Appalucia
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Appalucia

Charlotte, North Carolina, United States | SELF

Charlotte, North Carolina, United States | SELF
Band Folk Acoustic

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"Appalucia CD review"

Appalucia is one of the few country bands that even die-hard metal heads can appreciate. In fact, I have witnessed metal heads on numerous occasions embracing their southern roots and straight getting down to the musical amalgamation. The band contains some of Charlotte’s best musicians that typically cater to different styles as they come from punk rock backgrounds. Well, two of these punk rockers, Andy and Corey, got high one day and started toying around with different instruments and somehow ended up playing country music while staying true to their raw, I don’t give a fuck what people think roots. The idea behind their music was to write songs in the style of classic country themes they became familiar with growing up; all the while doing so in a way that they could identify with. Instead of stereotypical, wholesome tunes, they sing about drinking and sinning, drawing from their shared and eclectic heritage of Appalachians who fought for their personal land instead of taking sides during the Civil war. That said, Appaluica is a musical mountain river, southern hybrid of each of their own personalities and good ol’ rural drinking music.

Appalucia’s new, self-titled album contains a series of sequencial gems that makes you want to go get a bottle of whiskey and have a good time while jamming out to their catchy, well written and passionate overlay of guitar, banjo, mandolin, violin and drums with three harmonizing voices that know how to throw-down. I must say that I was very impressed with their track listing from the get-go and their CD has stayed in consistent rotation since I got it in my slimy hands.

The album opens with their foot-stomping jam, “Run Devil Run” and by god does it immediately get you hooked. Catchy riffs and chant-like singing in the style of Roger Miller causes you to turn your stereo up a notch to see what’s coming. I don’t think the band could’ve made a better opening selection. Seriously, my car CD player starts a disc over every time I turn my car on because I’m an idiot and installed it incorrectly. So typically I grow very tired of opening tracks. But I can honestly say, I feel it would be impossible for me to get tired of this song. I still greet it with the same excitement every time I hear the skeleton melody and bass kick in.

The album is full of fast songs and slow songs placed perfectly in order. It takes you on a trip through the various elements of being a rural man, some satirical, some heartfelt and some about throwing down. While it would be downright impossible to pick a favorite track, I must say there are a couple that really lock my attention, sometimes even to the point where I have gotten lost in the music while driving and ended up going the wrong way.

Send em’ Home is a certainly an interesting song. It is fabled to have been first written by the ancestors of the group while they fought to keep their land from the North and South during the Civil War. It would make sense that their future generations would turn out to be some righteous punk-rockers considering that they were true to themselves and only themselves, not identifying with anyone. The opening lyrics say it all, “When the shit hits the fan/we don’t need no middle man/telling us how to be living/me and my boys got a plan. On the killing fields we met/we painted that river red/we fed you to that oak tree and we tallied up the dead.” While this may be an updated interpretation of the musical scores and lyrics passed down through generations, the boys play it well and tell the story that influenced their lives through and through.

Bears makes me wish I knew all the lyrics so I could sing along, karaoke style. A humorous, up-beat ballad about the dangers of bears, it gets you slapping your leg and swinging your head in unison.“They’d just as soon eat you, as they would to greet you. Well, we like it better that a way.” There’s nothing better than being able to enjoy music with a genuine smile on your face. I do believe that this song has even made me hoot and holler from time to time. I certainly know that I am not the only one because anytime I play it for someone they have react similarly.

I cannot stress how awesome this album is. I highly recommend checking it out. It isn’t very often that punk rockers get a slice of country they can enjoy. Jump on the opportunity and surprise yourself with your open-mindedness. Regardless of your musical tastes, you will find yourself jamming out and playing it on repeat. There really is no excuse for missing out on such an experience.

Although the album is fantastic, Appalucia’s live performance is a good ol’ time. Check out these photos of their last performance by our photographer, Dianna Augustine.

- Shutter16 magazine


"Appalucia CD review"

Appalucia’s baked-and-sauced porch jams include high velocity drinking anthems, outlaw tales of survival, and to hell-with-redemption laments, and they all pack a wallop. The all-acoustic Charlotte sextet is fronted by the gang vocals of songwriters Corey Ziegler (mandolin) and Andy Fenstermaker (guitar), as well as Wylie Buck Boswell (banjo); driven full-tilt and half-mad by the rhythms of Ian Stroupe (bass) and Kevin Hintzen (drums); and colored by the band’s secret weapon, Geoff White’s fiddle. Roughly hewn and more authentic than an army of alt-country wannabes, Appalucia is punk as fuck, too, and above all a grand old time. (JS)

- shuffle magazine


Discography

-Appalucia “Appalucia” AMR-01 released 4/8/08 also available for download on itunes, bandcamp, etc.
-“Righteous Man” used on “Y’all motherfuckers need justice 2” compilation on Farmegeddon Records
-Appalucia "Bet it All E.P." AMR-02 also available for download on CD baby
-"believe in god (if y'ant to)" used on Jeff Hahne's Home brew vol. 5 compilation.

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Bio

Direct descendents from the original German settlers of the early 1800s in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. They were simple, yet skilled laborers, from poor families that came to America for a new life that consisted of basic pleasur...es, hard work, and living off of the rich and fertile Southern land. As the secession from the Union by the Southern states began, the Appalachian settlers knew that North Carolina would be forced to withdraw from the United States and fight for a war to sustain, among other things, slavery laws. They wanted no part in it, for the mountain colonists were too poor to afford slaves in the first place, and these proud people held allegiance to none other than their own. In fear of losing the land they'd worked so hard for, they began the Appalachia/Lucia Militia or the APPALUCIA Militia. They set up post on the mountain ridges to survey each valley below, and throughout the foothills. Whenever any company of soldiers, be they Confederate or Union, would try to pass by, the Appalucia Militiamen would ambush, forcing them to either die or retreat in hopes of finding a new passage. Eventually, both sides of this Civil War would call this area the "Cohee Trail" and avoid it at all cost. At that time, we had won our war! Meanwhile, one of the main pastimes of the people was music, having barn dances or congregations of musicians in the hollers, at the harvest festivals, or on the porches of their homes (when they weren't fighting to defend them). They began writing spiritual songs reflecting their ways of hard time living and the worship of a more down home and simple God, as opposed to the more traditional Christian Religion. In turn, these songs have been passed down generation to generation by those original settlers who later became known, and will always be remembered as the Appalucia Militia! Enjoy.