LULLWATER PRESS

Southern-infused local rockers set to release new recording

The Red and Black - Out and About

"A solid start for these Athens younsters with a fresh take on old school, Athens-styled classic rock"

Some band simply set out to give fans a good time for a night. While there's certainly no shame in that, the members of Athens-based classic rockers Lullwater believe that's stopping short of what music can do for the people.

"We do want people to have fun. we do want people to be enetertained, but in the same sense, we want fans to connect to the music, and have it mean something to them," said frontman John Strickland.

Strickland, a senior housing and consumer economics major from Waycross, said the band tries to create music people can relate to on a fundamental level from their own personal situations and past experiences.

"I want fans to feel the music as much as we do, and to understand the music," he said.

Strickland said the band's lyrics deal with everyday life, from broken relationships to religion.

"I'm not pushing any kind of religion or anything like that, but there are definitely some spiritual overtones to the songs," he said.

Even though he was born in Southern Georgia and raised as a Baptist, the spiritual lyrics Strickland attempts to write are lyrics that don't apply to any specific sect and, and, in many cases, transcend various religions as a way to speak to fans as a whole.

"It's about redemption, it's about death and dying," Strickland said of Lullwater's song "Faithful Sinners." "Everybody dies," he said.

Guitarist Brettt Strickland, of no relation to the band's lead singer, a housing and consumer economics major from Savannah, said that tries to create something deeper for the fans as well from a musical stand-point.

"I've always been more interested in the music aspect of it, like guitar solos, drum fills- thats what I get of it," he said.

"Faithful Sinners," the album's title track, also features a surprise guest appearance.

"We got John Neff of the Drive-by Truckers to play on a song," said Drummer Nick Thomas, a seniorpsychology major from Sandy Springs.

Strickland said that originally the song was not even going to on the CD.

"It was kind of a last minute thing," he said. "We just decided to record it."

"Faithful Sinners" was released in February, just a few months after the band finalized its lineup with bass player Phil Brush, a sophmore history major from Houston, Texas.
The album features distinctly Southern rock vocals. The band cited big name Athens bands Widespread Panic and Drive-By Truckers as some of its heaviest influences, and this is evident throughout the album. However, it would be unfair to confine the album as simply Southern rock.

The band also cites reggae, specifically Bob Marley, as being influential to its sound. Although it would be too much of a stretch to describe the band as reggae, it's clear the band has taken this influence and used it to recreate Southern rock in a new light.

The album itself covers a range of styles, from straight-up rock songs like "Blind," to simple melodic acoustic songs such as "Amsterdam," to the sparse but catchy guitar riffs in the modern rock feel of "Searching," without ever straying too far from its Southern roots, coming full circle to finish off with its title track. With the new record in hand, Lullwater isn't forgetting about the live show, as seven shows are planned in Athens for the next calendar month.