New book chronicles life of Cornbread Harris, one of Minneapolis‘ most influential musicians

[MUSIC PLAYING] CORNBREAD HARRIS: (SINGING) I hear you.

CATHY WURZER: The song you're hearing is by one of the most influential musicians in Minneapolis history, Cornbread Harris. The 97-year-old Blues musician is known not only for shaping the Minnesota Music scene, but as the father of famous music producer Jimmy Jam.

In her new book, music journalist Andrea Swensson takes on the 70-year journey of Cornbread making music from his first gig during World War II, to putting Minneapolis on the music map in the 1980s, to playing in bars even today at age 97. Andrea Swensson is with us to talk about the making of the book entitled Deeper Blues: The Life, Songs, and Salvation of Cornbread Harris. It comes out August the 12, by the way. Hello, my friend. How are you doing?

ANDREA SWENSSON: Hello, Cathy. I'm doing well. How are you?

CATHY WURZER: I'm great. I'm great. You are so prolific. The last time you were here, we were talking about Prince, and now we're talking about Cornbread Harris, who I think is such an interesting guy. I've only interviewed him once. I know the first time you interviewed him, I think was what, back in 2017? Do you remember that first time you met?

ANDREA SWENSSON: Yes. At MPR. Yes, he came in for a session and just absolutely charmed Tom Weber and I. We were hosting the session together. And it was really Cornbread who was hosting the session because he's such a charismatic performer, and he's so used to entertaining rooms full of people that he just took it away. And we just sat there grinning and going, this is amazing. Who is this person?

CATHY WURZER: Right. I mean, because not everyone knows who the heck he is, but he's been around so very long. And in fact, I didn't even know until I read your book that he wrote and performed this song, Hi-yo Silver in 1955, which was known as Minnesota's first rock and roll recording. Really?

ANDREA SWENSSON: Absolutely. Yes, with the Augie Garcia Quintet. Cornbread was playing piano on that recording. And on the B side, he's actually singing the song Going to Chicago, which it took me quite a while to even hunt down a copy of this '45 and then put two and two together. And I asked him about it one day when we were meeting and I said, Cornbread, this actually sounds like your voice on the B side. And he said, well yeah, that's me.

[LAUGHTER]

CATHY WURZER: My father loved Augie Garcia. He'd go wherever Augie and his band were playing. He would talk about him all the time. So it was cool to hear that. I'm wondering here, you spent obviously a ton of time with Cornbread when writing the book. You'll learn a lot from an individual like Cornbread, anyone who's spent that much time on this Earth. What did you take away from all those sessions?

ANDREA SWENSSON: Yeah, it's been an incredible journey with Cornbread. We've been meeting every week for three years, and will continue to meet every week because he's become such an important part of my life. And I don't know if we would know what to do with ourselves if we didn't see each other every Tuesday. I've learned a lot about his spirit and his worldview. He is such a relentlessly hopeful, positive person.

He has a catch phrase that he says all the time. That is, I am a blessed dude. And he carries with him this light and this real beautiful energy. And it's a hard fought positivity because he has endured a lot of tragedy throughout his life, including being orphaned by age three, and going through several different foster homes before reuniting with his grandparents here in St. Paul.

He had surgeries done on his legs when he was a child, had to have them broken and reset. He has endured decades of estrangement from his son, Jimmy Jam. They've only recently reconciled in the last three years, which is its own whole saga. So he's overcome all of these losses and heartaches and has remained so positive and it's so inspiring to be around him. He has really an infectious energy. So I've just absolutely loved learning from him about how to maintain that hope.

CATHY WURZER: I love the fact that he is performing, still performing, what, every week at age 97?

ANDREA SWENSSON: 97, yes.

CATHY WURZER: I mean, what does he say about the success he is seeing now?

ANDREA SWENSSON: Well, he's just such a wonderful man. So I got a chance to actually hand him the final copy of the book yesterday when I was visiting him. And something that he keeps saying every time we have one of these moments is he goes, live it up, Cornbread. Live it up. [CHUCKLES] He had another reaction like that when I have been helping him press an anthology of his music so that people can take home a record at the book release show if they want to listen to his music.

And so we got to go to the record plant. And again, live it up, Cornbread. He's just having a blast. I mean, it's incredible to think about how long he's been in the scene, and he's having all of these milestones still happening. He's on a billboard in downtown Minneapolis right now on the side of the Pantages Theatre, as part of the Hennepin Theatre Trust program that they do every summer. So there's just all these wins happening in Cornbread's life, and he is just on cloud nine.

CATHY WURZER: Age is just a number. I mean, but 97, most folks might be just hanging out and just watching the world go by. But he's still performing every week. What keeps him going? Is it the music? Is it the audience? I mean, what is it?

ANDREA SWENSSON: I am certain now that I've watched him up close, that it is the music that is feeding him and giving him that energy. I see it even in our weekly visits. When I show up, we have this routine we always go through. We shuffle into his home and over to his dining room where he sits at his piano.

And within the first 15 minutes of just talking to me and then turning around and playing his piano, I can just see him waking up and getting really energized and excited. And the same thing happens every week. He plays at Palmer's every Sunday, free show, 5 o'clock at Palmer's every week. And you can see, it's hard for him now to even walk, to get out of the car and to get loaded into Palmer's and positioned at that piano.

But as soon as his fingers hit the keys, he totally comes alive. And it's such a beautiful thing. And it really reaffirms for me that otherworldly power that music has. And that way that it continues to heal us, and inspire us, and push us forward. And I've really seen that play out with Cornbread.

CATHY WURZER: Since he's been performing for about, what, 70 years, I suppose. Has he changed his approach to making music during that time? I mean, he obviously experienced a lot of growth in his musical career. Has he talked about that at all?

ANDREA SWENSSON: The funny thing is he really hasn't changed what he's doing very much. And he jokes about this. I just keep playing the same way I've always played. And people just love it. And I think there's something really unassuming about him as an artist. He has a workman-like approach to making music. So much of his career has been performing like in the corner of a restaurant or a bar on a piano, and just entertaining the people in proximity to him.

And he's done this as music has evolved over the last six, seven, eight decades, and continued to find this really simple, beautiful way to connect with people with just a man and his piano doing his Blues jazz renditions of songs that span the last 100 years of music. It's really amazing.

CATHY WURZER: I'm glad you brought that up. Emily Reese, our newscaster, said what's really cool is that Cornbread will sit at the keyboard when the show ends at 7 o' clock at Palmer's and tinkers around, noodles around for a long time after the band leaves.

[LAUGHTER]

And she said, it's an experience for everybody else who's just hanging out with Cornbread, and he's with his people. I love that so much. And I'm so glad you did this book, too. And it sounds like you have an amazing event on August 16.

ANDREA SWENSSON: Yes, I cannot wait. So we're going to be at the Cedar Cultural Center, August 16, doors at 7 o clock. We're going to do a set where Cornbread and Jimmy Jam join me on stage and share some of the stories from their incredible lives, and the ways that they have impacted each other. It's a really beautiful story. It's a very human story about forgiveness. And then Cornbread and his band and Jimmy Jam are all going to get on stage and give us a set of music. It's going to be really wonderful.

CATHY WURZER: Wow. Andrea Swensson, always a pleasure. Thank you so much.

ANDREA SWENSSON: Thank you, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: Music journalist Andrea Swensson. Her new book, Deeper Blues.