Carolinabound — Smoking Gun

Carolinabound first caught my ear by sharing a distinct similarity to one of my favorite singer-songwriters, Bill Mallonee. Maybe it’s his lonesome voice, or the cutting, spiritual lyrics. But it’s mostly his absolute confidence in what he’s saying: Carolinabound has something to say, and he wants you to know it.

The songs are, at first glance, meditative Americana music. But don’t let these songs fade to background noise — otherwise they’ll sneak up and gutpunch you. “Chaos,” for example, seems like a country-influenced ballad of nostalgic times past, until


There is blood on the hands of the people of this land
There are killers in the schoolhouse
There are sinners in the church house
And when all else fails
We’ll sail into the blue
Father forgive us, for we know not what we do

Yeah.

Carolinabound — Official, Facebook, Bandcamp