Atlanta’s Book Club, a modern folk quintet founded by Robbie Horlick (of indie rockers Cassavetes), navigates today’s indie-folk sea with a rare honesty and classicism. The band honors the folk tradition, yet is unbound by it; every song is a fresh take on an old history. Anchored by the rich and sweetly-sung co-ed harmonies of Horlick and Leigh Anne Macquarrie, their arrangements range from that of a lone nylon guitar to songs thoughtfully embellished by cello, double bass, pedal steel, melodica, glockenspiel, saxophone, percussion, and more. Paying simultaneous homage to their traditional, and their modern, influences, Book Club draws easy comparisons to She & Him, Bonnie “Prince” Billy, and The Dutchess and Duke one minute, and Patsy Cline, The Carter Family, and Fleetwood Mac the next.
Ghost, the band’s first LP, released digitally and on limited edition vinyl - and handmade bookmark - on August 2, 2011, sounds like what might result if Lou and Nico were from the South and grew up on Mermaid Avenue, or if Springsteen’s Nebraska were recorded in Nashville. Or, if by some crazy wrinkle in time, Johnny and June grew up listening to Tom Petty and Iron & Wine. The songs on Ghost are pretty and sad, and there is a magic to their orchestration, at times sparse and delicate, at times embellished and blissful. Carefully arranged and tied together by a simple narrative element - with nary a wasted note - Book Club’s Ghost is at once modern and hauntingly timeless.
Book Club on Facebook
David Marshall and the EVP's is a new local band featuring Corndogarama founder David Railey.
David Marshall and the EVP's on Facebook
Brooks Meeks has a gift for wrapping sentiment in a few simple words that resonate far beyond the surface. Thirty One Years of Lullaby is Meeks' solo debut following the 2007 breakup of his dour Atlanta indie-rock outfit the Close. In every way, the record embraces the emotional letdown that goes along with the death of a band as well as a dream.
For as long as Meeks can remember, he banked on spending his life on the road. But as adulthood approached, success wasn't materializing for the Close so he abandoned the romantic notions of surviving solely on playing music. "Thirty One Years of Lullaby is my response to having put my whole life into music and then deciding not to tour anymore," he says. "It's the biggest sense of heartbreak that I have ever felt."
Despite the heavy remorse surrounding the album, Meeks has crafted a concise collection of somber, countrified numbers that ooze with symbolism and catharsis, and it's not all about depression. Jonathan Bradley (drums) and Johnny Kral (bass) join Meeks (guitar and vocals), who is at the top of his game with "Lips for Your Kissin'," a lighthearted duet with former bandmate Theresa Fedor. "Tower of Envy" is an ode to being overwhelmed by the enormity of life, while "Roots and Boots" muses on the realities of choosing home life and parenthood over the road, with a subtle tussle between pride and melancholy.
But defeat brings liberation for Meeks. "Most people feel this way when they graduate and enter the working world," he says. "Maybe they wanted to be an astronaut or the president of the United States, but suddenly find themselves doing phone sales in a cubicle. Instead of it happening when I was 21, it happened when I was 31. But with music I'm not making any compromises, and I'm not doing anything that I don't want to do." Chad Radford / Creative Loafing Atlanta
The Meeks Family on Facebook
$5, 21+
Doors @ 9 pm
Advance tickets available @ Ticket Alternative, Criminal Records,
Decatur CD, Fantasyland Records and the following CD Warehouse locations: Buford, Duluth, Kennesaw, Lawrenceville and Roswell.
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