After taking a several year hiatus, Drew Carman is returning to Austin music under the Carman A.D. moniker, with the star studded EP Wildnerness, due out on January 10th. Inspired to make music again after the passing of his friends Chris Porter and Mitchell Vandenburg, Carman enlisted a slew of Austin greats, including Bonnie Whitmore, Carson McHone, producer John Calvin Abney and more. The result is a passionate and lovingly recorded set of classic Texas twang.
We’re particularly thrilled to premiere “89 Johnstown,” a blast of reverb soaked country rock that recalls Steve Earle and Bruce Springsteen in both style and substance. Carman told us the song is about the Johnstown dam burst tragedy in 1889 that killed 2000 impoverished people, going on to explain that “This song is about those people….But it’s also a reminder that man-made disasters are like a fox in the hen house; they’ll keep coming back around to eat the flock unless something is done to stop it.” In true folk fashion, “89 Johnstown” uses the story of a past tragedy to make a point about the present, but it’s by no means a preachy slog– it has the energy of a righteously angry crowd and the seductive charm of a tent revival sermon. Check it out for yourself below and be sure to catch Carman A.D. at the White Horse on December 24th for Carson McHone’s Seventh Annual Christmas Eve Songwriter Special and at Hole in the Wall on January 10th for the Wilderness EP release party!