In May and June of 1998, fans submitted their questions for BlackHawk...now here are the answers!
If you weren't involved in the music industry, where would you be and what would you be doing?
VAN: Wow. I went to college to be a minister, and I graduated with a degree in divinity, and I was actually gonna be a preacher, so I would probably be a preacher if I wasn't in music.
DAVE: Wow. I don't know anything else to do. My father had a paint contracting business for 40-something years in Atlanta, and I did that every summer through high school and part of college. I'd hate to thing I might be doing that, painting houses, but...gosh, I don't know.
HENRY: Well, if I wasn't singing and performing, I'd be producing. I'd be making records on other people.
What would you like to see change about the business that you're in?
VAN: Oh, I'd like to see them put out less albums. I'd like to see them broaden the format to allow more pop acts on the country stations. I think a lot of the younger audience has sorta been chased away recently because of the need to be traditional, so I wish it would open back up like it was in the early '90's.
DAVE: Oh, goodness...I wish we had more time at home, and still get to do 110 dates a year.
HENRY: I really would like to see less emphasis put on appearance and more on music. The video age has polarized the music industry to the point where you can't have a career unless you're pretty, and well, we seem to defy that specific qualification...but it does seem unfair that a lot of people, just because they don't look like stars, but have some really wonderful talent.
Where do you see yourself in 5, 10, or 15 years, on a personal or professional level?
VAN: Well, I see myself doing BlackHawk for at least another five. Um, after that, I'll probably go back to songwriting, maybe do some producing. I will be involved in the ministry in some fashion.
DAVE: Wow. Hopefully retired. (smiles) Hopefully in a field somewhere. I don't know, I could definitely see myself still songwriting, you know, but I'd like to think I won't be doing too much...hunt and fish...(laughs)
HENRY: Five years, I'll still be in this group. Ten years, I'll probably still be in this group. Fifteen years...I don't know where I'll be in fifteen years. I know I'll be making records. That's where I am already, and my professional goals are really quite simple; do the best we can with the band, and to find and develop young talent. I'm really excited about that, and it makes me happy.
What is your next goal as BlackHawk?
VAN: Our next goal, immediate goal, is to have a #1, or at least a top five with our current single. We hope to sell another platinum album out this time, and we'd like to kick it up a little bit, get back out in the arenas and play some of the bigger venues.
DAVE: I think right now, it's to get back on the radio, solid again. Hopefully this new album will sell a lot of records. One of our goals has always been to headline a big tour...I really want to do that. I love playing the big venues. We really see ourselves being there someday.
HENRY: My next goal with this band is to hopefully do what I can to make this next album sell a million copies. You know, numbers are not a real qualification of success. I'm satisfied, in the large sense of the word, with this record. But I'd like to see the group return to the level of stardom for which I believe we are basically worthy of, and I would like to see the next part of our career smooth out a bit. We've had a constant bumpy ride.
Is there a certain performance that stands out in your minds, and if so, why?
VAN: Well, the Grand Ole Opry performance was really special, just because of the tradition of doing that show. You know, it's so famous, and so many famous people have played there, and to get the opportunity to play there...that's one. Another was Farm Aid - 55,000 people up in Louisville, Kentucky - that was a big deal, too.
DAVE: I think the Grand Ole Opry. That was a big treat, being on the Grand Ole Opry, just knowing you're standing on the same stage where all the legends before you have come and stood so many times. Getting interviewed by Porter Wagner before the show was like, wow, this is really happening. The family atmosphere there, backstage all the dressing rooms are open and you walk by and people invite you in. It's neat. You know, a lot of times your family members get excluded because you're working and they kind of have to hang back, but this was really different and everybody got to be a part of it.
HENRY: Yeah, there is. The Hodag Festival up in Wisconsin last summer was, without a doubt, my favorite show I've ever played in my life. One of those completely over-the-top, magical afternoons where I had a great time connecting with the audience, was able to, you know, sort of see the results of my enthusiasm and energy sort of come back in waves and droves. It was a really special performance for me.
What's it like to watch the audience sing your lyrics back to you?
VAN: It's great. I love that. We don't get to do enough of that. You know, I've been to some shows - you go to a Wynonna show, and it's overwhelming the way the crowd sings the songs along with her. Mainly we get it on "Just About Right." That's the only part in the show where we can hear the audience singing. But it's very flattering and very gratifying to hear them sing along.
DAVE: Oh, it's awesome. Very awesome. Especially with a brand new song that's just been out for a little while, to see people singing that know it already, is a real treat. It's really special.
HENRY: Oh, it's good. I mean, it is. It's good. I love it when the audience participates.
What's the coolest gift you've received from a fan, and what do you do with all that stuff?
VAN: The coolest gift I ever got, hmm. I mean, there have been some cool things done...this last Fan Fair, I wasn't there for, but I was given, and Henry was given, and Dave was given a little marionette that Bonnie Shaffer had made of us. That's one of many. I mean, I have a lot of stuff at home that I keep.
DAVE: I've got all kinds of stuff. I keep everything. I mean, I've even got refrigerator magnets sticking on the dishwasher. I try to keep everything that's given to me.
HENRY: It was a rather extravagant gift...a pair of ostrich cowboy boots from Stacy Dailey in Hagerstown. I've received a lot of really neat gifts. This year I got a lot of birthday cards and really nice gifts, and I took all my cards home and I've got them set out on my dresser. I really enjoy writing people in the Fan Club and having a more personal relationship like that.
What are your pet peeves and the little things that make you smile?
VAN: Oh, golly. I've got a lot of pet peeves, but I try not to pay attention to 'em, you know. Sometimes they get the best of me. It's hard to say what makes me smile...when I get the chance to talk to somebody sort of apart from the group, spend time with them as an individual, sit one-on-one with somebody who can relate to where I'm coming from, that makes me smile.
DAVE: I think one pet peeve I have is when we show up somewhere to do a show and something happens that we don't get to finish - that drives me nuts. That's really disappointing to me, because we've come to play and that's what we love to do. There have been times when we get through three songs and it starts pouring down rain and we have to quit. I don't like that...that might be a bigger deal than a pet peeve, though. Seeing all our fans continue to come back to shows makes me smile.
HENRY: My pet peeves are, you know, sort of selfish displays of self-centeredness...by anybody...One thing that makes me smile is to see somebody come to watch our show and to think that they understand and appreciate the music, rather than the show.
How much of yourselves do you write into your songs, and where does the inspiration come from?
VAN: Songwriting has become almost like breathing to me. I've been doing it for 20 years, so it's hard to say how much of it is me, you know. I feel like there's a higher power that inspires songwriters, and it's like you hear these words coming into your head from nowhere, and you go okay, I'll write that, whoever you are, I'll put that down. So when it comes to songwriting, sometimes you'll write a song that is absolutely straight from your heart, and you can't believe you got in on paper...but that's rare when you're a professional songwriter and you're trying to write songs that you're going to make money with. There have been a few times - songs like "Let 'Em Whirl" - where we really got down to the heart and soul of what was going on inside us.
DAVE: Oh, I think we put all of ourselves into our music. A lot of times the inspiration is from personal relationships, and a lot of times it's just about experiences you've had in the past...just really putting heart and soul into it.
HENRY: Most of the really, really good songs I've ever written, I write myself completely into. A lot of the good songs I've written sometimes are just kind of hauled out of thin air. But the really good or great songs I've ever written are always very personal. The inspiration comes from love, human suffering, you know, unfortunate circumstances that seem to surround others' lives. Love, in many ways, and I find love to be a very powerful, very interesting and very compelling thing.
If you could offer one piece of advice to your friends, what would it be?
VAN: Just any old advice? I'd say, read the Bible, go to church, try to find out who God is.
DAVE: Pursue something in life that you love. If you're unhappy doing something and you really wanted to do something else, go for it. Because I know a lot of people who are really unhappy in what they do and that's really too bad, 'cause I love what I do. I love being able to live this life.
HENRY: Live your life to the fullest on a daily basis. I think it's important to get to the end and look back and not wish there was something you didn't do that you should have or could have. We all have regrets, but to me, to live a full life means to not look back and say, boy, I wish I had done that. Because if you do it, then you don't have that to deal with.
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