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FeedOct 28, 2011 07:37 AM WV Sound
Keeping a beat in the Mountain State
Bud Carroll: A Musical Force
Best known for his work with WV-based southern rock band American Minor, Bud Carroll and the Southern Souls, and indie/powerpop band AC30, Huntington resident Bud Carroll plays guitar, drums, bass, piano, cello, and, well, even more instruments. Lately, though, he says, “I mainly consider myself a songwriter.”
Bud is finishing up a solo record titled At Least I Can Still Smoke in My Car, and he plays guitar on the AC30 self-titled album out now. He also records his own music and runs a residential recording studio in Barboursville called Trackside.
Looking to distance himself from the southern rock sound he became known for with American Minor, Bud explores influences across several genres in his current songwriting. “I like to keep the melody at the forefront of everything I do, but I have a definite pop sensibility, and there’s definitely no way for me to keep out the blues and country influence,” he says. “I try to keep some punk rock involved as well as a huge Anglo influence, but it’s my sound, through and through.”
Bud has experienced some real highs along the way to finding his unique sound. He’s been playing guitar professionally since he was 12 years old, won the River City Blues Competition in Marietta, Ohio, and performed in various clubs all throughout his teenage years. On his 21st birthday, he joined American Minor, who moved to Illinois and signed a major deal with Jive Records. The band toured extensively for a couple of years playing gigs across the U.S., Canada, and England. Bud was doing exactly what he always wanted to do.
He says things began to fall apart, though, and Jive Records neglected promotions for American Minor. The band broke up in 2005, and Bud returned to Huntington and struggled somewhat—trying to find his place as a musician again. “Everything I always wanted to do came and went before I turned 25,” he says.
But Bud began staying in his apartment more nights, writing new material and learning how to record. “I started to realize how much music meant to me and no one could ever take that away from me,” he says. “In the end, it wound up better this way because I became a more accomplished musician and songwriter. The way you have to live when you are on a label and touring, it takes you to the extremes of your sanity and wears you thin.”
After American Minor, Bud Carroll and the Southern Souls formed with Steve Barker on drums, Jon Cavendish on keyboards and organ, and Jimmy Lykens on bass. “We had a bunch of different gears. We could play a punk song, then turn around and do a ballad, a country song or something that sounded like Radiohead,” Bud says. They recorded their full-length debut, Wasted Words & Best Intentions, in Athens, Ohio, and performed on Mountain Stage in 2010. After some of the musicians moved out of state, the band dissolved.
These days, Bud enjoys recording at his home studio and working on his soon-to-be released album, At Least I Can Still Smoke in My Car, on which he played many of the instruments. Though he does not have any gigs of his own scheduled, he is looking forward to performances this winter with AC30 to promote their new album as well as preparing for his solo project (which will include a band for live shows). At Least I Can Still Smoke in My Car will be available on iTunes and at gigs.
“My goal is not to have my face on anything,” Bud says. “I just want to make something that feels great to me and resonates with people, and I don't see how being on record label has anything to do with that.”
I loved reading this. I've known Bud since both of us were just kids. At that time we were probably just a minor annoyance to the employees while hanging out (daily) at the, now defunct, Pied Piper in the Huntington Mall spending countless hours playing guitars, amps, and effects that neither of us had any intention of buying. We both grew up playing in bands in the area. Occasionally we'd end up in the same band and countless times we've recycled the same group of musicians in various different incarnations. I'd steal musicians from him and, invariably, he'd steal them back. A lot of time has passed and I'm more than happy to say that he and I have kept in touch fairly regularly. I was so proud of him and the rest of the American Minor guys when they were doing so well. There are few who could argue that they were truely a force. Yet another fantastic band brought to it's knees by the major-label music machine because it needed a tax write-off. We've all heard "music business" stories and, sadly, American Minor became one of those statistic.
I now live in Nashville and see fantastic guitar players and songwriters daily. It's often that I think of how Bud could be right in the middle of them holding his own and even showing more than a few of "guitar town's" finest a thing or two (like how to play with soul). He and I have had that conversation and I completely respect his decision to remain in WV and a stick to his guns...writing better and better music all the time. I was fortunate enough to see The Southern Souls a few times and I can not wait to see and hear AC30. I am confident that this will be another amazing musical chapter in the cataloge of Bud Carroll. Love ya, Bud!
-Travis