Bellwether Station

Bellwether Station hasn't given up on rock and roll. In February of 2010, the four band members descended into an unfinished basement on Monroe Drive, armed with a few amps and microphones, guitars, a drum set, a dog, and a handheld recording device. The result of those stolen hours is a five-song demo that takes aim at the common ground between Saturday night exultation and Sunday morning penance, without neglecting all the caterwaul in between.

Although some of the songs are populated by characters you might not invite into your home, their stories are well worth hearing – even if only experienced from outside the speaker cone. Most importantly, though, these guys have a heck of a good time playing music. The music itself, while tipping its hat to an obscured era when “roots music” was something other than an excuse for $200 jeans and painstakingly disheveled hair, represents the band’s best efforts at distilling a broad range of influences from the last 70 years or so in the hopes of creating something new, something that rocks, and something that tells the truth. They may not always hit the bull’s eye, but they hope you’ll enjoy listening as much as they enjoy trying.

The band lives in Atlanta, and the songs are recorded live with everyone playing at the same time. There are no overdubs, no studio effects, and no voice manipulation software. If you hear a mistake in the recordings, it’s because they made it. If you hear a sound you like, they did that, too. If you come see them live, it’ll probably sound a lot like these recordings – except you’ll have to forgo the echo from the basement walls.