Frontman of Carbon Leaf shares advice for musicians after Youngstown show
Carbon Leaf is a band formed in 1992 in Virginia that tours in the U.S., whose songs blend folk, indie and alternative rock with Celtic influences.
In 2024, Carbon Leaf released their fifteenth studio album, “Time is the Playground.”
The band performed on April 12 at Westside Bowl, drawing a crowd ready to be transported by frontman Barry Privett’s hypnotic vocals.
The show started with “Life Less Ordinary” followed by “Alcatraz,” and audience members could tell the band gets joy out of seeing fans sing along to their lyrics.
Privett and fellow bandmates got the crowd excited with high-energy folksy songs like “Oi” and “Everything’s Alright Mama.”
“We all come from different styles and backgrounds, and they’re very dexterous, so they always have different sounds for me to write to and inspire me,” Privett said. “We don’t play the same set list every night, so we try to switch it up so that we’re not bored. Because if we’re bored, the audience is going to be bored.”
If you’re a fan of bands like Rusted Roots and Bare Naked Ladies, you’ll love listening to “Time is the Playground.”
Songs on the newest album like “Backmask 1983,” “Neon Signs” and “Monday Night in Germantown” are nostalgic with high appeal to multiple generations of listeners.
Privett said the response to the album has been very positive.
“I don’t have a favorite song, but sometimes we play certain things that have a nice moment where the audience is interacting, like ‘One Prairie Outpost’ is a real special one, and it’s kind of one of our mellower ones,” he said. “My favorite place to perform is where people show up. It’s always fun to go out west to Denver, Seattle, but it’s also cool to come home to the East Coast.”
The band sold cassette tapes which were actually flash drives containing all 15 albums and a live concert unavailable to find anywhere else.
For aspiring musicians, Privett said once you’ve decided to take it serious, you have to start sprinting.
“Get your band together, make sure you’re getting along, and make sure everybody’s committed to give it a go,” Privett said. “Just start by playing out, wherever you can. Get a gig. Play, get a gig. Rehearse. You just have to go make a playlist of all the demos that you want to work on, and just take some time to drive with it and listen to it and hum along to it and see where it takes you.”
