Thursday was a brilliantly crisp yet foggy morning, perfect for sitting outside of Ugly Mugs with a piping cup of coffee and chatting with Cali band Diamond Carter. They wandered into Nashville a little under a year ago after forefront man Tyler Tuohy decided it was time to get out of town. Sax player Cameron Black, drummer Trevor Hunnicutt and bassist Josh Cropper, having collided when they were each swirling through life’s madness inside of LA’s Silverlake Overpass speakeasy, decided to follow Tuohy across state lines. “I told each one of them, just give me five years and you’ll come out with the greatest stories, memories and experiences of your life,” recanted Tuohy.
They refuse to give pardon or surrender to anyone who would get in the way of following after their dreams. They’ve succeeded in planting their colorful flag in new territory by refusing to waste any time getting noticed in Nashville, and as Tuohy explained, “We didn’t want to be ‘that one guy sitting in the corner by himself.’ Lightning ushered us into the scene, for sure.”
Full of love for supporters, the guys have kept it positive even as they fight through the daily struggles of their living/work relationships. As dirty dishes pile up in the sink at home tensions grow but never cross over into the sacred places of songwriting, and they certainly have no chance of echoing through the soundproof walls of the studio. “It’s a brotherhood. We only really fight about food and dishes,” Black laughed.
The guys have found refreshment in Nashville’s “more community based” music industry than that of LA. Tuohy and Black both grew up in Orange County originally, never meeting until the cards aligned later in life, and they brought very different styles and talents to the same foundation where, in their musicianship, they found commonality.
They’ve recently been celebrating their new residency at 12th and Porter, where you can find them on the second Thursday of every month. Their upcoming performance (Nov. 13th) will be on a Wed., a tribute to Elliott Smith and his passing ten years ago.
True to the band’s nature, their previous 14-track Pink Balloon is a shadow of trippy experiences and Motown and sixties influences. Originally written for acoustic performances, the album had to be redesigned by Tuohy to work for a full band. Even in naming the title, Tuohy draws from his past with heavy drugs and the smuggling of Heroine through balloons, pink being his favorite.
All of the guys have felt the recent itching to hit the road again. Their future plans include touring fulltime and only coming back to Nashville when it’s time to record. Their upcoming Flowers of Evil resonates a heavier disco feel and will be something different for a new record because it will be the first that was originally written for a full band.
By, Kaitlyn Crocker
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