the fi rst time I came here
it was 1972. Before ’02 I nev-
er stayed more than three
months at a time. In fact, I
only did that once. Usually I
was just here touring around
for a week or two. In Califor-
nia as well.
Does the landscape and
community around here
inspire you in any way?
In many ways. I tell my
visitors, if they come out
here, they have to make a de-
cision. They have to choose
between the pinecone and
the clamshell. Astoria has it
all. Got fresh water, saltwater,
fresh fi sh, crabs, pine — fi r
trees. I say pine since I am
from the East Coast. Got to
remember to say fi r.
Tortillas and beans,
spaghetti, grapefruit juice,
wine and spirits: Over the
years food and drink has
seemed to be a source of
joy in your music — though
a recent track, “Bad Mon-
santo,” that you recorded
for the food magazine
“Lucky Peach,” which was
released through their
record club, fi nds sorrow
in the current state of
corporate food production
systems, specifi cally GMOs.
Well, it’s a big issue with
me. I am against Monsanto’s
pollution of our food and
our land. It’s quite a disaster.
To me, it’s as big as fracking
and the oil sands and spilling
oil in the ocean. Monsanto is
right up there with all these
major issues that aff ect the
ecology. I am defi nitely an
activist against GMOs and
Monsanto — that’s the one I
choose to talk about. I have
always been in the health
food department. I have al-
ways tried to eat pure foods,
and Monsanto is making that
really much harder than it
ever has been before.
What draws you to write
about food?
Well, I have to live on it
and so do my kids. I eat, and
I cook; I buy groceries —
it’s just natural if you think
about it.
Does this come out of
any particular tradition?
I know a lot of other
songs about food that
I didn’t write. One that
comes to mind right away
is “Hungry Hash House.”
Charlie Poole and the North
Carolina Ramblers have a
great version of it. There’s
other versions too; it’s pretty
funny. It’s all about the
gross food that is served in
this hotel. Years ago I was
performing it and tacked
on a few of my own verses.
One line was, “The eggs
they would not crack, if you
tried one it would hatch.” So
I said, “The eggs they would
not crack, because they
came from a pterodact.”
Speaking of other
tracks, on your website,
snockonews.net, I have
noticed that you are very
gracious about promoting
other musicians, friends
and things and places
that you like — with links
to other musicians’ web
pages and the inclusion
of Snox Jook Box, which
includes, I presume, some
of your favorite tracks
by other artists. What do
some of these songs in the
Jook Box mean to you per-
sonally and how important
do you think it is in this
day and age to create a
musical community?
I need to update it. That
playlist has been up there
for about fi ve years now. I
need to refresh it, but I still
love all of those songs that
are up there. I like it when
other people do that. I’ll
check out what they like,
you know? It’s nice, and it
helps you fi nd stuff . I think
it’s not really that import-
ant, but it’s nice if you are
looking for new music or
diff erent music.
Is that a harder thing
to fi nd these days now
that there are less record
stores?
I’m not suff ering too
much about that. Seattle,
Olympia — there’s record
stores there. You can go
buy records in Astoria. If
I wanted a new CD that I
know has just been released
I would probably have to go
to Portland to buy it.
What are you working
on now?
I’m working on three
albums at the same time.
One is we are releasing a
tape from 1976. Another is
my new Mississippi Records
release, which is a current
events kind of thing. And
then I’m going to do what
you call a vanity publishing
— put out my own CD. It’s
on my own label, you might
say, but I really don’t have
a label. Mostly I will handle
the distribution myself, but
if it starts to sell rapidly I
might hook up with a dis-
tributor. It’s my own merch
table project.
NW
word
nerd
By RYAN HUME
Dulse >Gݞls@
noun
1. Palmaria palmata: a
number of edible, ruby-red
seaweeds – most common-
ly harvested at low tide in
the summer – which grow
off the northern shores
of the Atlantic and Pacific
oceans. Formerly known
as Rhodymenia palmata
prior to a reclassification,
this abundant and sustain-
able red algae is partial
to growing on rocks and
mussels in shallow intertid-
al zones and is often dried
and eaten raw as a snack,
predominately in Ireland,
where it is sold as Dillisk
or Creathnach. In Japan,
where it is known as Daru-
su, and Iceland, where it is
known as Söl, it is a com-
mon ingredient in soups
and is widely considered to
be an excellent source of
dietary fiber, protein and
trace minerals
Origin:
From the Gaelic
duileasg, meaning “sea-
weed.” First enters English
in 1547 as dylysc, with
the current spelling and
pronunciation appearing
in the early 17th century
and relating specifically
to a type of edible red
algae popular among the
peasantry. Possibly de-
rived from the Latin dulcis,
meaning “sweet-smelling”
or “agreeable.”
“Among the most promising
foods created were a dulse-based
rice cracker and salad dressing. And
bacon-tasting strips, which are fried
like regular bacon to bring out the
flavor.”
—Associated Press, “Forget
kale, Oregon scientists patent ba-
con-flavored seaweed,” The Daily
Astorian, July 20, 2015, P. A3
July 30, 2015 | coastweekend.com | 23