By Peter Galvin
Cary Brothers
8 p.m. July 28
Shelter at St. Andrews, Detroit
Cary Brothers was born and raised in Nashville but he never really liked the country music that surrounded him there. "I have a love/hate relationship with the South," he says. "There's so much beauty there, but a lot of secrets too."
It's the beauty of the Southern music that has infused some of Brothers' finest acoustic-leaning work as a singer-songwriter, particularly his cult hit (and iTunes favorite), "Blue Eyes." Yet, Brothers, who recently released his debut CD "Who You Are," had other music on his mind growing up. "I liked English bands like New Order and The Smiths. The British bands had a mystery and darkness I could relate to."
Brothers seamlessly blends the influences of his past on "Who You Are," retaining his trademark blend of acoustic strumming and spacey electric guitars, adding arrangements that are deeper, richer, and more rock 'n' roll than the tracks on his previous EP "Waiting for Your Letter."
Brothers has put together a band and will support the album with extensive touring for the rest of 2007. Here, he talks about his love of the Thompson Twins, his hopeless romanticism, and his appreciation of a friend's difficult but profoundly rewarding coming out process.
Although "Blue Eyes," which was on the "Garden State" soundtrack, might have pegged you as an acoustic guitar-strumming singer-songwriter, your new album actually has a lot more textures than that. There's definitely an '80s feel to some of the songs.
The '80s were very important to me. Growing up in Nashville, I really felt disconnected from the people around me. People can be very warm in the South, but there's also a side that's very small-minded. There's an intolerance to any risk-taking. Because of that, I always felt the need to get the hell out of there. I ended up grabbing onto music that was coming over the pond from the UK. It was so different from the country sound I was hearing all around me. The Smiths, the Cure, New Order, the Stone Roses – there was so much mystery and darkness to those bands. Everyone else was into stuff like Toby Keith while I was listening to Morrissey.
You do a Thompson Twins song on "Who You Are." I wasn't familiar with their song "If You Were Here."
I've loved that song since I was a kid. It's definitely a song that people remember – they light up when I play it live. There's a shared joy in hearing it. It's originally a synth-pop song, but I felt there was something that I could add to it.
Let's talk about your lyrics. There's a real sense of longing there.
I've been through enough relationships to know a thing or two. I've been a romantic since I was a kid. The guitar is kind of my therapist. I went through a period when I thought I could only write songs when I was miserable. But I don't want to live in sadness to be able to write songs. I'm always looking for a great relationship – one person who's going to make things feel better.
What's the song "Faith, It's the Rage" about? It's an interesting title.
I wrote that song three or four years ago. It's a love song, but it's also about being really disheartened by the state of the world. It's me looking around, seeing things like the Christian right gaining power. I see a lot of bullshit from people who have so-called religious conviction, people who don't show a lot of love because they're so intolerant. It's also about a relationship falling apart and just trying to grasp on to some last bit of hope.
Gay people know a thing or two about intolerance. Do you notice gay fans in your audiences?
Absolutely. The one good thing about doing this record independently is that I don't have a label marketing me to one specific audience. The fan base I've built is gay and straight, from 15-45. They're all over the map. In the last couple of tours, I've seen a larger gay and lesbian audience coming out. I'm also getting a lot of e-mails from gay fans on my Web site.
I imagine you didn't necessarily know a lot of gay people growing up in the south.
When I was growing up, everyone around me was Christian and straight. To me there was something wrong with that. There was something else in the world that I needed to see. One of my best friends from college is gay, but he was closeted through school. During his coming-out process, I really got to see him grow and become who he is in a really beautiful way. He took his time to come out at his own pace. As his friend, I did my best to wait for him to develop that pride in who he was. When he did, I was overjoyed. It was as close as I could come to knowing what it's like to be gay.
