American Aquarium at the Raccoon Motel -- July 18.
Tuesday, July 18, 7 p.m.
Raccoon Motel, 315 East Second Street, Davenport IA
Touring in support of their most recent album Chicamacomico – a recording that, according to Holler Country, finds the band "in superb, insightful form" – the alt-country and Americana musicians of American Aquarium headline a July 18 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, their latest also inspiring Paste magazine to rave that the band "has offered up a new batch of songs to cling to — a life-saving station still very much at work.”
Formed and led by lead vocalist/guitarist BJ Barham, American Aquarium's first album Antique Hearts was released in 2006, and was followed by The Bible & the Bottle in 2008. Following their release, the band began to tour extensively, playing around 250 shows a year, and netted a wider and more varied fan base beyond their native stomping grounds of Raleigh, North Carolina, Their 2008 sophomore effort also received critical attention, and that same year the band released the minimalist live EP Bones, recorded in a friend’s living room. Barham wrote the songs in the wake of a break-up, helping to cement a familiar theme of women who either got away or did the protagonist wrong. Their next album Dances for the Lonely was released by Last Chance Records in 2009 and features one of American Aquarium's biggest fan favorites, “I Hope He Breaks Your Heart.” Small Town Hymns, released in 2010, amassed even more favorable reviews, and continued the group's comparisons to Bruce Springsteen, Whiskeytown, and Lucero.
In 2012, American Aquarium released two albums: Live in Raleigh and Burn. Flicker. Die., which garnered considerable praise from music critics and fans. Produced by Jason Isbell, formerly of Drive By Truckers, the album led Blurt magazine to state, "Throughout, the music crackles and snarls with a raw viscerality that carries distinct echoes of the Drive-By Truckers and early-seventies Rolling Stones -- boozy, swaggering closing track 'Saturday Nights' even sports a signature crunch-riff that’d put a big smile on Keith Richards’ face." Burn. Flicker. Die. was nominated for Best Americana/Roots Album and Best Album Artwork in the 2013 Lone Star Music Awards, and led to American Aquarium's sixth original album, Wolves, which debuted in early 2015. The band's fans helped raise $24,000 through a Kickstarter project to help fund the production, and the album was recorded in Asheville, North Carolina. Six additional American Aquarium albums have subsequently landed, with the title track to 2020's Chicamacomico praised by Saving Country Music as a song that "rips your heart out and stomps on it like all the best AA songs do."
American Aquarium headlines their Davenport engagement on July 18, admission to the 7 p.m. concert is $25, and tickets are available by visiting TheRaccoonMotel.com.
