Features
Won't Fall: Carbon Leaf
By Kim Laux
Oct 11, 2006, 23:44

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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