Spring Break
Folk band finds 'less clutter' in Flowery Branch
BRITTANY FORRESTAL
Issue date: 4/27/09 Section: Variety
It's a small city, located about 45 minutes northeast of Altanta, occupying a land area of only two and a half square miles and claiming a population of less than 5,000 people.
The town's first Starbucks opened just last year, but given its proximity to Atlanta, it's no surprise that further development plans are bringing new commercial life to this once-quaint, Southern town.
Welcome to Flowery Branch.
It may not be home to much, but Damon Moon and the Whispering Drifters, a regionally-based modern folk band, claims the town as its primary rehearsal space.
"I love Atlanta and Athens, but I feel like there's a lot of distraction in a big city like that," Moon said.
And for Moon, who is the driving force behind the band's creative endeavors, even the burgeoning development of Flowery Branch can be creatively stifling. When he and his fellow musicians aren't rehearsing, Moon retreats to his home in the even more rural, even more removed Murrayville.
"I feel like living in a big city, everything … kind of gets lost," Moon said. "[The country] is a much more open space, and there's a lot less clutter. The calmness of being [in a natural environment] definitely has an effect on my songwriting."
Despite the simplicity of Moon's natural surroundings, the band's songs are contrastingly rich, sonorous and elaborate. The sound has roots in classic folk, country and rock, which is juxtaposed with simply-constructed but intensely personal lyrics that explore the various avenues of the human condition.
When: 9:30 tonight
Where: Caledonia Lounge
Price: $5 (21+) $7 (18-20)
"Everything that I write, at least to me, has a lot to do with the internal part of living, the unconscious part of your consciousness," Moon said. "A lot of it's about that particular moment - just when you're most alive - and trying to get to the core of that."
The town's first Starbucks opened just last year, but given its proximity to Atlanta, it's no surprise that further development plans are bringing new commercial life to this once-quaint, Southern town.
Welcome to Flowery Branch.
It may not be home to much, but Damon Moon and the Whispering Drifters, a regionally-based modern folk band, claims the town as its primary rehearsal space.
"I love Atlanta and Athens, but I feel like there's a lot of distraction in a big city like that," Moon said.
And for Moon, who is the driving force behind the band's creative endeavors, even the burgeoning development of Flowery Branch can be creatively stifling. When he and his fellow musicians aren't rehearsing, Moon retreats to his home in the even more rural, even more removed Murrayville.
"I feel like living in a big city, everything … kind of gets lost," Moon said. "[The country] is a much more open space, and there's a lot less clutter. The calmness of being [in a natural environment] definitely has an effect on my songwriting."
Despite the simplicity of Moon's natural surroundings, the band's songs are contrastingly rich, sonorous and elaborate. The sound has roots in classic folk, country and rock, which is juxtaposed with simply-constructed but intensely personal lyrics that explore the various avenues of the human condition.
Damon Moon and the Whispering Drifters, Cartright, Owl Eyes, Resident Patient
When: 9:30 tonight
Where: Caledonia Lounge
Price: $5 (21+) $7 (18-20)
"Everything that I write, at least to me, has a lot to do with the internal part of living, the unconscious part of your consciousness," Moon said. "A lot of it's about that particular moment - just when you're most alive - and trying to get to the core of that."
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