December 2, 2009 7:30pm
Skully’s Music Diner
1151 N. High Street
(614) 291-8856
$9
All Ages - under 21 pays additional $3 surcharge at door
Seabird
http://www.myspace.com/seabird
Seabird’s 2008 debut ‘Til We See the Shore turned the piano pop rockers into a national name with the hit single “Rescue,” prominent TV placements and several major coast-to-coast tours. Fans got to hear the band on a PureVolume Session and Paste Magazine sampler, and Amazon.com made the album a “Deal of the Day.” It was such a banner year that they even earned their hometown’s highest music honor, “Artist of the Year,” at the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards. Most bands would either take a break or keep working the same album, but not Seabird. Just over a year after releasing their breakthrough debut, the piano-pounding rockers march on with their sophomore album Rocks Into Rivers.
The new album features all that Seabird does best – rich melodies, immediate vocal hooks and picturesque naratives – but Rocks Into Rivers propels the band forward with bigger sounds, darker twists and masterfully woven instrumentation. Produced by Paul Moak (Mat Kearney, Sixpence None the Richer) and Aqualung’s Matt Hales at Ocean Studios and The Smoakstack, the album walks the line between earthy and urban, blue collar and big city, with emotionally bare lyrics about running into walls, finding new pathes and questioning yourself in the process. It’s an energized blend of sexy Brit-style sonics and the working man’s ethos of ’70s American rock.
“We felt like we were capturing a live performance, which is where we have the most confidence,” says Aaron Morgan, who handles the band’s vocals, keys and songwriting duties. “That’s where we felt we were really landing punches.”
Lead track and single “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful” sets the tone with clap-happy beats, soaring melodies and scatty vocal flourishes that build toward an unforgettable chorus. The songs travels through peaks and valleys that musically reflect the emotional state of its subject, a girl trying to stand up as her family falls down around her.
“The song is about a girl who carries the weight of her parents’ divorce on her shoulders,” explains Morgan. “She starts to believe lies about herself, like it’s her fault. ‘Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful’ is about wanting her to know the truth and letting her know she has the ability to live beyond this.”
Morgan switches the spotlight to himself with “Believe Me,” an impassioned promise to be the husband and father he knows he should be, set to fast-paced verses, a bold chorus and a touching piano and vocal breakdown. Family is also the focus on “The Good King,” a mid-tempo lullaby about seeing life through his daughter’s eyes, while “Baby I’m in Love” recalls seeing his pregnant wife become an incredible mother even before their daughter was born.
“This album is a lot about becoming a father and a husband,” says the singer. “I was thrown into so many roles and struggled with determining what is a gift and what is burden. It’s about recognizing my own shortcomings and dealing with them.”
The album closes with the title track, “Rocks Into Rivers,” that tells a well-known story veiled in dark, poetic lyrics. The song gets inside the head of a historic figure at his moment of personal failure with colorfully rich lines like “I’ll make you shiver when I turn rocks into rivers.”
Started by brothers Aaron and Ryan Morgan in ‘04, Seabird generated a simmering street buzz with their EPs Spread Your Broken Wings and Try and Let Me Go On. Signing with Credential Recordings, the band made its national debut with ‘Til We See the Shore and its lead single “Rescue,” which spent multiple weeks at No. 1 on TVU’s “Most Wanted,” appeared on mtvU’s “The Freshmen” and became the soundtrack for the lead promos of ABC’s 12-time Emmy-nominated “Pushing Daisies.” Seabird songs also appeared in other hit series like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Numb3rs.” Out on the road, Seabird toured with NeedToBreathe, Fiction Family, House of Heroes, Jars of Clay, Barcelona, Meese, David Crowder Band and did their own 15-date college tour. The band also performed at major music events like South by Southwest, MOBFest 09, Forecastle Festival and even headlined the opening night of the MidPoint Music Festival.
Rivers Into Rocks builds on everything that made the band’s debut a success without shying away from bold artistic moves that push the music to grand new heights. Morgan says it’s about “never quitting on a song” and treating your fans like they’re your closest friends.
“You always want your friends to be there for you, and in the same way, we want our music to be there with whatever you need, be it inspiration, laughter or even tears,” remarks Morgan. “It’s our goal to make our music as reliable as a good friend.”
Matthew Mayfield
http://www.myspace.com/matthewmayfieldmusic
Birmingham based Matthew Mayfield traces his musical history like a line, from smoky concert halls and Columbia Records, college dorm rooms and garage band battles, all the way back to a bunk bed. He was a kid living in the suburbs, seven years old, sharing a room with his older brother Tommy. It was late at night, and down the hallway Matthew’s father pulled out his 1976 Martin D-28 guitar. He played and sang, classics like “Blackbird” and “Fire and Rain” and early Neil Young, faintly but with enough voice for the silent and still Mayfield boys to hear. “Very few things are quite like a melody,” Matthew says. “Even as a little kid, I felt something profound listening to dad sing and play.”
Even though his dad was a businessman, those solitary evening sessions lit something inside Matthew. They pushed him to follow the path of a musician, a twisted and narrow journey where simple melodies acted like lanterns.
“I bought Pearl Jam’s album Ten when I was 9 years old,” Matthew says. A year later, “Mom took me to see Slash’s Snakepit,” a side project by the Guns’ player. When a pretty horrific leg fracture around that time laid Matthew up for half a year, his dad’s old Martin sealed the gently-perceptive Alabama songwriter’s fate.
Matthew dropped out of college in 2002 and spent nearly two years preparing for a major label release with his band, Moses Mayfield. After multiple cross country recording sessions and nearly half-million dollars spent, the band felt the corporate crunch and was dropped only six weeks into their release. “Canned is the word,” Matthew says. “Honestly though, I am more free now than I’ve ever been.”
In 2008, Matthew self-released The Fire EP, an eight song songwriter-distinctive collection recorded in thirty hours for $1,000. The record quickly caught the attention of Birmingham’s Live 100.5 radio station, and, in a sense, brought Matthew back to those lonesome bunk bed nights. A guitar and a room. Honest, underdone, a doubting-Thomas authenticity and, yes, palpably melodic. “Pain and secrets,” he calls the record.
It’s impossible to listen to songs like “Dead to You,” “By Your Side,” and crowd favorite “Element,” and not hear both the influences and kindreds: Eddie Vedder’s great no-namer tracks on Vitalogy; Peter Gabriel’s atmospheric odes like “Solsbury Hill”; Kings of Leon’s sometimes-Delta-bluesyness. “That’s the way Muddy Waters would sing about pain,” Matthew says about Kings’ “Cold Desert” on Only by the Night.
At this point in the journey, Matthew is back in Birmingham. He’s had stints on tour with Pete Yorn, Blue October, Switchfoot, and Needtobreathe. He’s written enough songs to fill a whiskey barrel. And, he’s enjoying newfound open space in the emerald greenery of his hometown. “Whether it’s a golf course at midnight or a rooftop downtown,” he says. “I hate being crammed. I’m obsessed with freedom.” For proof of this admission, ask him about his tattoos. Or listen to the EP.
The Great Transparency
http://www.myspace.com/thegreattransparency
For fans of Jimmy Eat World and Switchfoot: We are The Great Transparency from Columbus, OH. We aim to craft songs that are real, honest, and fun. We, each one of us on earth, have a story to tell. Some of us use our words on paper, others may speak them. Some don’t even speak at all. We choose to show our intentions through song, through who we are, and through the gifts that God has given us.