Soul'd Out Presents

AN EVENING WITH CARBON LEAF

Fri October 6, 2023
( Doors: 7:00 pm ) SHOW: 8:00 pm PDT
Star Theater
13 NW Sixth Avenue, Portland, OR
Ages 21 and Up
Carbon Leaf
$30.00
Soul'd Out Presents: An Evening with Carbon Leaf 
Doors: 7:00pm
Show: 8:00pm
Ages 21+.

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. Founded at Randolph-Macon College in 1992, the group evolved from a houseparty cover band into something far more profound after graduation, when they moved to Richmond and made the shift to original music. The band’s first three albums helped build a devoted cult following, but it was 2001’s Echo Echo that truly brought Carbon Leaf to national attention, with lead single “The Boxer” earning the group a performance slot in front of millions of viewers at the American Music Awards. After nearly ten years of self-releasing and grinding it out on the road (both as headliners and as guests appearing on bills alongside the likes of Dave Matthews Band, O.A.R., Jason Mraz, Blues Traveler, and Guster, among others), the band signed with Vanguard Records in 2004 for their critical and commercial breakthrough, Indian Summer, which yielded a Top 5 hit at AAA radio and garnered rave reviews everywhere from The Washington Post to WXPN. While the band would go on to release two more similarly well-received albums with Vanguard, it soon became obvious to everyone that independence wasn’t simply an ideal for Carbon Leaf, but rather an integral part of their DNA, and so in 2010, the band parted ways with the label in order to return to their DIY roots and take complete and total control of their career. Acting as their own label, distributor, and manager, the band cut new versions of all three Vanguard albums in order to regain the rights to the recordings, launched their own festival, and began releasing a successful series of direct-to-fan concert films, livestreams, and studio records
Carbon Leaf

Guitarist Terry Clark, vocalist Barry Privett, bassist Jordan Medas, guitarist Carter Gravatt, and drummer Scott Milstead built up a considerable following and were soon releasing albums through their own label. Meander appeared in 1996, with Shadows in the Banquet Hall and Ether-Electrified Porch Music following in quick succession. In 2001, Carbon Leaf debuted a more mature sound with the album Echo Echo and won a Coca-Cola-sponsored unsigned band contest that landed them a performance on the American Music Awards. By this point, Carbon Leaf was also regularly opening shows for adult alternative-friendly acts like DMB, John Mayer, Guster, and David Gray, and the band documented their frequent and vibrant live shows with the 2002 double live set 5 Alive! Indian Summer appeared in 2004. Issued through Vanguard, it was Carbon Leaf's first recording for any label other than their own, and the strongest example yet of their polite, astute, and engaging sound. It was followed in 2006 by Love Loss Hope Repeat. ~ Johnny Loftus