Tag: New Madrid
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Athfest 2014 Compilation Album
June is upon us, which means, Athens readers, that AthFest is right around the corner. AthFest Music and Arts Festival is like Christmas in June for the plethora of music lovers in the Classic City, a weekend of more music than you thought possible, with 14 venues and two outdoor stages hosting bands spanning every genre, most of them calling Athens home.
Every year for the festival, AthFest releases a compilation album produced by Ghostmeat Records (David Dondero, Drive-By Truckers), the proceeds of which go to benefit AthFest Educates, supporting art and music education in the Athens area. This year, however, the album will be released exclusively on vinyl—a first for the AthFest compilation.
I had a chance to grab a first listen, and saying I enjoyed it would be a vast understatement. Every year, AthFest reminds me how lucky I am to live in a city filled with such amazing art and music, and this compilation album is a testament to that.
The album kicks off with “Forest Gum” off New Madrid’s newest album, Sunswimmer. New Madrid is band that has been making more than waves, not only in the Athens music scene, but nationally as well, mixing southern rock roots with the psychedelic and indie influences of the modern Athens music scene. “Forest Gum” is awesome.
Ruby the Rabbitfoot takes over next, with “Ways.” Unsurprisingly, this song is instantly catchy, as Ruby croons over the acoustic guitar, universally appealing, but maintaining the down-to-earth indie vibe that has made her an Athens favorite.
“Rust and Bone” by Family and Friends starts slow by way of acoustic guitars, a violin and some heavy drums, and then builds with incredibly intensity, exploding with such pensive lyrics as “wondering if there’s a better way to live or at least a better way to die.” The song picks you up, whirls you around and sets you back on your feet, reeling from the trip.
Faster Circuits is groovy and psychedelic and evokes a good amount head bobbing with their psych-pop jam, “Relative Obscurity.” Indie rockers Elf Power do the same with their tune “Life the Shell,” singing, “and no one’s ever home when you ring the bell, and nothing’s ever there when you lift the shell.”
Of course, the Drive-By Truckers make an appearance on the album, with their raw and mellow “Rock Solid” tune from their Record Store Day EP release, Dragon Pants. The boys do what they do best.
Somewhere between Amy Winehouse and Billie Holiday lie the enchanting and unique vocals of Andrea DeMarco, complemented by the clear voice of David Krislis on the folksy “Meredith” by Cicada Rhythm that redefines the folk sound.
Nicholas Mallis and his deep, booming voice ask, “why do you light the candles when the storm hasn’t happened yet?” on his moody track, “Why Do You Light the Candles?” while Shade remains as capricious as ever on “Know Your Sine” with a mix of rock, punk, noise-pop, and indie music that is uniquely their own.
Ghost Owl closes out the album with “Eleven.” Ghost Owl is three quarters of the disbanded Athens legend and AthFest veteran band, Perpetual Groove, and although I have heard the name many times, I hadn’t had the chance to sit down and listen to them. They are a complete departure from the organic jams of P Groove and sway towards the indie rock genre, heavier, with a greater tendency towards electronic sounds and effects and a much more epic sound that builds throughout the song.
The AthFest 2014 compilation album makes me proud, as always, to be an Athens resident, a member of a community so rich with new and unique sounds, constantly pushing the boundaries to create music that the rest of the world can only imitate. And as someone who has seen about half of these bands live, I can assure you the festival itself will be just as exhilarating as the album. One thing is for certain, you DO NOT want to miss out on buying this record, and especially attending the festival.
Pre-order the album here!
SXSW with New Madrid
Upon first listen, I quickly realized that New Madrid would turn into one of my favorite SXSW finds. The music they make is powerful; it forces you into a trance-like state and transcends the boundaries of your mind far from worldly concerns. Each time I play Yardboat, I feel a little more free and lot closer to myself and the music. It’s definitely one of those experiential listens that you kind of want to share, but kind of want to keep to yourself all at the same time. Fear not, though, because we at Vinyl decided to share it with you. This four-piece Athens-based group has created something special, and we got the chance to meet with them during SXSW. Feast your eyes on what they had to say, and then I highly recommend you go listen to Yardboat, streaming now for free on their website.
Vinyl Mag: Is this your first year playing SXSW? If so, are you expecting it to affect your musical career?
New Madrid [Ben]: Yeah, it’s our first year. And I hope so. That’s the plan.
VM: What sets would you like to catch while you’re here?
NM [Ben]: I want to try to check out Dive today; they’re playing right off of Sixth at 5:00. Unknown Mortal Orchestra- I really want to see them. Hopefully we will catch Futurebirds play.
VM: You have actually played shows with Futurebirds, right?
NM [Ben]: Yeah, totally, we’ve played with them a couple of times.
VM: Did David Barbe and Joe Lambert approach the band to work on Yardboat or vice versa? How was that experience as a whole?
NM [Ben]: We hooked up with David in Athens just playing shows. We won a contest to get a session in the studio, and he saw us play a show and wanted to do some recording with us. So we set up three days and worked with him.
VM: Did you knock it out in three days?!
NM [Ben]: All of the instrumental tracking, yeah. We did the vocals later. Phil lived in Athens at the time, so he could just come in whenever David had a free hour or something. We mixed it over two weekends just trying to get it done.
VM: Phil- do you currently live in Athens?
NM [Phil]: I do, I live in Athens. The rest of them didn’t at the time.
VM: Was the move from Tennessee a professional or circumstantial move?
NM [Phil]: We had all wanted to move the year before. We had done these demo sessions, and we were all like, ‘let’s just do it. Let’s just move to Athens.’ But we decided we needed to get something together first. So we finished the record and had something to be proud of. We all moved together and we all live together. We live in a barn; it’s pretty awesome.
VM: What’s in store this year for New Madrid?
NM [Ben]: Keep on playing shows. Get back into the recording studio. After SXSW, we’re just going back home. We had about five or six shows down here, and we did a tour to get down here. When we get back to Athens, we’ve got a schedule for the last half of March and first half of April at this place called The Green Room.
VM: Who did the artwork for Summer Dream Sigh and Ghost and Fire?
NM [Phil]:Two different people; Summer Dream Sigh I did, and our friend Anna Dewitt, who lives in Nashville, did Ghost and Fire.
VM: How did the album writing process go for Yardboat? Was it instrumentals first or were the songs created around the lyrics?
NM [Phil]: It’s really all over the board, but some of the songs on Yardboat were songs that I had written in high school, and I matched the words and the guitar parts together. With other stuff the instrumentals come and in a stream of consciousness, the words just come.