Never heard of Carbon Leaf? Neither had I until this summer. But even in the brief time since my discovery, I have become infatuated with the Richmond-based quintet. The group has a long history that stretches back 11 years, during which they have released six albums, won acclaim from fans and music critics alike, received the first Cola-Cola New Music Award and played countless shows in Virginia and across the U.S.
The band kicked off its first national headline tour with a concert at Starr Hill Music Hall and Brewery this past Friday, where they played to a sold-out crowd of U.Va. students, Charlottesville residents and loyal groupies, some of whom endured multi-hour car rides to see the show.
Fans were delighted with the band's antics (which included song dedications and taking shots onstage), as well as their music, to which many chanted along all of the lyrics. The generous two-hour set contained a blend of old favorites from Carbon Leaf's five previous albums, as well as new material from their recent release (and major label debut) "Indian Summer."
Before the concert, I had a chance to speak with Carbon Leaf's front-man Barry Privett about the band's history, influences and dreams for the future. Despite the laid-back nature of our conversation, what was abundantly clear by the end of the interview was Privett's devotion to both his craft and his fans.
Cavalier Daily: How did you guys all meet?
Barry Privett: We met in college. I knew Terry, our guitarist, and he met Carter, and they started playing together. Carter knew the drummer, Scott, and before you know it, we got together and started playing at this old rehearsal stage at this auditorium that wasn't being used on campus. Then our friends started showing up and watching us practice. Our first show was at a fraternity party, being really loud and drunk and stupid and having fun. Then, when we got out of school we decided to make a professional stab at it -- no one really wanted "the real world."
CD: Speaking a bit about the real world, what would you do if you couldn't be a musician?
BP: I'd be an actor and screenwriter and hopefully a director, which I still want to do after this is done. I studied drama in college. I still do some acting and am keeping my notebook of screenplay stuff, and I'm going to dust it off here when I can get all the plates spinning the way I want. Carter will always be a musician. Terry would have a studio or something like that. Jordan would probably get a computer job.
CD: How would you describe Carbon Leaf's music?
BP: Simply put, it's acoustic bass rock with some roots and pop influences.
CD: Who are your biggest influences?
BP: Everybody's got different influences, so there's really no collective influence. The drummer and bassist are really into jazz and percussion music, but also anything from -- Jordan likes Barenaked Ladies, Dave Matthews, Sting -- Carter likes everything, [including] a lot of roots artists. Just anything under the sun. There are some bands that all have the same vibe musically -- as far as their influences -- and we don't. So when we write, it's just kind of an amalgam of everyone coming to a song with a different approach. It's kind of a battle sometimes, but generally something we're all pretty happy with.
CD: What do you do when you get songwriter's block, or does that ever happen?
BP: Really it's not so much a block but an issue of not having enough time to get together and write because you're always on the road. Everyone's gotten really disciplined about trying to carve out individual time to work. Creative block, though -- everyone's always got ideas. So as long as you're doing something every day, it doesn't happen. We've got a catalog of, like, 200 songs that haven't even been finished yet. So there's always material, it's just a matter of [having] the time to flesh it out.
CD: What's the worst comparison to another band that Carbon Leaf has received?
BP: Man, we've gotten so many comparisons through the years. You always get mirrors of whatever's going on today, like "Oh, that singer sounds like Billy Joe from Green Day," or "Oh, they sound like Pearl Jam," or "Oh, they sound like the Dave Matthews Band." Really it's just a knee-jerk reaction sometimes. If there's something going on that's bigger than us at the time, then we kind of get lumped with that. We've had the comparison to the Dave Matthews Band. It's funny. One writer I remember -- some critic who was not big on us -- said, "They sound just like Dave Matthews Band, but without the fiddle and the sax player and the jazz influence and the front man who plays acoustic guitar."
CD: What does that leave?
BP: Exactly. I think there was a time where if you were a Virginia band and there was an acoustic guitar in your band, you ultimately got compared, by people who didn't know a wide depth of music, to local favorites [like Dave Matthews]. These days we're not getting a lot of comparisons, which is good.
CD: What's your least favorite thing about being on tour?
BP: [as it pours outside] Loading-in in the rain, I guess. [laughter] Touring can get very monotonous outside of the actual shows, which is your payoff. But it's a long day to put on a two-hour show. It's a definite structure that can get a little tiresome. But generally the shows, and if people are there, make it all worthwhile. Sometimes you miss home, you miss that lifestyle, but you have to get into a rhythm and just surrender to the road.
CD: And your favorite thing about being on tour?
BP: A full house. To expend as much energy as you do on this job, the real undeniable payoff is having people come to the show. It's hard when you travel so much and you work towards this show at night, and if you're in a new market and people don't show up, it just sucks, and you have to [play the show]. So, a full house for me is like "mission accomplished." Tonight is sold out, which is awesome. That relieves the pressure, and you can focus on getting psyched up so you can play a good show.
CD: Where's your favorite place to play?
BP: Wherever there's a full house! It's true. For me, it's all about who's there. We can play a dump, and if people are there, it's the only thing that matters.
CD: If you could play with any band living or dead, who would it be?
BP: We'd love to play with bands who we might share a similar audience with. We've done side-stage with Dave Matthews, which was a big kick for us, and then for the John Mayer/Counting Crows, which was really good. We opened for David Gray, and it went over really well. So we'd love to play with those kinds of bands again and feed off of the energy that crowd they bring in. I'm not good at this question because I'm so focused on what we're doing. The ironic thing is that [as a touring musician] you have very little time to be a fan of other peoples' music. You don't get to go to shows, you don't get to sit down and listen to music with undivided attention.
CD: I noticed on your Web site that there were a lot of links to several different political sites, and I was just wondering if you wanted to expound upon that, on politics, or on what you think the role of artists like yourself is in politics?
BP: We put the links up ... because everybody should be voting that could be voting. It's easy to miss when you get so wrapped up in your life, which is easy to do. I actually missed an election once because we were on the road, and I didn't realize how far in advance you had to get your absentee ballot and all. So once I got my head out of my butt and figured out that I needed to think more ahead, it made sense to put a link up and encourage people to vote, whether they're conservative or liberal or whatever. At this point in my career, I don't really like making any soapbox as far as projecting my views onto other people. It's not my priority. My priority is making music, and if people appreciate that, then that's the kind of world I want them to have.
CD: What's the hardest question you're asked that everyone always asks you?
BP: Probably where we'll be in five years. How do you answer that? Because if you say, "We're going to be millionaires," then you look like a pompous ass, and if you say, "Probably doing what we're doing now," then you sound like a loser, so I don't really know. I have my notions, but [I take it] one day at a time.
CD: Where would you like to be in five years?
BP: We'd like to be touring the world and selling lots of records and having people enjoy the music and coming to shows and making a living at it. Maybe go to a movie every now and then. I'd like certainly to have the band reaping the rewards of the hard work that we've been doing for 11 years. I think this is one of the hardest jobs you can have, but also extremely rewarding when you talk to other people who hate going to work every day. When you've got five guys who are best friends who get along, it's a rare thing in a band to have people that not only can play together and make music, but who can get along and enjoy each others' company. I try to count my blessings. You're always wanting more, but I'm happy right now the way things are going.
CD: One final question. If there was one thing you could tell your fans, what would you want to say to them?
BP: Don't settle, and pursue what you want.
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