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10 | Arts & Entertainment Facebook.com/TheReporterNewspapers ■ twitter.com/Reporter_News From Buckhead Shaman to ‘Roswell Road,’ local towns show up in Bandcamp’s BIY tunes BY ERIC DAVIDSON The borderless terrain of the internet has decimated lots of the ol’ charming re gionalism of American pop music. The days of the Standells having a local Boston hit with “Dirty Water” before it became a national smash, or Prince dropping details about Minneapolis, are seemingly long gone. If your implied audience lives every where, you may be inclined to leave geogra phy out. Who wants to write a song called “The Devil Went Down to Domain Name?” But that doesn’t mean artists have com pletely given up on highlighting their home base sometimes. We scoured the music site Bandcamp for songs and albums whose ti tles refer to local north metro towns. Then we checked with the artists about their mo tivations for writing a nod to someplace lis teners way out in digital space may never visit. Bandcamp itself, in its own unique way, has been able to retain some of the region al flavor of the old townie musical habits. Unlike the somewhat faceless interface of Soundcloud, or the ubiquitous (and per ceived shady) corporate enormity of Spo- tify, the clunky-fun homepages that artists create on Bandcamp often have the vibe of old album liner notes, with sidebar high lights of where they're from, contact links, thank-yous to other local bands, and gen erally are chock-a-block with personal and recording info. During the COVID crisis especially, Bandcamp’s “Free Fridays” - where the company waives its cut and bands often offer all sales to a particular cause -- have come across as a kind of digital benefit concert where much of the monies raised come from fans of the band’s hometown. So here are some Bandcamp discover ies who were directly - or misdirectly - in spired by local towns. ‘Sandy Springs’ | Al Carmichael Detroit, Michigan (2016) This nice, slide-guitar- led stroll mu sically dem onstrates this acoustic strummer’s pre-Rust Belt existence in Georgia, as his drawl and mood sure don’t feel like the Mo tor City. Indeed, Carmichael was a member of Radar, a band of Atlanta’s 1960s and ’70 progressive rock scene. “’Sandy Springs’ was part of my CD called ‘Roswell Road,”’ said Carmichael. “The entire record is about my formative years living in Georgia. Sandy Springs was my hometown. This song was inspired by revisiting Sandy Springs and reminiscing about my life at that time. I was in high school then. Roswell Road is a long road that passes through Sandy Springs.” ‘Buckhead Heist’ | Ian Deaton Atlanta (2013) A fizzy, techno-rock, DeLorean race of an instrumental that might’ve been float ing out of one of Buckhead’s malls in 1987. “I’ve lived in Atlanta on and off since 1997, and I love crime cinema and fiction. I wrote the song ‘Buckhead Heist’ as part of a fake crime film soundtrack called ‘At lanta Crime Wave,”’ says Deaton. “I was dreaming a lot about a nonexistent 1980s action film set in Atlanta, so I wrote an al bum’s worth of Herbie Hancock/Harold Faltermeyer synthesizer music. ‘Buckhead Heist’ would be the scene in the film where a group of thieves steal a haul of diamonds from a high-end Buckhead jeweler and es cape by helicopter.” ‘Dunwoody’ | The Well Wishers San Francisco, California (2013) This singer-songwriter, Jeff Shelton, un knowingly named a whole EP after the lo cal town. And while he admits on his page that he has “since discovered” the existence of Dunwoody, Georgia, he somehow gath ered enough of an impression to “chroni cle the imaginary lives of those trapped in Southeastern suburban bliss,” via his lilt ing, Big Star-like jangle rock. IT’S LOOKING PRETTY. WHAT WILL BRING YOU TO PETPEOPLE? If it helps pets thrive, you'll find it at PetPeople. DOG WASHES & GROOMING EXPERTLY TRAINED STAFF DUNWOODY PEACHTREE SANDY SPRINGS PetPeople* 5556 Chamblee-Dunwoody Rd. Dunwoody, GA 30338 (678)353-6660 Grooming + SPAW Dog Wash! 2349 Peachtree Rd.NE Atlanta, GA 30305 (678)949-9347 SPAW Dog Wash! 4920 Roswell Rd. Atlanta, GA 30342 (404)500-2653 SPAW Dog Wash! $10 OFF $30 mrni IN-STORE PURCHASE | j| || | THRU 4.30.20 Coupon must be presented at time of sale. Cannot be used with any other discount or promo. USE RPR0# 17371 FREE DOG WASH WITH ANY PURCHASE! || j| THRU 4.30.20 Coupon must be presented at time of sale. Cannot be used with any other discount or promo. USE RPR0# 13979 Ask our experts about our healthy food options and 100% food guarantee. ‘Buckhead Betty’ | The Coathangers Atlanta (2007) A dainty, handclapped singalong re spite from the Atlanta punk stalwarts’ oth erwise itchy art-punk on their debut al bum. “‘Buckhead Betty’ was on our first LP, where we held no opinions back,” says Coathangers drummer/singer Stephanie Luke. “A Buckhead Betty was/is a term that refers to privileged women in the Buck- head neighborhood of Atlanta. Think ‘Real Housewives’-meets-Karens of the world. The type of woman who judges others ‘be low’ them in status, yet are themselves mis erable, pill-popping ladies.” ‘Buckhead Georgia' | Cedi Null War, West Virginia (1963) We’d ask Mr. Null - a one-time writ er of coun try hits like “I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know” - why he chose to write a tune about Buckhead, but he passed away in 2001. It’s a good bet he knew that part of town was way different and closer to the rural autoharp amble of Null’s minor fame than the upwardly mobile locale it is today. Then again, it could be named for the rival city of Buckhead in Morgan County. ‘SandySprings GA’” | Silverfoxx ETO Atlanta (2016) The airy, electro drone of this tune sounds more like background for the im age of the spaceship floating at the top of his Bandcamp page than anything that might honk or lawnmower its way through Sandy Springs. ‘Poor People’ | Buckhead Shaman Atlanta (2020) To catch up with this locally named mystery figure, we checked out “Poor People,” a slightly trippy, angelic electro- yearner with a breezy gleam that matches the sheen of his artistic nomenclature, if not the song title. Mr. Shaman turned out to be a musician named Tyler Hobbs. “Buckhead Shaman was originally an online persona delivering facetious health, wellness and spiritual guidance,” said Hobbs. “I started making music, and realized it matched well with the sha man character. It started as very tongue- in-cheek - poking fun at Buckhead’s con sumerism and pseudo-spiritual residents obsessed with their health. Buckhead Sha man is a total brand whore with a heart - a beacon of healing -- repping a part of town believed to be a cut above the rest.” — John Ruch contributed
