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American Aquarium


NewMusicForOldFolks says …

When the Dixie Chicks spoke out against the war in Iraq and President Bush, there was a predictable backlash from Country music fans. There were protests and lost album and ticket sales. I imagine there would still be a fair amount of that of one of the mainstream Country artists like Blake Shelton or, God forbid, Darius Rucker expressed a left of center thought. But in music by many Alt-Country, Americana artists like Jason Isbell or Drive-by Truckers anti-Trump sentiments run high. The first song on the new album by North Carolina's American Aquarium is as good an example of such a songs as I've heard. "The World is on Fire" asks "When did the home of the brave become the land of the afraid?" Isbell's "Hope the High Road" and the Truckers' "What it Means" are equally powerful, but the three songs in a row are guaranteed to inspire a liberal or upset a conservative. Still a tricky proposition for a bunch of Southerners, but these guys aren't going to "shut up and play your guitar."

Artist's Info

See them live: Tour dates

Record company: New West Records

Genre: Alt. Country, Americana

Bio (From the artist's website)

In the lush tobacco fields of North Carolina where BJ Barham was raised, people work hard. Families stay nearby, toiling and growing together. BJ loves those farms and his tiny Reidsville hometown, but he had to run off and start American Aquarium, a band now beloved by thousands. BJ couldn’t stay. But he couldn’t really leave, either: he’s still singing about the lessons, stories, and lives that define rural America––and him. “I moved to the big city to go to college and fell in love with music,” BJ says. “But half the songs on our record are about small towns––little pieces of my childhood. I’ve had moments where it turns out a piece of broken English my father repeated twice a week is the most accurate way to say something. So I put it in a song.” (more)

Spotify sampler

Recordings

Most Recent

THINGS CGANGE (2018): American Aquarium’s seventh studio album Things Change offers the band’s finest collection of folk-infused Southern rock-and-roll to date. Stacked with BJ’s signature storytelling––always deeply personal but also instantly relatable––the record questions and curses current events, shares one man’s intimate evolution, and leaves listeners with a priceless gift: hope. “In my early 20s, I was not as hopeful,” Singer/songwriter BJ Barham says. “Now, as I’m getting ready to become a father, I think I have to be hopeful––especially with the situation our country is in now. For her sake, I have to be positive.” He pauses. “Her” is his daughter, due in the spring of 2018. BJ adds, “Being self-aware has always been a blessing and a curse. But that’s what’s always made my songwriting relatable to people. I don’t hold back. I’m almost too honest.”

Others

  • Antique Hearts (2006)

  • The Bible and the Bottle (2008)

  • Bones (2008)

  • Dances for the Lonely (2009)

  • Small Town Hymns (2010)

  • Live in Raleigh (2012)

  • Burn. Flicker. Die. (2012)

  • Wolves (2015)

  • Live at Terminal West (2016)

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