The Star News Weekender 4/29/06

Rena Haus plays the blues with Taste

by Britt Aamodt
Special to The Star News Weekender

Imagine winning a national songwriting contest and, as part of your prize, being sent to Nashville for the opportunity to record with some of the best studio musicians in the United States.

And then imagine stepping off the plane, into your swank five-star hotel—chocolates on the pillow, the whole nine yards—and having an industry meet-and-greet committee hand you a pamphlet: “How to Write a Successful Country Song.”

Here you are, supposedly the cream of unsung musical talent, being told (in Nashville of all places) that music is formulaic: Insert chord, add lyrics, achieve big hit.

Did you or did you not just win a contest recognizing your talent for original tunesmithing?

That happened to Rena Haus, who along with brother Bob Haus, on bass, and guitarist Ed Petsche will be performing at the first of what the Elk River Rotary Club hopes will become the annual Taste of Elk River event.

The St. Michael native will tune up Lion’s Park stage 7 p.m., Thursday, May 11, with a swing, blues, folk and jazz set that will be part chestnut, part obscure gem but all Haus to the last ringing note.

Because for Haus music is all about personal truth. It’s about “drawing from the heart and going for the heart,” a musical philosophy that leaves no room for cookie-cutter anthems and mass market pandering.

“I’ve never been someone who could crank out songs that didn’t mean something to me. Some writers can grab onto a hook, line and theme, and they can crank out a formula tune. But for me it’s got to have personal meaning. And I think an audience can tell when a song’s contrived.”

Recall the country music how-to manual.

Haus skimmed the pamphlet—“Set your hook early. Intro no longer than 16 bars. Don’t bore us, get to the chorus”—and found the nearest trash receptacle.

But the trip to Nashville wasn’t a total waste. Haus was able to handpick a band, including Johnny Cash’s guitarist, and record “Call Me,” a bluesy country gem that can now be heard on Haus’ website (www.renahaus.com) along with four others, including “The Mechanic’s Song” and “Little Train” from her album Beer To Go.

Haus said she wrote the “The Mechanic’s Song” as a plea for help. As a touring musician on a limited budget, she was forever driving old cars and, usually, fixing them herself.

“I had this ’64 Chevy van, drove the thing everywhere, and I was always thinking, where is Mr. Goodwrench? Where’s the guy with the wrench who’s going to fix it right, who’s not going to charge me an arm and a leg because I’m a woman?”

Give me a man with a wrench in his hand
It’s like poetry in motion
Forget about them other fools…
I’ll give a mechanic my devotion

The song’s idealized mechanic, Haus said, was partly based on the Kratzke brothers of Elk River.
“They used to do high-performance stuff, and they’d work on these cars in white lab coats and never get a drop of oil on them. I’d watch them and it was like an artist with a brush. That’s where the line ‘like poetry in motion’ came from.”

Haus is not without her own admirers. She’s been compared to Billie Holiday and the young Bonnie Raitt. Last summer, her performance at Duluth’s prestigious Bayfront Blues Festival packed the tent—at 10 o’clock in the morning.

But one of the most validating experiences of her career occurs every Tuesday night from 7 to 10 p.m. That’s when she hits the stage at The Viking Bar, outwardly a seedy hole-in-the-wall on Minneapolis’ West Bank, but since the 1960s a Mecca for blues aficionados.

Koerner, Ray and Glover, who inspired the Rolling Stones, played there. Willie Murphy still does.

“The Viking is a bar where legends play,” explained Haus. “So, I feel totally honored to have a steady there, to be embraced into that community, because they’re the people who are the heart of Minnesota blues.”

The rare artist making a living at her art, Haus can’t afford to rest on her laurels. Besides recording projects, she has produced a solo DVD called “Playing a Small Room” and has a second in the works.

The Taste of Elk River is only one of several community events she has scheduled for the upcoming year. Proceeds from the concert and wine tasting will help the Elk River Rotary Club finish renovations on Handke Stadium.

“I feel privileged to be invited,” Haus said of the Taste. “I still think music can change the world. And if I can facilitate something bigger and better with my music, then that’s where I want to be.”

Journalist

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