Reviewing The Albions
Introducing The Albions ... from Athens
As promised and or threatened, Chuck DownUnder is now back checking out, reviewing and giving a listen to all things music, venues and the like during the down time of year from the sports world.
When you think of the Athens Georgia music scene of course the immediate names to pop into mind are The B-52's and REM as the forerunners on to acts as diverse as Bubba Sparxx, The Drive By Truckers and Widespread Panic among others. Equally, Athens being a college town has some tried and true venues for the ever evolving music of the area with The 40 Watt Club, The Georgia Theatre and The Foundry being popular attractions but as always in towns like this, a good vibe can pop up out of nowhere.
So now let's put some light on four young lads plying their trade in the area, The Albions. Back in November of 2014, Chadley Ryan McCutcheon (lead vocals/guitar) joined forces with Ethan Smith (guitar/vocals), Dane Crawford (bass/vocals) and Brian J. Carey (drums/vocals) to form the group.
The Albions
In an impromptu "sit down" if you will (more like an electronic one since the distance between Athens and Perth Australia is 11,320 miles or 18,1999 kilometres to us "Aussies"!) we came away with some insight on what makes The Albions the band that they are. This Alternative/Indie/Acoustic Rock crew are ready to move forward in the field locally and nationwide, possibly even internationally.
Where did the band name originate from?
According to Dane:
"We get that question a lot, Actually I though of the name in a British Literature class at college (uni or university to Aussies). We read the poem Visions of th Daughters of Albion by William Blake, though I'm not a huge fan of poetry I thought Albion was a cool name. After digging into the poem a little I realized Blake had a character in the poem, 'Theotormon' which represents a man caught up in the ideas of society unable to be free. The character in particular resonated with me and what our music is typically about. Theotormon would be a terrible band name so we went with The Albions."
What drives you artistically?
From Chadley:
"I feel like every single one of us adds our own influence of style. It's nice when four people can come together and create something good. It was a little strange at first for all of us, adjusting to different styles but it's wonderful. It's almost strange writing a song, the drive is pure I'd say. The feeling you get when you know you have made something that might as well have touched your soul and potentially other souls. It's the feeling, the stress relief and really there is nothing better than evolving your skills. I was actually writing a sng the other night and I found some chords that made me feel that I could have easily been floating on a cloud. These are the things that for myself will never make me want to stop as an artist."
According to Dane:
"We get that question a lot, Actually I though of the name in a British Literature class at college (uni or university to Aussies). We read the poem Visions of th Daughters of Albion by William Blake, though I'm not a huge fan of poetry I thought Albion was a cool name. After digging into the poem a little I realized Blake had a character in the poem, 'Theotormon' which represents a man caught up in the ideas of society unable to be free. The character in particular resonated with me and what our music is typically about. Theotormon would be a terrible band name so we went with The Albions."
The Albions at Live Wire
What drives you artistically?
From Chadley:
"I feel like every single one of us adds our own influence of style. It's nice when four people can come together and create something good. It was a little strange at first for all of us, adjusting to different styles but it's wonderful. It's almost strange writing a song, the drive is pure I'd say. The feeling you get when you know you have made something that might as well have touched your soul and potentially other souls. It's the feeling, the stress relief and really there is nothing better than evolving your skills. I was actually writing a sng the other night and I found some chords that made me feel that I could have easily been floating on a cloud. These are the things that for myself will never make me want to stop as an artist."
Who are your musical influences?
Ethan explained the bands diversity in musical tastes:
"Our songwriting seems to be influenced around bands like Manchester Orchestra and John Mayer but I know Dane and I were heavily influenced by British Indie bands like The Libertines and The Kooks fist albums."
"I'd say Brian's biggest influences however would be the classics such as John Bonham from Led Zeppelin and Nirvana ."
Ethan explained the bands diversity in musical tastes:
"Our songwriting seems to be influenced around bands like Manchester Orchestra and John Mayer but I know Dane and I were heavily influenced by British Indie bands like The Libertines and The Kooks fist albums."
"I'd say Brian's biggest influences however would be the classics such as John Bonham from Led Zeppelin and Nirvana ."
How was the experience of playing The Road to Roo?
In summing up the bands recent experience of playing in the Road to Roo competition for a chance at a spot in June's Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival Ethan said:
"The Road to Bonnaroo competition was a great experience, awesome crowds and some of our favourite venues. We met a lot of talented local musicians and made a couple of friends in the radio business. Were actually playing a show on 13 May 2017 at the Flicker Theatre and Bar with some friends that we met during the competition."
In summing up the bands recent experience of playing in the Road to Roo competition for a chance at a spot in June's Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival Ethan said:
"The Road to Bonnaroo competition was a great experience, awesome crowds and some of our favourite venues. We met a lot of talented local musicians and made a couple of friends in the radio business. Were actually playing a show on 13 May 2017 at the Flicker Theatre and Bar with some friends that we met during the competition."
What's up next for the band?
Brian says that:
"Other than staying busy with shows for the next few months, we plan on releasing a five or six song EP of older songs. We have lots of new material that will be recorded at some point this year. 2017 will be a busy and momentous year for The Albions so stay tuned."
Brian says that:
"Other than staying busy with shows for the next few months, we plan on releasing a five or six song EP of older songs. We have lots of new material that will be recorded at some point this year. 2017 will be a busy and momentous year for The Albions so stay tuned."
Future gigs?
The next few months are packed with local shows in the Athens area. The band is constantly adding new gigs so keep up with them through their Facebook Page:
www.facebook.com/albionsounds
What's the Athen's scene like nowadays?
Dane gave his assessment of the Athens scene:
"With around five hundred bands in Athens, the scene is alive and well. The hard part is standing out with all of that competition although I think we are starting to by being unique.
The culture in Athens seems to fall into an established musical clique (Indie, Country, Jam Bands, etc.).
Generally bands are characterised by the number of people they can bring out as opposed to skill level or creativity, which is the biggest change from the nineties Having said all that, Athens is a good environment to meet other musicians (mainly due to the sheer number of them). Athens also has a lot of venues to play at so for new bands, it's a relatively easy place to get shows. All in all, Athens is a great place to play music, although not quite the collaborative utopia for music that it was in the past."
And yes, the sports topic was broached, with Brian being the enthusiast, the LA Lakers, Chicago Bears and Oklahoma Sooners being the teams of choice for the drummer. Hmm...will let him slide purely because he is a drummer!! But might have to send him some San Diego/LA Charger, Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Hurricanes caps!!
As far as The Albions music goes, these four young men have blended their individual styles/tastes into a sum that is bigger than its parts. Their songs tell a story and are easy to play over and over while peaking your anticipation for more from them.
From tracks listened to, Here and Now is a very well crafted, melodic tune whose guitar work has a faint Allman Brothers undercurrent. Love or Lie is very appealing and is reminiscent of The Wallflowers. The final track Five Days Short with its slow building intro and haunting undercurrent shows the band's diversity and uniqueness as well as their craftsmanship. You couldn't go astray with any of them in rotation in your playlists.
It was a pleasure jumping back to the music side of things with these guys first up...feel free to share and share again. Request their songs, demand gigs!! LOL! Like their Facebook Page. Above all else, enjoy their work.
ChuckE!
The next few months are packed with local shows in the Athens area. The band is constantly adding new gigs so keep up with them through their Facebook Page:
www.facebook.com/albionsounds
What's the Athen's scene like nowadays?
Dane gave his assessment of the Athens scene:
"With around five hundred bands in Athens, the scene is alive and well. The hard part is standing out with all of that competition although I think we are starting to by being unique.
The culture in Athens seems to fall into an established musical clique (Indie, Country, Jam Bands, etc.).
Generally bands are characterised by the number of people they can bring out as opposed to skill level or creativity, which is the biggest change from the nineties Having said all that, Athens is a good environment to meet other musicians (mainly due to the sheer number of them). Athens also has a lot of venues to play at so for new bands, it's a relatively easy place to get shows. All in all, Athens is a great place to play music, although not quite the collaborative utopia for music that it was in the past."
And yes, the sports topic was broached, with Brian being the enthusiast, the LA Lakers, Chicago Bears and Oklahoma Sooners being the teams of choice for the drummer. Hmm...will let him slide purely because he is a drummer!! But might have to send him some San Diego/LA Charger, Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Hurricanes caps!!
As far as The Albions music goes, these four young men have blended their individual styles/tastes into a sum that is bigger than its parts. Their songs tell a story and are easy to play over and over while peaking your anticipation for more from them.
From tracks listened to, Here and Now is a very well crafted, melodic tune whose guitar work has a faint Allman Brothers undercurrent. Love or Lie is very appealing and is reminiscent of The Wallflowers. The final track Five Days Short with its slow building intro and haunting undercurrent shows the band's diversity and uniqueness as well as their craftsmanship. You couldn't go astray with any of them in rotation in your playlists.
It was a pleasure jumping back to the music side of things with these guys first up...feel free to share and share again. Request their songs, demand gigs!! LOL! Like their Facebook Page. Above all else, enjoy their work.
ChuckE!
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