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T imber can be a little bit country and
a little bit rock and roll; but on its
new album, Scrawled, the local band
draws on an even broader palette of
American music than that.
"I didn't want any drums on most of the
songs, kind of a bluegrass set-up," says song
writer, singer and bandleader Daniel Aaron.
"Although they aren't really bluegrass songs. I
think overall, it's a pretty playful feel we cap
tured with the recordings."
Scrawled is the latest entry from a group
that's been a constant in town over the past
few years, though the band has never really
sat for any long time in the limelight. That's
probably more due to Aaron's easy-going
demeanor—familiar to anyone who's ponied
up for a friendly pint at Little Kings, where he
bartends—and reasonable ambitions, though
touring to support this new release looks to
be in the works.
"About 90 percent of the songs on the
record were written a few years ago. [They
were] some of the first things scribbled down
on the backs of envelopes when I first picked
up a guitar," he says of Scrawled, recorded
in Aaron's home. "I wrote all the words and
chords, and the rest of the crew found their
parts and arranged them during practices
and often while recording. For example, we'd
record a part that we didn't really do in prac
tice and listen back to it and decide to keep
it like a happy little accident. It was pretty
loose. Some songs are faster or slower on the
record than they maybe should be."
"As cheesy as it sounds," he adds, "it
was actually a lot like a 'trust/fall' exercise.
We took about a year to learn some songs,
record a few, play them to no one around the
Southeast, sleep in some cat-hair beds, come
home in the red, record a few more songs...
[and] start the process over."
Take a look at some of Timber's song titles
to get a feel for where you may be heading:
"Farewell Again," "Yeah, Well I Never Loved
You Too," "Beer Bottles & Cigarette Butts,"
and the aptly monikered "Just Another Sad,
Sad Song." Common tropes, sure, but handled
with aplomb by Aaron and his crew.
Hit up the 40 Watt to get a copy of the
new disc, which, as of yet, has no label.
"I hate trying to hawk CD-Rs off on people.
I think it's cheap and looks unprofessional,"
says Aaron. "They don't even play a lot of
the time in old CD players. We want to pimp
Scrawled to some labels who can put the
record out. None of us have the thousand dol
lars sitting around to have them pressed with
nice artwork."
That said, CD-Rs of Scrawled will be avail
able at Timber's 40 Watt show with cover
artwork courtesy of local musician Thayer
Sarrano, as will a few new T-shirts. This week's
show also serves as an adios-for-now to
accordion player and backing vocalist Sarah
Schindler, who's moving to Maine soon. Expect
her voice to be front-and-center on at least a
few tracks. And a note to those who caught
Timber's lively, electrified set at AthFest a few
weeks back: that was the rock-and-roll side
of the band there. This time around, expect
a more acoustic rendition of Aaron's tunes,
backed as he is by local pros Daniel Ray (vio
lin), Coy King (upright bass, piano), Kyle Gann
(mandolin, banjo) and Eric Johnspn (pedal
steel). "I'm quite lucky to have played with
a ton of skilled musicians over the past four
years," says Aaron, "but this line-up is my
favorite. Sarah is going to be moving away, so
that leaves a pretty big gap in our hearts and
the band."
Chris Hassiotis
WHO: Timber, Nightingale News,
ClayUverett
WHERE. 40 Watt Club
WHEN: Thursday. July 23
HOW MUCH: $5(21+), $7(18+)
Making Athens More Beautiful
One Client at a Time
160 Tracy St. : Inside Mercury AIR building
1Ci( ' 354.0303 : jonmichaelsalon.net
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