TRAVERSE CITY -- Richie Havens hears poetry in song lyrics.
The singer and guitarist connected with folk music in Greenwich Village and later moved from audience member to stage performer. He is scheduled to appear on stage at 8 tonight at the City Opera House in downtown Traverse City, continuing a decades-long legacy of inspiring his own audiences.
"I used to draw portraits and read poetry. I had no idea that I would actually be on a stage by myself," Havens said.
He got his start singing doo-wop on street corners with his Brooklyn friends and found his musical identity among the folksingers of Greenwich Village. He went from singing along in the audience to picking up a guitar and giving his own interpretations to the tunes.
During his 1969 appearance at Woodstock, Havens made an indelible and iconic mark on music history when he winged a version of "Motherless Child" that evolved into "Freedom." The famous festival took a generation from "below ground" to "above ground," Havens said.
"We were kind of waiting to have something like that happen," he said.
Havens is known for reconstituting songs by other artists such as Bob Dylan and The Beatles, infusing the music with his powerful and personal perspective. Above all, it's lyrics that speak loudly to Havens.
"I feel that what I've heard moved me as a person, so basically I try to give it back the way I accepted it from the writer, what moved me, what passion is there," he said.
He tours every weekend and soon will release a new album in the United States titled "Nobody Left to Crown." It has a similar vibe to his previous two albums, with acoustic sounds and "some world-beat instruments," he said.
Havens appeared in "I'm Not There," a 2007 film that tells Dylan's story, and he has a song on the movie's soundtrack.
Havens is encouraged by the number of young people who are expressing themselves through music and art, filling up sets during local open mic nights and finding audiences or support on the Internet.
"I would say to everyone, 'There's a crested wave coming, and it is the crest of the wave of every new artist, every young person who's ever sung a song of his own,'" he said.
Tickets to see Havens at the City Opera House are $35-$50. For more information about ticket availability, call 941-8082.
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