Like most in my generation, I grew up on rock & roll, and most of my favorite music was from rock bands. These days however, it seems that most rock bands bore me. The vast majority fall into very predictable types in a limited number of usually trend-driven styles. And the level of musicianship and quality of songwriting has become a lot better in the more eclectic styles like acoustic singer-songwriters, new acoustic and bluegrass, and world music than one will find in most emerging rock bands. But once in a while a group comes along that reminds us of the creative possibilities of the standard rock band format. This week we have a very good example. It's by a band called Carbon Leaf, and their CD is called Indian Summer.

Actually, Carbon Leaf did not just "come along." Indian Summer is the band's sixth release. The Richmond, Virginia area, quintet has been issuing independent recordings with limited distribution on their own since the late 1990s. And they have been attracting increasing attention, winning so-called unsigned band competitions, at one point appearing on the American Music Awards show on commercial network television. Now that they have national distribution through the legendary record label Vanguard Records, which in the 1960s was the home of Joan Baez and Country Joe & the Fish, I have had the opportunity to hear this worthy ensemble whose influences run rather wide, from Celtic to bits of art rock.

The band started while the founding members were attending Randolph-Macon College. Among their first gigs were frat parties. After playing together on and off for a few years, they describe 1997 as the year that they decided to get serious with the group. The members, mostly now in their early 30s, brought together a diverse set of influences from individuals who were fans of everything from the Beatles to jazz artists like Pat Metheny and Brad Mehldau, to the electronic pop of the 1980s, to jam bands like Phish.

According to the band's website and record company biography, this CD represents a somewhat different sound and approach than their previous releases. The group's sound on Indian Summer is a pleasing blend of intelligent songwriting and worthwhile lyrics, with strong vocals, tuneful melodies, and diverse influences served up with first-rate musicianship. They sometimes remind me of two groups from the 1990s that stand out as being particularly memorable, the Scottish group Del Amitri and the Seattle folky prog-rock band the Puddle Jumpers. Carbon Leaf bring the kind of vocal clarity and folky undercurrent complete with occasional pennywhistle, of Del Amitri, with the often sophisticated but vaguely folk-oriented arrangements of the Puddle Jumpers.

Carbon Leaf's members are Barry Privett, who writes the lyrics and is lead singer. His main instrument is the pennywhistle. On guitars are Terry Clark and Carter Gravatt, with the latter playing more eclectic instrumentation like mandolin and bouzouki. On bass is Jordan Medas, and Scott Milstead is on drums. Milstead is particularly impressive in his playing, adding lots of interesting rhythmic colors. While the band's sound has most of the classic elements, they manage to make themselves sound fairly fresh, avoiding most of the current rock-band clichés. There are a few added session musicians, mostly on keyboards.

According to the band's biography, the group's lyrics started out being very diverse, but the new CD has a few straight-out love songs, though there is often some complicating factor. For the most part the lyrics are of the high level one might expect from a good folk-oriented singer-songwiter.

The CD was recorded in their hometown and had the help of former Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven lead singer David Lowery as executive producer and John Morand, who produced groups like Sparklehorse serving as this project's producer. Carbon Leaf said that they had come into the studio with fairly detailed ideas about the songs, but saw them begin to reshape with new ideas as they worked in the studio.

Leading off is one of those love songs that epitomizes the appealing but multi-faceted sound of the band, A Life Less Ordinary. It's a fine piece of songcraft, and Carbon Leaf's performance is classy. <<>>

Another of the CD's more memorable tracks is What About Everything, with its thoughtful lyrics, and musical influences that run from pop-rock to folky with the instrumental colors provided by Gravatt's mandolin. <<>>

Carbon Leaf can have their progressive rock moments. This is My Song! has a kind of anthemic quality together with the complex arraignment typical of art rock. The band manages to pull it off well, without sounding too derivative. <<>>

The folky side of the group is represented on the song One Prairie Outpost. The acoustic-guitar-dominated setting along with the bittersweet but literate lyrics again evoke the singer-songwriter genre. <<>>

With a rather more conventional rock sound is Changeless, though the group's effective use of dynamics lifts this above the typical rock fare. <<>>

Of the straight-out rock tracks, Carbon Leaf probably succeeds best on When I'm Alone. Besides the lyrics in praise of the greatest electronic medium ever invented [radio], the group skillfully balances power with interesting instrumental textures. <<>>

My favorite track on Indian Summer is Paloma. This is one of the songs that the group says underwent a considerable evolution in the studio as they were recording the album, going from a rocker to a vaguely Latin beat. This is a good example of Carbon Leaf's balance between rock and their eclecticism. <<>>

On the other hand, the closing and lengthiest track, The Sea, is the closest thing to a disappointment. It never catches fire, and just goes on for too long. <<>>

The Virginia based band Carbon Leaf, on Indian Summer their new sixth CD but first with national distribution, has come up with a creative and satisfying recording that shows that the rock band format has not yet played itself out as a artistically valid medium, despite the plethora of musically inept alternative rock bands, formulaic trend riders, and retro-rockers who seem only to be looking backward. Carbon Leaf creates appealing music that is likely to attract rather wide audiences among whose who get to hear it, while at the same time providing worthwhile musical and lyrical content, and classy musicianship as well.

Our grade for sound quality is close to an "A." Everything is very well-recorded and mixed with pleasing sonic subtleties revealed on close listening. Barry Privett's lead vocal for the most part is given commendable clarity and intelligibility, with the exception of a couple of tracks where there were some unnecessary effects added. For a rock-band recording, the dynamic range, the difference between loud and soft, is better than the contemporary average.

While Carbon Leaf may have been around for the better part of a decade making their music in Virginia, with this first nationally-distributed CD, the group should begin to find much-deserved wider audiences, perhaps even among those who might have given up on current rock bands.

(c) Copyright 2004 George D. Graham. All rights reseved.
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