48 | GREENVILLE JOURNAL | 09.18.2015 | CULTURE
SOUND CHECK
WITH VINCENT HARRIS
Atlas Road Crew keeps it raw
Come Help Us Celebrate
When the Charleston quintet Atlas Road Crew went into the studio last year to record their debut full-length album, they knew what they were aiming for, musically. The band, which formed in 2011 while all five members were students at USC, loved the old-school rock ’n’ roll of the Rolling Stones, the Hammondorgan-drenched Southern grit of the Allman Brothers and the upfront, strutting attitude of the Black Crowes, and they Details wanted to combine their own hard-driving style, honed from Atlas Road Crew w/Dave Britt playing 200 shows a year, into WHEN: Friday, Sept. 18, 8 p.m. the mix. They probably didn’t expect WHERE: Gottrocks, 200 Eisenhower Drive, to come up with “Halfway to Greenville Hopkins,” which is the best TICKETS: $5 straight-ahead rock album I’ve INFO: 864-235-5519; gottrocksgreenville.com heard in years. Together with producers Rick Beato, Cory Plaugh and Jay Clifford, ARC (singer/guitarist Taylor Nicholson, guitarist Dave Beddingfield, pianist Bryce James, bassist Max Becker and drummer Patrick Drohan) has created a work of throwback genius, mixing anthemic choruses, unforgettable riffs, down-and-dirty grooves and boundless energy. It’s as if the rock-clock stopped in 1972, and no one minded at all. Special Guests: The reaction to “Halfway to Hopkins” has been near-universally positive, to the extent that the band has essentially been working nonstop since it came out in February. “I’ve definitely been surprised by the response to the record,” Nicholson says. “People really seem to be digging it. We’re getting feedback from Germany and places all over Europe where we never would’ve expected people to buy our album.” Perhaps part of the reason for the buzz around Atlas Road Crew, who will play at Gottrocks in Greenville Friday night, is that there seems to be a real lack of simple, and straightforward rock in the modern musical marketplace. “I think that has a lot to do with it,” Nicholson says. “There aren’t too many bands nowadays that are doing this. There are bands going the electronic route, but for us, keeping it raw with the guitars and piano makes our music stand out a little bit.” The Crew’s live show, honed over four years, has been a calling card for the band, as well. With only the 11 songs from “Halfway to Hopkins” to pull from, they often throw in some classic rock and blues favorites that influenced them. “As a whole, it’s bands like Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, the Southern rock bands, all of that hits home for us,” Nicholson says. “I think it’s refreshing for people who are a little bit older to see these young guys playing songs by the artists they grew up listening to.” More than 200 shows a year is a lot of time to be crammed together into a van, so it’s come in handy for the band that they started as friends before forming the group. “We all used to be just some guys at college playing instruments,” Nicholson says, “and now over the last few years it’s just developed more and more. We have a European tour coming up in February. It’ll be our first time over there, and it’s pretty cool to O.K. WITH CORRECTIONS BY:_________________________________________ think that we’re going to go see the world just for doing something that we love to do.”
GRAND OPENING MAIN STREET FOUNTAIN INN September 24th 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Concert presented by “The Flashbacks”
The Honorable Henry McMaster Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina Miss South Carolina Daja Dial
*Free refreshments will be located in participating Merchant shops.
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VINCENT HARRIS | CONTRIBUTOR | vharris@communityjournals.com
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