On the Beat: American Aquarium's BJ Barham plays a Lincoln living room
Minutes before 2 p.m. Sunday, BJ Barham, guitar case in hand, came through the door of a southeast Lincoln home.
Settling in a folding chair in front of the fireplace, the American Aquarium singer and songwriter was introduced by host David Schleich and started singing "The Unfortunate Kind," one of the saddest songs from a writer who's known for sad songs.
So why was Barham playing a house show to about a dozen people 1,200 miles from his Raleigh, North Carolina, home?
At its core, it was because Barham won't play the music business game and give up control of his career and music to management and record labels.
"A lot of labels have tried to grab us, but they want a piece of my art," Barham said. "That doesn't sit well with me."
So American Aquarium is determinedly independent. Which means Barharm and company raise funds from their dedicated fan base built in the past two decades to pay for the recording and production of each of its albums.
In this case, the band needed the cash to pay for sessions at Los Angeles' legendary Sunset Sound, where a who's-who from The Rolling Stones and Van Halen to Whitney Houston, Beck and Fleetwood Mac recorded. And, importantly for Barham's daughter, Disney movie soundtracks.
The asks for funding come at different levels. The lowest, $10, gets the funder a CD. "On the top tier, I fly to Lincoln, Nebraska, and play in your living room," Barham said.
Sunday, Barham did two of the three songs that have come out from the Shooter Jennings-produced "The Fear of Standing Still" that's set to be released July 26.
The first was "Cherokee Purple," a "sense memory" song about the tomato and Duke's Mayo sandwiches that Barham's grandmother, who looked after him as a kid, made each summer. Those sandwiches, which he continues to have at home, inspired first a silly take but turned into a nostalgic reflection on his grandmother, growing up and still living in North Carolina.
"I've reached the point in my career, I'm not writing about girls, drugs or the road; I'm writing about produce," Barham joked before singing "Cherokee Purple." "I feel pretty good about it."
The second was "Crier," an uptempo rocker that, after initial listens, reveals itself to be about toxic masculinity.
For 90 minutes, Barham sang songs, some selected by Schleich, and told stories about them, which makes the house shows special. He doesn't play solo acoustic often on stage.
"I've got a six-person rock 'n' roll band, I don't tell stories between songs," Barham said. "They keep me under control that way. If I start telling a story and go on too long, the drummer starts bang, bang, bang and that's over."
During a section on his recovery from addiction, with songs like "One Day at a Time," Barham, who's a funny guy, had this observation about American Aquarium shows.
"People refer to our shows at AA meetings," he said. "They're going to drink and there's this sober guy yelling at them. The irony is not lost on me."
Another song grew out of what Barham called "Dadisms," saying his father repeatedly drove home to him and his brother while growing up.
That Dadism, "Work hard, get lucky," is tattooed across Barham's chest and inspired the song "The Luckier You Get."
"I don't have the jawline for country radio. ... I'm not the best songwriter in the world. The one thing I can control is the work. I'm the hardest working guy in the room."
Appropriately, Barham capped the engaging show with "Burn. Flicker. Die.," the title cut of the 2012 album that Jason Isbell talked him into making.
Isbell, who had just been booted from Drive-By Truckers, urged Barham to record songs American Aquarium had been doing on tour and offered to produce the album for free.
"Burn. Flicker. Die." became American Aquarium's breakthrough album, giving Barham a career that lets him make a living from his music.
American Aquarium will be at Omaha's The Waiting Room on Oct. 6. I'll be there to see the band and hear the new material in all its country-tinged rock 'n' roll glory.
But I'll not soon forget Barham's Sunday performance, an intimate showcase for one of today's best songwriters.
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