Artist: Blackberry Smoke
Album: Leave A Scar (Live North Carolina)
Bitrate: 253kbps avg
Quality: EAC Secure Mode / LAME 3.98.4 / -V0 / 44.100Khz
Label: 3 Legged Recorcds / Earache
Genre: Southern Rock
Size: 200.41 megs
PlayTime: 1h 45min 48sec total
Rip Date: 2014-07-05
Store Date: 2014-07-08
Track List: Disc #1/2
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01. Shakin' Hands With The Holly 3:53
Ghost
02. Sanctified Woman 3:36
03. Testify 4:43
04. Good One Comin' On 3:48
05. Six Ways To Sunday 3:53
06. Ain't Got The Blues 4:26
07. Lucky Seven 3:15
08. Pretty Little Lie 3:37
09. Restless 4:20
10. Up In Smoke 3:39
11. Crimson Moon 4:36
12. The Whippoorwill 6:05
13. Son Of The Bourbon 4:27
Track List: Disc #2/2
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01. Everybody Knows She's Mine 4:36
02. One Horse Town 4:06
03. Lesson In A Bottle 4:47
04. Ain't Much Left Of Me 7:13
05. Leave A Scar 4:34
06. Sleeping Dogs 10:23
07. Payback's A Bitch 4:48
08. Up The Road 6:26
09. Shake Your Magnolia 4:37
Release Notes:
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The members of Southern Rock quintet Blackberry Smoke are no strangers to hard
work. Playing up to 250 dates each year, the guys are on the road more often
than not, and theyÆve seen tangible results of their labor. The band has toured
with and befriended idols such as The Marshall Tucker Band, ZZ Top (with Billy
Gibbons jamming with the band on a Florida stop), Lynyrd Skynyrd and George
Jones. The band was even asked to play for Jones on his 80th birthday, not long
after the country legend turned in a guest appearance on the bandÆs sophomore
album. TheyÆve toured Europe thrice over, and had their songs featured in video
games (EA SportsÆ NASCAR 08) and films (Swing Vote), as well.
Mixing elements of gospel, bluegrass, arena rock, soul and more than a touch of
outlaw country, Blackberry Smoke has earned a passionate fanbase that continues
to grow as the band itself evolves. The band is as blue collar as the bandanas
its members wear.
ôOur fanbase is as organic as you can get,ö says drummer Brit Turner. ôEach fan
has been won by live performance or good old word of mouth.ö
In a little more than a decade together, Blackberry Smoke has released three
full-length albumsùincluding 2012Æs The Whippoorwill, the bandÆs first for
country megastar Zac BrownÆs Southern Ground labelùtwo EPs and a live DVD, Live
at the Georgia Theatre, which serves as the perfect showcase for the bandÆs
raucous, rockinÆ good-times-for-all take on rock ÆnÆ roll. A chunk of the DVDÆs
concert footage has aired numerous times on Palladia, and the band also shot a
DirecTV concert that has aired countless times.
Brit, along with singer and guitarist Charlie Starr, bassist and vocalist
Richard Turner, guitarist and vocalist Paul Jackson and keyboardist Brandon
Still, have slugged it out on the road for more than a decade, but now regularly
sell out headline appearances across the country and overseas. The bandÆs
audience, Brit says, feels like more than fans, which is appropriate given that
their families are their biggest supporters. (A word to the wise: hitting on the
pretty ladies in the front row might get you decked.)
Though these road dogs rarely have downtime, they recently managed to carve out
enough time to record their newest batch of songs for The Whippoorwill, an album
that serves as a platform for smart, battle-tested songwriting and for the
bandÆs ability to leave audiences breathless.
Despite the additional resources at its fingertips, the band decided that The
Whippoorwill would be largely an in-house affairùits own songs, done its own
way. Consequently, the band is more excited for this albumÆs release than any
effort thus far.
ôI remember not being able to sleep well at night when we were making this new
album,ö Charlie recalls. ôI was so excited about which songs we were going to
cut the next day. After itÆs done and we can hold it in our hands and be proud
of it we know that thereÆs another one that will have to be made in the not too
distant future, but it feels really good to have this one finished; weÆre all
really proud of it.ö
With Zac Brown and the entire Southern Ground team behind them, Charlie and the
boys are experiencing all the benefits of life on a larger label. For an already
busy band, business is booming.
ôThe only time we stop or take any time off is when someoneÆs wife has a baby,ö
Charlie adds, chuckling. ôSo, weÆve had to come up with a fictitious band member
whose fictitious wife is having a fictitious baby.ö
Yet even though they have a wealth of experience under their belts, with the
release of The Whippoorwill, the guys find themselves in uncharted territory.
ôWeÆve never done an album and actually planned a tour around it,ö Charlie
confesses. ôItÆs always been ætour constantly and whenever the album is done, it
comes out.Æ ItÆs a new thing for us to actually plan this far ahead.ö
And while the recording process for The Whippoorwill might have afforded the
band a few additional luxuriesùôIt was strange being able to go into a nice
recording studio without having to not pay ourselves for awhile to get the money
to do it,ö Brit saysùthe band still found itself backs against the wall.
Fortunately, thatÆs exactly where Blackberry Smoke seems to thrive.
ôFor all the planning ahead, we still had to get it done in four-and-a-half
days, so itÆs not like we had time to stretch out and find the most comfortable
chair in the studio,ö Charlie says. ôIn a perfect world, IÆd like to take a
little bit more time to record, but itÆs not possible until they add more hours
in the day and more days in the week. WeÆre used to doing it that way anyway.ö
Regardless of whatever pressures the band might have been under while the red
light was on in the studio, that stress isnÆt evident on any of The
WhippoorwillÆs 13 tracks. For example, album opener, ôSix Ways to Sunday,ö is a
footstomping tune that mirrors the songÆs carefree attitude, and could be
mistaken for an old Motown track at times. At the same time, the title track has
the effortless blues approach of Æ70s-era Pink Floyd, but with more grease.
Nothing feels forced.
Indeed, the bandÆs history together gives them a natural chemistry when writing
the songs that could easily find a home with a diverse set of audiences.
Straddling the line between paying homage to oneÆs heroes and blatant theft is a
tricky business, but itÆs a divide that the members of Blackberry Smoke traverse
with ease. The band invites a few comparisons to the hallowed forefathers of
Skynyrd, but donÆt expect to hear the same worn out clichΘs in their songs that
every other band with country, pop or rock leanings have already espoused.
ôWeÆre not in the business of writing the same song over and over and over,ö
Charlie says bluntly.
Speaking of ôover and over,ö at many points it would have been easy for these
blue-collar musicians to get tired of bashing out song after song in distant
dives and hang it up, get straight jobs and rock out as weekend warriorsùif at
all. But despite some lean years, they kept building an audience and keeping up
with wives, children and girlfriends from long distances. So whatÆs kept them so
passionate?
As Brit Turner emphasizes, itÆs not necessarily dreams of stardom. ItÆs simply
the love of the game. ôWe love it or we wouldnÆt do it.ö