It started life in a warehouse once owned by American gangster Al Capone and now it’s coming to Williamstown.
South Australian blues act Lazy Eye will cart its 1964 193-kilogram Hammond organ to Williamstown next month for a gig at the Way Out West Roots Music Club in the RSL club.
Organist Evan Whetter described the colourful history of the band’s hefty instrument and how it came to be in his hands.
“It was built in Chicago in one of Al Capone’s warehouses, which had been seized by the state of Illinois,” he said.
“The warehouse was sold to a crazy clock inventor called Laurens Hammond, who invented this organ and needed a place to manufacture them.
“A friend of mine knew someone who was selling one in Kempsey, New South Wales, in the 1990s. She just wanted to get rid of it so she said that if I could get it out I could have it.”
Whetter said the band’s style was “soul- drenched blues”.
“Think BB King sharing a scotch with Booker T at the crossroads after midnight,” he said.
Whetter, who also does vocals and harmonica, will be joined on stage by fellow band members, guitarist Erica Graf and drummer Mario Marino.
Whetter said the Williamstown gig would be special as the band was playing with friends, Blue Eyes Cry.
Lazy Eye was named Group of the Year at this year’s Australian Blues Awards and its album
Single Malt Blues debuted at No. 1 on the Australian blues and roots airplay chart.
Its 2014 release House of Trouble is still in the Top 10 after more than 12 months.
The gig is from 2pm on July 5. Entry is $20 at the door or $15 for Way Out West members.
