Meet David Hobdy, Guest Artist at BPL's Bards & Brews Poetry Slam This Friday

 

Guitarist David Hobdy will provide musical entertainment at the Bards & Brews Poetry Slam at the Central Library in downtown Birmingham this Friday, February 7.  

Birmingham, Ala. - Attendees of the Bards & Brews Poetry Slam happening at 6:30 p.m. this Friday night, February 7, at the Central Library downtown will get to enjoy the music of guitarist David Hobdy, a Birmingham native who has been playing the guitar for 14 years.

Patrons of the Central Library who use computers may be familiar with Hobdy, who has worked as a Library Assistant II in the Computer Commons area since April 2023. 

Hobdy got a chance to showcase his musical talent on the guitar while performing a few tunes last September with Earl "Guitar" Williams, headliner of BPL's Loud at the Library blues concert held at the Central Library. Hobdy has been a special guest at several blues awards shows, as well as playing guitar for locally and internationally acclaimed artists. 

 Learn more about David Hobdy below.

BPL: How excited are you to be providing entertainment for BPL's most popular spoken word event, a Bards & Brews poetry slam? 

Hobdy: Very excited. It’s something that we’ve been trying to line up for a long time now, and I can’t wait to share this side of myself. 

 BPL: What led you to want to play the guitar? Are you self-taught or did you take lessons?

Hobdy: Honestly, I’m not sure. I started playing guitar the summer before I started high schools maybe I was just looking for something cool to have as a personality trait. I was and am largely self-taught, but (blues legend) Earl Williams would show me things periodically too. 

 BPL: Do you play both acoustic and electric guitar?

 Hobdy: I can play both but I honestly don’t event own an acoustic. The overall experience of playing through an amp is magical to me. 

 BPL: Besides the BPL Loud at the Library concert last September, what are some other blues concerts you have participated in? 

 Hobdy: I've been a guest at the Jus' Blues Awards in Tunica, Mississippi three times.  

BPL: You mentioned in your bio that you have played guitar for local and internationally acclaimed artists. Besides Earl Guitar Watson, who else? 

Hobdy: I’m on some scattered recordings for smaller artists around New Orleans. Mote recently, I’ve been doing record for my friend, August Fanon, in New York. (Note: Check out this October 2024 interview entitled August Fanon: The Unstoppable Force Redefining Hip-Hop)

BPL: Besides blues, what other genre of music do you like to play? 

 Hobdy: Depends on the day! I love blues, R&B and rap. But I also listen to a lot of hardcore, jazz, doom (metal), etc. I’m into pretty much anything.

 BPL: What is your favorite song to play and why?

 Hobdy: It changes like on a weekly basis. Right now I’d say “Use Me” by Bill Withers. He did so much with simple instrumentation. The song is all about the groove. 

BPL: Who is your favorite musical artist and why? 

Hobdy: Too many to choose! If I could talk to just one, it’d probably be Frank Ocean. I just want to talk about his approach to not just art but the lifestyle of an artist.

 BPL: Anything else to add? And thanks for the interview. 

Hobdy: This will be my first real gig since the pandemic, which is a different type of exciting. I can’t wait to see how it goes.

By Roy L. Williams, P.R. Director|Birmingham Public Library