When you watch Lesti Huff switching between acoustic and electric guitar, leading her band through turbo-Americana paces, mixing original songs with covers from the likes of Chris Knight and the Grateful Dead, be advised it could have all turned out differently.
“From the first grade through the seventh grade, I was the first-chair drummer. I also sang in the choir in church,” said Huff, 49, a native of St. Louis and a San Antonio denizen since 1990. “I switched schools in the eighth grade and, because I was a girl drummer, they wanted to put me on cymbals. So I quit the band, joined the school choir and played drums in the choir. But I’ve never been able to sing and play drums at the same time.”
In her Lesti Huff Band, and in various duo and trio combinations with members of the band – Jim Bard (guitar), Ray Symczyk (accordion, mandolin, bass, guitar), Gil Polanco (drums, cajon) and Kelly Hoppers (bass) – she certainly sings while playing guitar.
“I picked up guitar in high school but didn’t get serious until ’97,” she said. “My father passed away, and that got me to thinking about what really drives me. The very first song I wrote was for my father’s funeral. It was something I wanted to do for him and for the family. The song, Daddy’s Song, is on my album Where Was the Love? (her second, and latest, disc). Writing a song, for me, is like wrestling demons. It doesn’t come as easily for me as it does for others. And usually, when a song is done, it’s about something different than what it started out to be. I like that.”
When Huff got serious about making music, she did it right.
“I woodshedded for a year and then did the solo circuit in San Antonio. That was the beginning of my life of crime,” she said, laughing. “I went to songwriter open mikes and started meeting other musicians at jam sessions.”
Though she can work solo, Huff is more comfortable working in a group.
“Playing in a band is a lot more fun,” she said. “There’s a lot more energy. I like the interaction. Even if we’re playing a cover tune, we’re able to use the interaction to create interesting arrangements. I’m fortunate to be working with talented guys who are not afraid to come up with arrangements.”
Huff mainly concentrates on fronting her band, but she keeps her hands, and feet, in on the drums. She used to work Taco Land playing drums with the band Double Deuce and played drums with an original alt-rock group called Laugh Rations. That doesn’t mean she’s rough on drummer Polanco.
“Being an ex-drummer, I don’t want to ride him too much,” she said, laughing again. “I think being a drummer first has allowed me to experiment with different rhythm patterns. The band is a collaboration. I’m so lucky I don’t have a band full of egocentric guys. We’re pretty honest with each other. That’s probably why we’ve stayed together for 10 years.”
Huff describes her repertoire as “blues, classic country, classic rock.” The Where Was the Love? CD included Huff originals, Bard originals, one penned by Bard, Huff and Polanco, one Grateful Dead cover and a cover from singer, songwriter and super-sideman guitarist Michael O’Connor. A new album is in the works at Edit Point Studios with plans for a spring release.
“I write country, blues, some stuff that has jazz elements, some that has a Latin feel,” she said. “I’m not one of those people who can play the same style all night, but I like to stay with a rootsy feel. I’m trying to incorporate more and more originals into our sets. There’s a tendency, for most audiences, if they haven’t heard a song before, they lose interest. But I try to play 20 to 30 percent originals each set.”
Huff and her crew regularly work venues including Tycoon Flats, Boehler’s Bar amp; Grille, Alamo Springs Café, Oma’s Secret Garden in Gruene and, during tubing season, Bubba’s Big Deck near the banks of the Guadalupe River in Gruene. She also plays host to an open-mike night one Tuesday a month at The Cove.
“Sam and Lisa (Asvestas, owners of The Cove) originally wanted my open mike to be for women songwriters, but there weren’t enough women coming out,” Huff said. “I think a lot of women are intimidated to get up in front of an open mike and sing in front of an audience. So the open mike has evolved into pretty much of a freeform thing.
“It’s still a learning process for me. I’ve had people want to get up and sing to a soundtrack. Naaaaah. My idea of a perfect open mike is a guy with a guitar and a song in his heart. Too many people are spending too much time on the couch. Go buy a guitar and turn off the boob tube. A guitar will take you places you’ve never been, even in your living room. It’ll get the gears working.”
Though she makes music around town on a regular basis, Huff maintains a day job working for Leo Unlimited, a distributor of Janssen German skin care products.
Huff’s advice to aspiring performers is simple.
“You have to have the tenacity of a bulldog. Just don’t stop doing what you love,” she said. “And don’t quit your day job.”
jbeal@express-news.net
- ‘Bajans love a good time … that is what our music is all about’
- It’s all about the music for Tool tribute band Schism – Fairbanks Daily News
- Jason Mraz, ‘Love Is a Four Letter Word’: Video Track-By-Track
- Semko all about love on his newest release
- You either love Southern rockers Lucero or you hate them. So which is it?
