Hobart grew up in Maine with her parents and two brothers.
Her father, Bruce Hobart, who plays the guitar, harmonica,
mandolin and fiddle, has been in numerous bluegrass
bands including the the Danville Junction Boys. Hobart
grew up being exposed to a lot of good music at an early
age: folk, bluegrass and artists including The Band
and Bob Dylan.
Hobart’s mother is a kindergarten teacher who
just picked up her first instrument, the autoharp, last
year. Although her mom hasn’t always joined in
at family jams (both her brothers play instruments as
well) she has always been supportive of her daughter’s
passion.
“When I was really little, my dad would teach
me lyrics and then we’d go hiking,” Hobart
said. “And I’d sing up and down the mountain
while we hiked.”
Although she had “messed around” with guitar
as a kid and spent time singing with her father, Hobart
sharpened her guitar-playing skills in college. When
Hobart left Maine to head to Tufts University in Boston,
her father gave her one of his guitars. That, Hobart
said, is when she got serious about playing.
“I found other people at school that played and
I learned from them and shared ideas — jammed,”
she said.
Hobart earned a degree in biology from Tufts. Her worked
for some time as a biological illustrator.
But after she graduated she and her father began playing
across New England. He played the fiddle or mandolin
and sang while she also sang and played the guitar.
Hobart’s father was, in fact, the first person
she ever performed with.
“I was in kindergarten and we did a talent show
at school,” Hobart said. “He played the
guitar and I sang ‘Are you from Dixie?,’
which I am still singing — minus the lisp and
nervousness of a 5-year-old.”
Hobart stayed in the Boston area after graduating,
ultimately working for the Smithsonian creating animated
press release videos for the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Meanwhile, her father was still in Maine and they both
found themselves traveling a lot to perform together.
They began calling themselves The Hobohemians.
“It’s a play on our last name — and
it’s the original way to say ‘hobo,’”
Hobart explained.
Hobart and her father have played together professionally
for nearly ten years and have recorded a CD, “The
Hobohemians.”
Hobart later moved to Rindge and recorded a solo CD,
“Time to Travel.” Both CDs were produced
by Howling Cat Records, an independent record label.
Hobart said she doesn’t sit down and write an
entire song at once. Instead, she may get an idea while
driving in the car — a line will come to her and
she will jot it down in a notebook. Later, sometimes
months later, she will return to the notebook with a
melody.
“I’m trying not to write a lot of songs
about love, because it’s so obvious,” Hobart
said. “But I have written some bitter ex-love
songs.”
Open the CD player in her car, and you might find bluegrass
fiddler Kenny Baker, the Carter Family or Bill Monroe
— “The father of bluegrass. These are the
artists Hobart loves to listen to, and, like many of
them, she tries to tell meaningful stories with simple
lyrics.
Hobart performed solo for about a year when she met
Andy Sicard, a member of the local band The Goodtime
Charlies, at a banjo music camp. She met the rest of
the bandmembers at the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival a
couple of years later. At the time, Charlies member
Bill Jubett was interested in learning gospel songs.
So Hobart spent time swapping gospel tunes with Jubett
and the rest of the Charlies.
“Gospel is a really big part of the bluegrass
tradition,” Hobart said. “I learned it from
my dad.”
After playing a gig with her, the band invited Hobart
to join.
Nowadays, Hobart performs solo, duets with both her
father and Jubett, with The Goodtime Charlies and another
local bluegrass band, Purdy Mouth and the Purdy Mouth
Boys. And two weeks ago, she was the featured artist
at the first ever Common Grounds Coffee House in Rindge.
Her immediate plans include finishing a CD with the
Goodtime Charlies — and, she adds, to just “Keep
on going!”
For more information on when and where April Hobart
is performing locally, visit on the Web: www.aprilhobart.com
Hobart performs the first and third Sundays of the month
with the Goodtime Charlies at Santos Dumont in Milford,
NH and with Purdy Mouth the first Saturday of each month
at Armadillos Burritos in Keene, NH.
