Spring Break
Corduroy Road 'breathes new life into an old genre'
GRACE MORRIS
Issue date: 3/4/09 Section: Variety
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"A Corduroy Road is long and bumpy, but if you stay the course, you'll get where you're going," banjo player and vocalist Drew Carmen said in regard to his band's name.
The road may be long, but tonight it brings bluegrass bands The Corduroy Road and Trampled by Turtles to Athens, where a ravenous taste for live music is sure to ease bumps met along the way.
TCR was first conceived when childhood friends Carmen and Dylan Solise started playing music together in Kentucky. However, their relocation to Athens and upcoming record under the influence of legend John Keane (R.E.M., Widespread Panic) makes them as local a band as any.
THE CORDUROY ROAD,
TRAMPLED BY TURTLES
When: 10 tonightWhere: Georgia Theatre
Cost: $7
In addition to the opportunity to work with Keane, this providential move to Athens facilitated the addition of drummer John Cable and bassist Tim Helms.
TCR draws its influences from early country and folk music, but the energy of its live performances breathes new life into an old genre.
"Folks come to a our live shows to see a performance. We try to be as entertaining and lively as possible, but the most important thing during a live show is to engage the audience, make them involved and participants in the experience just as much as ourselves," Carmen said.
In addition to gracing audiences across the Southeast with lively performances over the past few months, the band has completed its first full-length album, "Love is War."
The record conveys the enthusiasm of live performances while adding a new level of musical sophistication through a variety of new instruments including the organ, fiddle and dobro, a type of specialized guitar.
"The roots are still the same; we've just added a lot more meat on the bone," Carmen said.
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