“Hobo: the classic American rail-tramp, a wandering man who works infrequently – but not a bum”

The image of the lonesome Hobo has fascinated and inspired people for generations. Everyone knows the mythology from classic songs like Jimmie Rodgers ‘Waitin’ For a Train’, Leon Payne’s ‘Lost Highway’, Woody Guthrie’s ‘Hobo’s Lullaby’ and Rodger Miller’s ‘King of the Road’,or through the writings of Hemmingway and Kerouac. The John Hewitt pub will host this day-long celebration of the hobos who wandered across America, jumping freight trains and picking up casual work, and exploring how and why they have played a major part in the cultural and musical journey of a continent.

“There are still men riding the freights, living proof that there is one last American frontier.”
John T Davis.

Part 1: – opening of photographic exhibition
Time: Starts 1.00pm
Tickets: FREE admission + complimentary refreshments

An exhibition of still photographs from the film Hobo, and from the personal archives of the film maker John T Davis, who lived as a hobo himself for three months during the making of this award winning film. John, and some special guests, will introduce the exhibition with words and music.

“Other people know where they were when JF Kennedy or Elvis Presley died. I know exactly where I was when Woody Guthrie died.”
John T Davis, Film Maker

Part 2: – film screening
FILM: Hobo by John T Davis 90 minute feature documentary
Time: Starts 1.30pm
Tickets: FREE admission

The County Down film maker hid his camera in his bedrole, and set off on a dangerous and illegal 2,000 mile journey across America, to make this remarkable film. It is an intensely personal portrait of an ex-Vietnam vet turned hobo, who calls himself Beargrease, as he hops the railways from North Dakota through the Rockies to the Pacific rim, on a bitter, cold, hard track known as the Highline. With a stunning musical sound track, including songs by Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, the film documents the daily life of this fiercely independent man, whose personal philosophy is a mix of common sense and profound anger at the condition of modern America. His thoughts and stories, and those of the other ‘boxcar philosophers’ he meets along the way, throw up major questions about human nature, freedom and responsibility, and the thin thread on which our own reality hangs.

Featured film maker – JOHN T DAVIS
John T Davis was born in Holywood (pronounced Hollywood) which may or may not have been an omen. The fact that his hometown was on the County Down coast near Belfast, rather than in California, US of A, appears to have held no barriers for him. John is a seriously respected maker of films which, on the surface, are in the documentary style but filled with real life drama. His films cover many subjects, but are drawn together by some common threads: travel, the parallels and links between Ireland and America, concern for the underdog and, always, music.

In an interview with John O’Regan, when asked what influenced him to become a film-maker, he replied: “It started I guess by going to Art College in 1967. I remember it so vividly because Woody Guthrie died in that year. I used to look like an old dustbowl farmer because of my obsession with all that, and the Grapes of Wrath and Steinbeck... I saw DA Pennebaker film Bob Dylan here on the streets of Belfast in 1966... I thought, ‘I want to do that’.”

John’s breakthrough film Shellshock Rock captured the Northern Ireland punk explosion, and was followed by the hugely successful Route 66, a journey from Chicago to LA that explored the music and lives of middle America along the way. Power in the Blood focused on Vernon Oxford, country singer turned gospel preacher, and a journey from his home in Tennessee to a missionary tour of Northern Ireland. His film, Heart on the Line, saw John back in America, looking at the songwriters of Nashville, the people whose talent is the lifeblood of country music. With Hobo, he again found himself travelling across America, this time hopping freights to a Bob Dylan / Woody Guthrie soundtrack - travel... America...the underdog... music... back full circle where it all started from.

“He sounds like an authentic delta hollerer on tales of hopping freights and dead roosters. Aided by washboard and jaw harp, this trio cook up a fervent stink that bleeds to the bone.” Uncut

Seasick Steve spent many years, some of them difficult ones, living out his life as a hobo, before he settled in Norway and put his energies into forming the Level Devils. Reminiscent of the White Stripes, this is a rawer, more earthy rhythm an’ blues that tells true stories of Christmas in prison, and sleeping rough, delivered over a driving, infectious pulse of solid guitar rhythms. Championed by Andy Kershaw, this is a band for people who love and know good music when they hear it.