Carbon Leaf pushes a blend of instruments primarily heard in the new grass and bluegrass movements into fresh territories of modern rock and Celtic. The five piece Richmond, Virginia band carries forth a tantalizing sound that has attracted a diverse fan base ranging from the young to old and radical to conservative. With a wide range of instruments including a sparkling mandolin, electric and double bass, acoustic and electric guitars, and a tin whistle, the band could fit in at a college club, jam-band festival or any St. Patrick's Day parade. There is a polished four part harmony that keeps you singing along and a heavy rhythm section that will have you shaking a fist or elbow. Carbon Leaf floats bravely within a modern rock texture, allowing itself from becoming watered down.
The band first made their mainstream mark as the recipients of the first-annual Coca-Cola New Music Award, in which they beat nearly 1000 artists, and had the privilege of becoming the first unsigned act to perform at the American Music Awards and sharing the stage with Sherly Crow. The band's breakthrough tune "The Boxer" brought them their much due recognition.
The band is lead by Carter Gravatt on mandolin who is a master of combining progressive metal riffs with down-home bluegrass, leading the band down a mixed highway of influences. He is also a talented acoustic picker, providing a sense of folk legitimacy alongside the vocals of lead singer Barry Privett, who echoes like a cross between Billy Joe Armstrong and Scott Weiland, adding an unmistakable modern rock voice along with boistorous on-stage charisma. He wails on this impressive flute whistle that combines bagpipe and flute harmonies- in the end providing many songs a distinct Irish vibe.
This April fools show proved to be no joke as the band opened with "Shine" from their most recent studio album,
Echo Echo, leading into a heavy jam crossing paths of experimental sounds and ambitious progressive rock. "Echo Echo" led into a Big Country sounding jam which featured a nasty mandolin lead. "Nothing Like The Ordinary" followed and got the crowd tapping as this band showed they can write songs in the atmospheric sense, "Seven Brides" was an anthem that has the crowd jumping to the volatile vocals. The cover of Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" had the whole place shaking and was a perfect breather for fans not familiar with the band to become immediately comfortable- as I can't say enough about the mandolin lead, impressive and innovative in its own right. The Beach Boy's Sloop Johnny B vocal jam hit the crowd with the classic high notes on the money. The largest crowd reaction of the night came to "The Boxer" not to be confused with the Simon &Garfunkel classic and their fans dancing and singing along with smiles and satisfaction.
The band will be issuing a live double album on April 5th featuring the new tune, "Raise the Roof" an up-tempo rocker shook up with an edge of sophisticated song writing. "Mary Mac," the closer was another anthem dancing into a rebellious bar room territory of Irish melody, allowing the crowd to exit the show with pepped energy - the sign of a festive good time.
