Andy Cabic (of Vetiver)
Have you been sitting at that computer all day? You’re overdue for a break. The new Vetiver album, The Errant Charm, is a superb soundtrack for an afternoon idyll. Take a moment to load the record on your mp3 player. Hell, if you still have a Walkman, the whole thing fits neatly on one side of a C-90 cassette tape. Select your favorite pair of headphones, and go for a stroll.
This album was made for walking. Vetiver bandleader Andy Cabic spent hours wandering the streets around San Francisco’s Richmond District, listening to rough mixes, tinkering with lyrics and arrangements. You can hear his strides in the tempo of “Hard To Break,” which captures the brisk gait one might adopt while passing through a public green space: Not hurried, just excited to be heading somewhere.
Eric D. Johnson (of the Fruit Bats)
Sometimes a story can take a long time to tell. Eric D. Johnson, who has recorded and performed as the Fruit Bats for a decade now, had a story like that, a chance encounter that had rattled around his head for years. He’s tried to write it as a short story, a play, a movie…yet until now couldn’t get it down just right. Finally he decided to make a song out of it, and the result is “Tony the Tripper.” It’s the song at the heart of his fifth album, Tripper, setting the tone for a bittersweet meditation on hitting the road, leaving the familiar behind and reinventing yourself.
The story goes like this. Just after turning 20, Johnson boarded a train from Chicago to see his sister in Olympia, Washington. A grizzled vagabond—Tony—took the seat next to him for the ride to Fargo, North Dakota. Over the next 12 hours the two developed a strange relationship, the cantankerous oldster alternately bullying and befriending Johnson. A decade or so later, Johnson is still bemused by the encounter, wondering what he could have learned from this broken, frightening, but fascinating character. The song “Tony the Tripper” imagines the two of them heading out on a road trip, the idealist and the outlaw cutting a swath across America.
Artist Spotlight: Andy Cabic & Eric Johnson
Recently, the country music world has been abuzz about a pair of well-known solo artists that have teamed up for a tour of concerts in Houston and beyond, quickly rising to the top of music fans’ must-see lists. The rare opportunity to see two incredible musicians in a single showing is earning the attention of the music community, and for good reason.
The Andy Cabic and Eric Johnson Band is the no-frills name for the pairing of the two innovative musicians, a blending of their incredible talents and unique approach to country music. Together, they are an unstoppable force that has fans everywhere tapping their toes to a range of catchy, lyrical arrangements that tell the stories of both Cabic and Johnson.
Andy Cabic
Andy Cabic is a Virginia-born artist who has contributed his talent to a number of musical ventures, including singing, songwriting, producing, and guitar playing. This range of experience has led him to develop a unique, folk-country Americana style that has earned him a dedicated fanbase.
Cabic may be best known for his role as a lead member of the band Vetiver, a group with several very successful American folk albums to their name. However, he has also been a longtime collaborator with Devendra Banhart, both co-writing and producing the Cripple Crow album.
Cabic’s most recent work with Vetiver is their pinnacle album, The Errant Charm. Much of the work was composed by Cabic as he strolled the city streets of San Francisco, making it a spirited mix of nicely paced songs.
Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson was part of the Fruit Bats band when personal tragedy led him to make a change, turning the painful experience into a new musical direction. After some time spent composing film scores, Johnson focused on supporting other musicians by lending his producing talents, and also put time and energy into expanding his California-based Huichica Music Festival.
And then, after an emotionally-healing time as a solo artist, Johnson realized that it was time for Fruit Bats to make a return. Their sixth album, Absolute Loser, is made up of incredible lyrical works like “Baby Bluebird” and “My Sweet Midwest.” Johnson has professed that music was the path on which he rediscovered himself after tragedy, and that life experience can be heard in every rich note and verse.