Jesse Prichard – Folly Beach, SC musician

Jesse Prichard works hard to provide great music to his fans. I had a chance to sit down with him after one of his solo shows and find out more about him. I had already been impressed numerous times with his musicianship, including a perfect front stage presence and amazing guitar skills.

His solo career takes up about 75% of his time and he splits the rest with his band the Hawkes, and other various Dunzip variations. He loves playing all over Charleston including Folly Beach, James Island, and Edisto. Different crowds and different demographics make his travels interesting. He should know, he traveled all over the country with his previous band Big Stoner Creek. But now he is settled back in Charleston where he belongs to the brotherhood of Charleston musicians. He has been around for a long time, first coming to Folly Beach in 1989. He told me that local musicians look out for one another, share gigs and experiences together, and form a sort of labor union protecting each others interests. So you will find him popping up with various friends and sharing a jam. After some debate he and I did come to the agreement that Folly Beach has the best music scene going right now. If we had to buy a ticket to any local city’s music scene, Folly would be the choice.

He is fanatical about music and surrounds himself with it daily, whether playing or listening. He listed various influences ranging from Bill Monroe and Toots Hibbert, to Ray Charles and Otis Redding, and then threw in Ry Cooder. He told me that today he was listening to BB King on vinyl and JJ Cale. He told me his first musical experience shaped the way he looked at music. It was when he was younger and living in Aiken, and during the Masters weekend bluegrass players from Tennessee would infiltrate the town and jam. He remembered one Banjo player in particular named Willow Collins and said the best part about the jams was the sound of grown men tapping the metal spikes from their golf shoes in rhythm with the music creating a melody he remembers to this day. He says he is still learning how to play music, and that he has learned something from every person he has surrounded himself with since becoming a musician. He did credit his best friend Hawke with many of his talents including playing the fiddle.

Overall he loves providing positive energy to his fans. “I am glad that my kids are healthy and I get to play music for a living.”