Popcorn Zombies

By Michael Momper American Aquarium, my new favorite alt-country group fronted by North Carolina singer/songwriter BJ Barham, are back with a completely new five-piece band and their most poignant and positive album yet. Things Change is an extremely honest reflection on Barham's part, a rallying cry for hope around the current divisive political climate (giving songs like "The World is on Fire" an excellent Springsteen-style edge) as well as myriad reflections on relationships with friends and family and even blossoming fatherhood. The new album is a gutsy endeavor to be sure, as he is surrounded with a completely new band from the one that he grew up making music with and that helped give American Aquarium their reputation on the road. As a fan, I understand the hesitation to embrace this type of change when an almost completely new band emerges from the few remaining embers of a group you have come to know and love... especially after an album as absolutely s...

Graham Craycraft Parker Millsap is a 25 year old Oklahoma native who, with the release of his third studio album, is a bonafide wunderkind. Although still relatively unknown and growing his first three albums, the first of which he released when he was 20, are lyrically clever, exciting, thought provoking, and all around outstanding. His newest album released on May 4 2018 is titled Other Arrangements  and brings another dose of electricity to his collection.  I went to see him at Southgate House Revival in Newport, Kentucky with some family on the 31st. Southgate is a small venue turned from church to concert hall, but still with the original stained glass windows, that puts up small and upcoming rock, folk, and alternative artists. I had been there once before to see Justin Townes Earl and so I already knew how nice and intimate the venue was. Chairs set up on two sides for those who wished to sit, and an open floor area right up to the stage that allowed the audience ...