His
charity work can't be beat But Hackel, a youthful 46 and a Newton native, also gets to grab some sticks and bang away at a kit when he takes part in the many charitable music benefits he produces in the area. The next one, with proceeds going to Operation Homefront - the national organization's slogan is "supporting our troops by helping the families they leave behind" - is at The Attic in Newton on Sept. 10. Hackel was a drummer a long time ago - there are stories of his percussion work in Peter and the Peanuts when he was 6 - going pro right out of high school in the road band the Night Riders. It's pretty easy to figure out there's music in his blood by glancing around his spacious office. Besides the sticks, there's the coffee table, with, alongside the current copy of Barter News, a couple of books: "Harrison," by the editors of Rolling Stone, and "1,000 Record Covers," by Michael Ochs. Looming to the left of Hackel's neat desk is a large photo embellishment of Mick Jagger by Peter Max. When it came time to go to work in his dad's company, Hackel kept gigging at night ... in Bruce Marshall & the Clue, in the Zone, playing at hot '80s spots such as Bunratty's, The Channel, The Rat, Jonathan Swift's. So over the years it's been the office job in the daytime, playing music at night. Then 9/11 happened. Hackel's stepmother, Paige Farley Hackel, was a passenger in the plane that hit the North Tower at the World Trade Center. "And that's what spawned our first charitable event," says Hackel. "We did the first show at Scullers on Oct. 2, 2001." The show was set up hastily, with no clear idea of what was going to be done. "We were thinking it was going to be to raise money for a Paige Farley Hackel fund of sorts," he recalls. "It ended up helping with the next thing we did - establishing the Paige Farley Hackel Free Care Fund, with the Victory Programs," an organization in Boston that has 13 shelters for women and families around town. That second benefit show took place on Sept. 12, 2002. And Hackel caught the bug, setting out to put on benefits for a number of different groups - the Boston Medical Center's Child Witness to Violence Project, Granada House's "Keep the Door Open," the Mass. Association for the Blind Annual Gala, the Middlesex Human Service Agency among them."I think it's about keeping my hands in the business while I give back to the community and the charitable organizations that I have a connection with," says Hackel when asked why he does this second full-time job. "Our whole family was affected by 9/11; the whole world was. So 9/11 was the catalyst, but after that I realized that I could incorporate music with charity. And I like that." Hackel's own company, PH Productions, sprung from a business endeavor he started about six years ago, when he and a pal opened Chancery Lane, a club in Maine. "It was a rock 'n' roll club that turned into a full-fledged restaurant as well," he says. "We eventually closed the place, but before we did, James Montgomery came through town and we had a great time with him performing at the club." Hackel knew blues harpist Montgomery from his own days on the road as a drummer, and Montgomery has since become a regular on Hackel's benefit show circuit, performing as part of James Montgomery and Friends, which has at times included Danny Klein, John Ryder, Stu Kimball and Hackel. Sometimes PH Productions puts on the whole shebang. Sometimes Hackel's specialists just help out with live sound reinforcement or charitable event planning. In the beginning, Hackel was out looking for good causes. Now they're coming to him. "I'm glad about that," he says. "But sometimes there are more people calling than we can deal with. I wish it could be different, but I'm juggling too many balls. My goal would be to do more - having the infrastructure, the manpower, to do more. Now that my production manager, Rob Washington, has moved here from New York, we'll be focusing in more and more on local charities." Hackel had begun bringing things closer to home when he started putting on shows at The Attic a couple of years ago, first having Jon Butcher and Charlie Farren in for a benefit, more recently presenting the Bay City Rollers in a straight-ahead rock show. On Saturday, it's Operation Homefront's turn. The benefit performance includes appearances by Fox Pass, Charlie Farren, the Boston Horns, the Friends of James Montgomery (Montgomery can't be there) and lots of special guests, including Rockin' George Leh and Danny Klein. Of course, Hackel will be on drums. When Hackel isn't at the office or planning a benefit show or playing drums, he actually gets in a bit of family life with his four kids - Amanda, Madison, Brooke and Olivia - and his wife, Dina, who owns the specialty clothing store, X-Hale Boutique in Newton Highlands. "But the only downtime we have is when we all get away," he admits. He looks at the list of folks he's lined up to play at The Attic and adds, "I get up there and play, and feel pretty good toward the end of the set, but then I don't play for another month or two. But it's fun, and that's the bottom line." Then, as if he's suddenly realized how much work goes into all of these activities, he laughs and says, "I do this in my spare time. And I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. Maybe a drummer." The Operation Homefront benefit at The
Attic in Newton Centre is on Sept. 10 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20. Call
617-964-6684 or visit the Web site phproductions.net. |
