The Magic Bag
Magic Bag Presents: Carbon Leaf
Thu
April 18, 2024
7:00 pm
EDT
(Doors: 7:00 pm )
The Magic Bag
,
22920 Woodward Avenue, Ferndale, MI
All Ages
$35.00
"The Gathering series is all about building community," says Carbon Leaf frontman Barry Privett. "It's a call to look inwards and find what matters, an invitation to reach out and embrace the gifts of human connection." That's no mean feat given the deep divisions that have defined much of the past few years of American life, but Carbon Leaf has always punched above their weight, defying the odds at every turn and redefining what's possible for a modern indie band in the process. The group's extraordinary new mini-album, Gathering 2: The Hunting Ground, is no exception. Recorded at the band's own studio in Richmond, VA, the collection marks the second installment of the group's four-part Gathering series, which finds the long-running quintet stripping their sound back to its organic, acoustic core as they reckon with our ever-conflicting desires for unity and independence. The songs here are gutsy and probing, grappling with grief, loss, anger, and pain, and the arrangements are aggressive and insistent to match, fueled by layers of relentlessly strummed guitars, rolling banjo, and lush fiddle. The result is a moving, cathartic collection that's unafraid to confront darkness and doubt head on, a poignant, revelatory record all about the power of self-reflection and the ties that bind. "One of the big questions we found ourselves grappling with as a band was, 'How do you actually make any kind of a difference in society today?'" says Privett. "And I don't think you can do that without first looking inwards—to yourself, your family, your friends—and figuring out what your values truly are." Anyone who's caught a Carbon Leaf show over the past three decades probably has a pretty good idea just what those values are: brotherhood, commitment, empathy, integrity, self-reliance