Photo of BJ Barham of American Aquarium by Pariss Brown
Music has been a multi-tool for thousands of years. Communicating, revolting, professing, working, surviving, worshipping, teaching, each utilizes music as a tool. Music is meaningful, music isn’t meant to sell records, it’s meant to connect people across lines they may not ever see to cross otherwise. Music has given a voice to the voiceless and hope for the oppressed throughout humankind. Country music, as many times as its roots have been violently ripped from where they run through Appalachian and Delta dirt, transplanted and sold, cannot be separated from where its seeds were planted. The cornerstone country music balances on is the sounds of slaves, immigrants, Native Americans, and coal miners throughout history. People that needed to communicate their hope and anger and sorrow and dreams. Music used little resources to create and felt powerful to share. It didn’t always need words or language. Country music has always been for the people, not the masses. Nathan Evans Fox and American Aquarium reminded me how powerful the music I grew up surrounded by is.
Nathan Evans Fox is an artist raised in western North Carolina. He originally gained attention on TikTok for his song that eventually became “Hillbilly Hymn (Okra & Cigarettes).” In the video, Evans Fox sits in his brown overalls with two other singers who join him in an a cappella chorus: “When the lord comes back there ain’t gonna be no cops/ you can cook your own/ you can smoke your crops/ all the boys gonna wear all the pretty things/ when the lord comes back ain’t gotta prove a thing.” I felt an immediate draw to it, just like I had Tyler Childer’s Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven? It felt like home and also some utopia—a South not plagued by division and struggle. I heard someone in the crowd say they had never heard gospel music before then. The a cappella gospel style is a callback to the music often heard in the churches that Nathan grew up playing music in while the lyrics call for a world that feeds the poor and welcomes the needy—but not the greedy. He is a talented bluegrass musician who has played multiple instruments since he was 4. As he grew, he started to see the government-caused poverty and neglect that plagued the Appalachian region he lived in and the mounting tension in the US. He used the style of music he had always found comfort in to spread a message that he feels convicted in. His albums are produced by his guitarist, Zachary Hamilton. He has two recent releases; an album called Heirloom and a single called “Sawzall v. Surveillance (The Ballad of the Metal Man).” Nathan’s proof that for all its bad, social media has given us independent artists we may not have found otherwise. He’s nostalgia for some, an introduction for others, and a reminder that y’all means all.
American Aquarium is summed up best by one of their lines: “I’ll take a song and a shit hot rock n’ roll band/ Over signing my name on a dotted line anyway.” Take those further in any direction and you have American Aquarium: gritty, independent, witty, and shit hot rock n’ roll. This tour is following their release of their latest album New Ways to Lose, which reflects on childhood, southern hometowns, anti-establishment mindsets, and continuing on with what you got. Headed by lyricist and singer BJ Barham, the band was formed in North Carolina in 2006 and has survived the last 20 years the old-fashioned way: refusing to go down. It feels shocking and completely unsurprising that Barham and the band have been touring in some capacity for the last 20 years. They are electric and full of energy-a band that still feels excited to be playing music. Some shows can feel rehearsed over time; American Aquarium feels like a house party does: just show up for a good time and the rest is up to fate.
Barham’s stage presence is intense in a way that’s convincing instead of intimidating. His voice is raspy without being gravelly, and his accent isn’t overstated or gimmicky. The band consisted of two guitars, keyboard, drums, bass, and steel guitar. It was the essential mix of southern rock sound—I don’t always love steel guitar, but it just adds something to these songs that can’t be overlooked. Their sound is rooted in southern rock and americana, similar to Turnpike Troubadours, Whiskey Myers, and Sturgill Simpson. Their discography includes a lot of ballads about life in the U.S. in general and the South in particular, and all the history and baggage and love and spite that live in our communities. He appeals to blue collar workers and punks alike—work hard, live right, and take care of your neighbor. Barham knows the meaning of “write it like you talk it”, and it connects him to his audience.
I enjoyed the atmosphere these artists created and their commitment to remaining independent in a time it’s not rewarded. Here’s to the next 20, American Aquarium. | Pariss Brown
Nathan Evans Fox Setlist:
Mourning Doves
Tx Blues No. 7
Landlords, Bill Lee, Etc.
Cigarettes and Moon Pies
Kubota
Reckonings
Dirt Working Dirt
Hillbilly Hymn
Bottleneck
American Aquarium Setlist:
Dollar General
History Repeats Itself
Cherokee Purples
Casualties
St. Mary’s
The Long Haul
Cape Fear River
The World Is on Fire
Crier
A Better South
Twin Flames
Nothing to Lose
Family Problems
Whatever Helps You Sleep at Night
The Day I Learned to Lie to You
The Luckier You Get
Wichita Falls
I Hope He Breaks Your Heart
Burn.Flicker.Die.
Favorite Hello
Savannah Almost Killed Me
Saturday Nights
