Bobtown’s “Sun” Shines Like a Diamond

Bobtown, the Brooklyn band known for their fresh, distinctively offbeat approach to Americana, will officially release their fourth album, Chasing the Sun, on July 26th. Brooklyn Roads was in the house when the band previewed their latest and finest work — in its entirety — on June 9th at Manhattan’s Rockwood Music Hall, where we also picked up an advance copy of the album.   

If there’s a common theme running through Chasing the Sun, it’s that of “taking charge” and “turning a negative into a positive,” says Katherine Etzel, who proclaims in her song “Kryptonite” that, “This time we’re shining like a diamond.” And while the sentiment in “Let You Go” is not a happy one (“I never felt so lonely as when you laid down next to me”), the song’s protagonist empowers herself to end the relationship on her own terms.

And speaking of taking charge, Etzel thumbs her nose at death himself in “In My Bones,” complemented by Jen McDearman on glockenspiel and Karen Dahlstrom on banjo (switching off from her usual acoustic guitar). Dahlstrom’s “Daughters of the Dust,” the opening track of Chasing the Sun, was another concert highlight and a great showcase for Bobtown’s signature stunning harmonies.

Bobtown, who have written and recorded songs about hangings, graveyards, undertakers and ghosts, does not disappoint with “Hazel,” a murder ballad inspired by the Salem witch trials. It’s one of three contributions to the album from McDearman, along with “Come on Home” and “This Is My Heart.” When introducing the latter song, Etzel told the crowd that when she first heard it, “I kind of wept.” We say the sentiment is mutual, especially when McDearman sings, “Sometimes solitude feels like home.”

Bobtown Performing Chasing The Sun/ photo by Fred Volkert

Being songwriting pros themselves, Bobtown recognizes that the late Tom Petty’s “American Girl” is, at its core, a ballad, and they render it beautifully in that style. Etzel told the Rockwood crowd that she felt a personal connection, especially the line about hearing “the cars rolling by out on 441.” The native Iowan explained that, as a runaway teen, she had once supported herself by selling hot dogs along a stretch of that fabled Florida highway.

Bobtown On The Rockwood Stage/ photo by Sharon Goldman

While one can’t help but focus on the three singer-songwriters, it must be noted how perfectly Alan Lee Backer rounds out the quartet with his skilled work, as always, on guitar (acoustic and electric) and banjo. He also co-wrote the rocking “Devil Down.” During the concert the band was further enhanced by bassist Dan Shuman and, on select tunes, cellist Serena Jost, both of whom are also featured on the album.

The Rockwood concert concluded, as the album does, with Dahlstrom’s “No Man’s Land” … because it has to. No song wants to follow this powerful, defiant and liberating feminist anthem with lyrics such as “No man’s words can still my voice / No man can tell me where I stand / No man’s will can take my choice / I am no man’s land.” The musicians continue to play well after the last words are sung, as if to give the listener time to let the meaning and emotion sink in.

Overall, the concert proved to be a more than faithful rendering of Chasing the Sun. No surprise there, for as musically fulfilling as the album is, Bobtown’s work should be heard live to best be appreciated.

Chasing the Sun was produced and mixed by Etzel and much of the tracking was done at Brooklyn’s own Acme Hall Studios in Park Slope.