Hadees Market
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We all have to adjust to a “new normal” during the Covid19 Pandemic. How is the current state of the U.S.A. effecting musicians though? Greg Williamson of Hadees market took some time to answer a few questions about how he’s adjusting. Hadees Market is a musical manifestation of Greg Williamson, a performing songwriter from Rosedale, WA. Williamson crafts melodic rock songs to fee your ears.
(Revenant Media)
On a personal level, how are you adjusting to our “new normal” during the Pandemic. Is there any part of your daily routine that helps you maintain a sense of normalcy?
(Greg Williamson)
I don’t think that the pandemic response will affect me as much as it might other performing musicians, because I haven’t been planning to tour. Most of my performances over the past year have been at local open mic events, usually sitting in with one of two live bands, and playing three or four of my songs. I was preparing for local live showcases, and I feel like the transition to playing lives streams will be easier for me than some others. I know people who have personally lost family members to COVID-19, and I know many businesses (music-related and otherwise) which have lost revenue or are worried about whether and how their businesses will survive the “new normal.” These are challenging times for many people. I feel fortunate that I get to make and share songs right now.
Physical exercise is an important part of my musical life. I get on the exercise bike every morning, and typically, I listen to the music of The Tragically Hip while I pedal myself across the Canada of the Imagination. The pandemic response has made exercise a more predictable part of my life.
Musically, I’ve been focused on these six songs I finished recording just before March, and getting people to hear them. However, in the past couple of weeks, I’ve noticed that new songs are scratching at my brainpan, and I’m excited to see where the new songs lead. I’m also growing my hair out (which is going nicely), so I guess that scratching sound could be either new songs or some sort of follicle issue.
(Revenant Media)
Several musicians have expressed recently that they’ve been hit hard mentally by their tours being cancelled. I can’t imagine how it must be to not be able to tour or interact with your fans. What toll have the tour and show cancellations taken on the band as a whole?
(Greg Williamson)
As I said, I’m not (at least yet) planning to be a touring musician these days, so I’m with you, I have to try to imagine the impacts on touring musicians, and those aren’t pretty. For me, more people home with eyes on screens may be a benefit in the long-term. My music is showing up on websites that are based in Portugal and Norway and France, and I’m truly optimistic about my songs meeting listeners they never would have met otherwise. To be clear, I’m not asking for more pandemics, thank you, but the timing could be beneficial to some musicians and listeners who wouldn’t otherwise find one another.
(Revenant Media)
How has the band adjusted to not being able to tour or play live shows with regards to promoting its music? Have you become more active on social media? Will you be playing more live stream shows now?
(Greg Williamson)
If “promotion” makes you think of stapling show posters to telephone poles, which it does for me, promotion via social media requires the formation of some new neural pathways. Yes, I have the major social media accounts, and I can watch analytics that should help me find my listeners. Yes, my music is on streaming platforms. Yes, I intend to play more live stream shows. My friends have jumped in on this. Gimme a month, and you’ll be seeing me singing to you from my basement.
(Revenant Media)
Are you using this downtime to write or record new music? Do you think the pandemic will change or alter the focus on your lyrics?
(Greg Williamson)
The new songs are just beginning to show up.
(Revenant Media)
It’s been speculated that 90% of the venues in our country won’t survive to reopen in 2021 when touring will hopefully resume. Do you expect any major hurdles with scheduling or rescheduling upcoming tours? At what point will the band not be hesitant to tour?
(Greg Williamson)
Again, I’m planning to be reaching people’s ears through the wonders of computer-ophony. Until I can communicate directly with their nervous system through direct link-up.
(Revenant Media)
What are your thoughts on the “drive in theatre” tours that are currently being scheduled? Would you consider touring in this way?
(Greg Williamson)
I think this would RAWK! There are two drive in theaters near me, and I intend to explore this option this summer. For years, Hadees Market has been figuring out the best way to bring groceries to your ears and using low-power FM signal to reach you in your own car in a parking lot seems like a delightfully retro way to deliver the goods.
(Revenant Media)
Will the old school meet and greets become a thing of the past for the band? How will the band’s in-person fan interactions evolve after touring resumes?
(Greg Williamson)
I’m fortunate. In the past, I’ve been able to meet listeners, or talk with record stores or radio stations, in places like Gothenburg (Sweden), Sarajevo (Bosnia), and Wellington and Te Anau (New Zealand). I would love it if I could play live in all the cool places where I have met great people. For now, I’m finding that having virtual conversations with people who have actually heard the music is a FANTASTIC substitute for the “old school meet and greet.”
Hadees Market is a musical manifestation of Greg Williamson.
“I’ve been exceedingly fortunate to make recorded music here in the US Pacific Northwest with my brother and a few best friends since 1980. I was in a couple different DIY/indie-punk/alternative bands through the ‘80s, and in a regularly gigging post-punk band in the first half of the ‘90s as a drummer. About 1995 I started taking songwriting more seriously, and now I mostly write on guitar.”
“In 2003, I put out my first six-song EP as Hadees Market, and asked my musician friends to join me on different tracks. Only seventeen years later, in 2020, I’m putting out my latest EP, entitled “To the Island, From the Lake.” The new EP is me with the full band sound; I also perform as a singer-songwriter with just me and a guitar.”
“The name of the band comes from the name of my grandparents’ grocery store in Olympia, WA in Mud Bay in the 1940’s. My grandmother was “Hazel” and my grandfather “Ira Dee,” so they called the place Hadees Market. People used to come in and ask my grandpa if he was Mr. Hadees. He always said ‘yes’.”
