Strip away the strobe lights, the stench of beer and cigarettes, the rickety stage, the sweaty crush at the bar and the waves upon waves of noise. Silence the crowd, turn up the house lights and sit down. What would a concert be? There'd be nothing left but the music, distilled to its essence, and the artists behind it, staring at a chorus of faces eager for the next song. It could all be happening on your back porch. It could all be happening in your living room.
Triangle-based Forty Acres won't bring live music to your living room, but they have managed to bring it to some of their own. Since late 1998, the tight-knit group of roots music enthusiasts has staged intimate, all-acoustic "house concerts" using the generously-sized living rooms of two local homes. Using little other than word-of-mouth publicity and their enthusiasm for the music, the group has drawn artists from around the country and recognition from such prestigious sources as the roots music Bible No Depression and The New York Times. And this Saturday's show at Durham's Pine Hill Farm, featuring Chapel Hill's own Tift Merritt & The Carbines, should prove the group worthy of its accolades.
The first Triangle house concerts began in 1997, when WXDU DJ Steve Gardner decided to mimic the house concerts he used to frequent during his days in the San Francisco Bay Area. After finding a house with a large enough living room and putting on a few successful shows, Gardner formed the seven-member committee that makes up Forty Acres in 1998.
"I heard about the concerts and I got involved by volunteering at the shows," said committee member John Shadle, Trinity '98, a Paducah, KY native who cultivated his love for the music among like-minded fans at Duke.
Shadle and the rest of the Forty Acres board have one goal-to promote roots music in the Triangle, using the group's self-consciously non-profit status to pay bands more generously. Advertising consists mainly of the group's e-mail list, website (www.fortyacres.org) and well-placed flyers at local record stores and venues. In the past two years, Forty Acres has featured national artists such as Robbie Fulks and Alejandro Escovedo as well as local acts like The Carolina Stompers and 80-year old fiddler Joe Thompson from nearby Mebane. Even former Smithereens lead singer Pat DiNizio stopped by for an unexpectedly amplified encounter.
Still, the group's focus remains on music with a twang. "Roots music is something that tells you a story," Shadle said. "It's the original country sound: simple harmonies, pedal steel, acoustic guitar, bass and a drum."
Influenced by country pioneers like George Jones, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline and even the ragged folk of Neil Young in the early '70s, the most popular of today's roots genres is probably alternative country, or alt.country. From the more rocking sound of bands like Wilco to the countrified twang of BR5-49 and solo artists like Richard Buckner, alt.country is united by a commitment to a stripped-down, unpretentious sound based on direct lyrics and simple song structures. No hyper production values, no keyboards, no recycled rock riffs-the Shania Twains and Travis Tritts of the world need not apply. "It works best in an unamplified room," Shadle said. "It's music that wasn't meant to be listened to with the amps turned up to
Unlike Nashville's stadium spectacles, this music thrives on intimacy between an artist and their audience. A Forty Acres show has the perfect atmosphere for that type of interaction. The artists sit at the center of the living room with their instruments-no amps, no stage, no lights-with the crowd forming a semicircle of folding chairs around them, listening respectfully. All shows are BYOB, and smoking is not allowed inside. Snacks are often provided free of charge, along with a home-cooked meal for the band. Between-song banter is at a maximum, with artists taking the time to tell their audiences the stories behind their music.
"Most of the really good shows involve someone who talks to the crowd, who really gets into bringing the music to them, explaining songs to them, getting involved with audience participation," Shadle said. "The artists think it's a special place to play.... It's totally quiet-you could hear a pin drop."
"It's absolutely amazing," said Tift Merritt, whose performance this Saturday marks her band's second Forty Acres show. "It's great because it feels so intimate and homey.... The folks that come to shows like that are fans in the most intimate sense of the word."
The Carbines' music exemplifies the best of the modern country movement. Merritt's voice, often compared to Patsy Cline, sounds classic beyond her experience, and the band shows exceptionally tight showmanship. Merritt displays the raw talent of a natural in concert, combined with an ever-increasing poise and grace that suggest a much longer career ahead.
The Carbines formally began in 1998 at UNC-Chapel Hill, when Merritt and drummer (and now boyfriend) Zeke Hutchins began performing at local venues. They soon added pedal steel player Greg Readling and his friend, bassist Jay Brown. Since then, the band's local following-and national recognition-has exploded, turning Merritt and her band into a huge draw at venues like the Local 506 and Cat's Cradle. And while their recorded output is small-scarcely more than a handful of seven-inch singles and a compilation appearance-what there is has been well-received, including a New York Times mention of Merritt's guest appearance on an EP of country duets with Durham's Two Dollar Pistols. Hoping to expand on that success, the band has been in the studio since last Thursday working on a demo to shop to record labels; several have shown interest.
Tift Merritt flusters a bit when asked to describe her sound. "I have a cereal box of things I say when I get asked this question.... I like to think of it as Bob Dylan meets Dolly Parton. I would say I definitely do something very similar to country... definitely roots music, not what you hear on the radio." She sighs. "Country is the simplest way to describe it."
As a Raleigh native, Merritt isn't from the hillbilly environment many might expect for a country artist. Growing up listening to Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde and records by Joni Mitchell and Emmylou Harris, she's the first to admit that nobody came along and handed her the perfect country music pedigree. That concept, she says, doesn't even exist.
"Nobody puts a stack of straight country records in your hand and says, 'This is what you should listen to,'" she said. "I wish they had.... [But] I don't think that if you
Still, Merritt credits her southern roots with influencing her highly personal, narrative writing style. Growing up in a southern family-her dad is from Texas and her mother is from North Carolina-that told stories and celebrated southern culture, Merritt found the inspiration and perhaps that perfect tone, the earnest, open writers' conscience that shines through in her music.
"They're one of my favorite groups around," said Shadle about Tift Merritt and The Carbines. "They've all gotten more comfortable onstage, but you can tell that they're people, too. If people have this feeling that [a band is] accessible, its makes them that much easier to love. Another special thing about Tift is that she's an excellent songwriter. Her lyrics coupled with her voice live are an amazing experience."
While Chapel Hill may have been known in the past as a bastion of indie-rock snobbery, the town was quick to embrace The Carbines in 1998. "It's hard to beat playing around here," Merritt said, "We love our hometown. I think before I lived in Chapel Hill, I'd go, 'Oh, God, they'll hate me.' But you have to remember, people in Chapel Hill love music, and it isn't that they love one record or one band."
Maybe not, but The Carbines have become one of the bands that Chapel Hill loves the most. As the early-90s rock scene built around now-defunct acts like Polvo and Archers of Loaf wanes, a thriving roots music scene has moved in, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with independent rock in what is still one of the most exciting and music-obsessed small-town scenes in the nation. Indeed, Merritt and her band enjoy some stellar local contemporaries, with bands like Whiskeytown, The Two Dollar Pistols, Trailer Bride, the Backsliders and the Tremblers sharing an ever-increasing variety of local stages. Along with roots music's increased prominence in Chapel Hill, roots-centered venues such as Boo's Hideaway and the private Lakeside Lounge have sprung up in Raleigh.
And while Forty Acres are the recognized pioneers in the art, other groups such as The Bull City Cosmic Hoedown and even some private individuals have begun their own series of house concerts. Forty Acres' web site even includes a guide, written by Gardner, on how to put on your own home concert. The demand for an intimate roots music environment-as Forty Acres' frequent sellout crowds and burgeoning mailing list attest-is growing, the potential not yet realized. And although corporate-sponsored stadium shows and big-time arena antics aren't likely to go the way of the tie-dye anytime soon, Forty Acres still reminds music fans that somewhere, there's something authentic going on.
As for Tift Merritt, she's keeping mum about any surprises she might have in store for Saturday's audience. But armed with some new songs-including two "really good ones" that she and the band plan to play-Tift Merritt and The Carbines will undoubtedly impress their living room audience.
"The people at this show are special; they are really friends and supporters," she said. "I feel like it's gonna be a big Thanksgiving dinner."
And that's one family gathering it would be a shame to miss.
The Carbines appear this Saturda
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