“I’m still very much standing up for what I believe in––I don’t think anyone can question what side of the aisle I stand on,” he says. The result is the strongest writing of Barham’s already stout career. Instead, on Lamentations he’s making the political personal, reaching out to humanize folks with opposing viewpoints, and offering dignity instead of demonizing. Instead, on Lamentations he’s making the political personal.Īs much as Barham appreciates an indignant protest song or one-sided anthem, he isn’t writing them. “I’d be doing myself and the listener a huge disservice if I didn’t talk about the things I see, which is a country, divided.”Īs much as Barham appreciates an indignant protest song or one-sided anthem, he isn’t writing them. “As a songwriter, my number one job is to observe and then translate what I observe into a song, a story, a lesson,” Barham says. On American Aquarium’s new album Lamentations, Barham shines light on dark American corners with heartbreaking conversations, long looks in the mirror, and empathetic questions, all through songwriting that is clear without sacrificing its poetry, and direct without losing its humanity. These days, those shadows are tall and wide, making it hard to recognize a neighbor, family––even yourself. “I think that’s where country music has lost its way.” He pauses, then adds, North Carolina accent thick and voice steady: “I operate in the dark shadows of what we don’t want to talk about in the South.” It wasn’t always the prettiest voice, but it was an honest voice,” says American Aquarium founder and frontman BJ Barham. “Country music was the voice of the people.
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