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Last Updated:
Mar 19th, 2008 - 07:43:02 |
mericana-rock,
Celtic bluegrass — is there a label fitting of Carbon Leaf? “I’ve given
up trying to classify our sound years ago,” lead singer Barry Privett
said during a phone interview. “We’re a rock band with a lot of
influences (think Radiohead, Sting, Moby and U2) — and we’re not afraid
to use them. We do a lot of experimenting.”
Fourteen years ago,
the five members of Carbon Leaf (comprised of Privett, guitarist Carter
Gravatt, guitarist Terry Clark, bass guitarist Jordan Medas and drummer
Scott Milstead) met at Randolph-Macon College, a small liberal arts
school just north of Richmond, Va. They decided to form a band and came
up with Carbon Leaf as a possible name after they returned from a white
water rafting trip in Tennessee. Someone used it on a flyer announcing
one of their shows and the name stuck.
“After
graduation, we decided to take a serious stab at music,” Privett
explained. “We started playing the college circuit on the east coast
and in the Virginia-area. Soon enough, our weekends became
three-and-four day weekends. Then we had to go down to part time at our
other jobs. Now we’re committed to the band full time.”
Carbon
Leaf released five albums before the American Music Awards recognized
them in 2002 as the first-ever winners for the best unsigned act award.
The nod caught the attention of Vanguard Records and the band released
their major label debut Indian Summer. Their singles “Life Less
Ordinary” and “What About Everything” started getting serious radio
play and they performed the closing song on an episode of the Dr. Phil
Show that was centered around aspiring musicians trying to break into
the industry.
In early September, Carbon Leaf released Love,
Loss, Hope, Repeat. They recorded the album with producer Peter
Collins, who has worked with Bon Jovi, Elton John, Rush, Jewel, Lisa
Loeb and Queensryche. “We had heard about Collins and he had heard
about us,” Privett said. “We sent him a demo and found out he was
interested. So, we drove to Nashville to meet him … . His clean and
clear approach helped us get our music tight and concise before going
into the studio. It saved us a lot of time.”
The cyclical theme
of Repeat begins with “Learn to Fly” and ends with “International
Airport,” offering an optimistic approach to life’s sometimes painful
lessons. “We use music to record our life experiences,” Privett said.
“Hopefully listeners connect with it and gain something from it … I
really like the title track, it’s a little different than some of our
past stuff … ‘A Girl and Her Horse’ sort of gives a different
perspective on relationships. It’s actually one of our more upbeat
songs.” The album also features the bittersweet “Under the Wire” and
“The War Was in Color,” a dialogue between grandfather and grandson
that touches on the personal and global damage caused by
conflict.
Known for their packed touring schedule —
often playing more than 300 concerts a year — Carbon Leaf are scheduled
to tour the country headlining shows and opening select dates for Goo
Goo Dolls, Los Lonely Boys, Blues Traveler and Kings of Leon. "It gets
hard being on the road so much,” Privett said. “The fact that we’re
friends helps, but we find the most gratification from the art process
itself — creating something from nothing. The way we affect people with
our music makes the hard stuff worthwhile.”
“We’ve played in
Ferndale and Ann Arbor,” Privett said. “This time around, we’ll be
playing some of our newer material as well as songs from Indian Summer
and some of our older tunes. Detroit is a city we want to get to more
often.” | RDW
Carbon Leaf • October 14 • St. Andrews Hall
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