Bottletree

The Southern United States have for centuries been known for their colorful people, vivid imagery, and soulful music. In line with these longstanding values, we are proud to announce the formation of a new collaborative effort between six hardworking, established young musicians here in Muscle Shoals, AL which we have decided to name ‘Bottletree’ after another interesting southern tradition. Together, the six of us (Angela Hacker, James LeBlanc, Scott Boyer, Byron Green, Jon Davis, and Zach Thomas) pledge to continue to put our full efforts into consistently writing and producing new original material as well as delivering an outstanding live show every time we step onstage. We are immensely excited to be able to come together in such a compelling way, and look forward to many good things to come.

The actual bottle tree concept was originally brought to the southern states by slaves who had brought it with them from the Congo region. Colorful bottles are either slipped over bare branches or sometimes hung from them with twine, and the bottles dance around in the sunlight when blown by the wind. Legend has it that evil spirits, upon seeing this take place, will become entranced by the swaying bottles and will be helplessly drawn to them. Upon entering the bottles to appease their curiosity, the spirits become trapped and are unable to find their way back out, and eventually succumb to the intensified rays of the sun. These festive works of art have evolved from a very simple design in the beginning into an elaborate individual statement today, with entire groups dedicated to acquiring antique bottle for their trees and current artists taking things to a whole new level with customized trees made out of fabricated metals (see links on site for examples).

The story of the bottle trees not only adds another layer to our production, but in a large way embodies our spirit as well. All of the members of the band bring a distinct voice and a seasoned musical background to the group, and when blended together we have found that the result is a unique and quite alluring sound that has few limitations in terms of style and form. All have also stood alone as singers and songwriters prior to banding together. To fully capitalize on this, we will all be pitching in on vocals and writing duties, egging each other on in the studio, and encouraging each other to play our best onstage and have a good time doing it. We hope that you will decide to come on board, and promise to deliver the best experience we possibly can if you do. Thanks for checking us out and with any luck we’ll see you at a show soon!