Carbon Leaf

Carbon Leaf is a five-piece rock band from Richmond, Virginia that is known for their Celtic / Bluegrass rock that was featured more prominently on their early releases on their own label, Constant Ivy Music. Their more recent albums, since signing to Vanguard Records in 2004, are more mainstream rock, though they still retain the influences of their Virginian music scene roots. On March 20, 2010 in a radio interview on WCNR the band announced that they are leaving Vanguard Records with the aim to release music more frequently and via media other than CD.

  * 'Barry Privett': Vocals, penny whistle, acoustic guitar, bagpipes
* 'Terry Clark': Electric guitar, acoustic guitar ^{Steel-string guitar} , vocals
* 'Carter Gravatt': Acoustic, electric mandolin, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, 12 string guitar, lap steel, bouzouki, bodhran, loops, effects, vocals
* 'Jason Neal': drums ^{Drum kit} , percussion ^{percussion instrument}
* 'Jon Markel': Electric bass, Upright bass


Former band members


* 'Palmer Stearns': Bass
* 'Devin Maguire': Bass
* 'Scott Milstead': Drums, percussion, vocals
* 'Brian Durrett': Bass
* 'Jordan Medas': Electric bass ^{bass guitar} , bowed and double bass, vocalsCarbon Leaf got their start at Randolph-Macon College in Virginia in 1992 practicing in an auditorium on campus. Their next step was playing backyard parties, mixers, fraternity, and sorority parties. Shortly after everyone graduated they moved to Richmond, Virginia. From Richmond, they played the college circuit in Virginia and up the East Coast before moving on to clubs. Their style is not "Brazilian Polka Metal", despite the joking claims of guitarist Carter Gravatt (B., David. 2002).

Meander ^{Meander (album)} , their first album, was released in 1995. The first songs Carbon Leaf wrote, including "One Day" and "Country Monkee" are on the album.

Shadows in the Banquet Hall, released in 1997, includes "Flood," "Wolftrap and Fireflies," and "Attica's Flower Box Window." An award winning video was made for "Flood."

Ether~Electrified Porch Music (1999) is the first album with Jordan Medas as the bassist and contains "Home" and "American Tale." The band had sold over 10000 copies of their first three independent CDs by late 1999, released on their own label, Constant Ivy Music.

Echo Echo was released in 2001 with "The Boxer" as the first track. In January 2002 Carbon Leaf won the first-ever American Music Awards Presents the Coca-Cola New Music Award for "The Boxer." As part of winning they performed "The Boxer" live on the AMAs, becoming the first unsigned band to perform at the awards show. Following this appearance, "The Boxer" entered regular rotation on radio stations including Washington, DC's DC101 (WWDC ^{WWDC (FM)} 101.1 FM). In May 2002 the band members gave up their day jobs in order to dedicate more time to the band and touring. The hidden bonus track "Dear" from their Echo Echo CD was originally written to play over the closing credits and on the soundtrack of the Kevin Hershberger Civil War drama

In January 2003 Carbon Leaf gave permission for fan-made recordings of their concerts to be included in the Live Music Archive, a part of the Internet Archive. Various concerts are available from 2000 to present in lossless ^{Lossless data compression} formats SHN ^Shorten or FLAC ^{Free Lossless Audio Codec} and the lossy ^{Lossy compression} format VBR ^{Variable bitrate} MP3, with the majority coming from the years 2002 - 2004. 5 Alive!, Carbon Leaf's first live album, was released in the summer of 2003. The album was recorded over five concerts during the autmn and winter of 2002 with the track list assembled to match a concert playlist.

In September, 2003, Carbon Leaf won the Pontiac Vibe Summer Sound off resulting in "The Boxer" being played in Pontiac Vibe commercials on MTV and VH1.In Spring 2004, Carbon Leaf signed with Vanguard Records, part of the Welk Music Group and in July of that year released their first album on a major label, Indian Summer ^{Indian Summer (album)} . "Life Less Ordinary" rose to number 5 on the Adult Album Alternative charts and 29 on the Hot AC Charts. Carbon Leaf performed "Life Less Ordinary" on the November 30, 2004 episode of The Dr. Phil Show ^{Dr. Phil (TV series)} . "What About Everything?" rose to 25 on the AAA charts. Indian Summer has been ranked in the top 10 by KMTT in Seattle, and number 40 out of the Top 50 Albums of 2004 by WXPN in Philadelphia ^{Philadelphia, Pennsylvania} . The album was produced by John Morand and David Lowery. The video for "Life Less Ordinary" debuted on January 5, 2005.

In June 2006, an interview with Carbon Leaf guitarist Terry Clark was chosen as the cover feature for the inaugural issue of The Green Room ^{The Green Room (magazine)} magazine. On September 12, 2006, the band released Love, Loss, Hope, Repeat. According to their blog, it was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, and mixed in collaboration with producer Peter Collins ^{Peter Collins (record producer)} and Trina Shoemaker. The title track was featured in the October 30, 2006 episode of ABC's What About Brian. Tom McCormack began touring with Carbon Leaf, playing keys and accordion.

In memory of the lives lost in the Virginia Tech shootings ^{Virginia Tech massacre} , Carbon Leaf played at Sudflood ^{Top of the Stairs#Sudflood} 2007. All proceeds went towards the memorial fund for the victims and their families.

In August 2007, Scott Milstead was replaced by Jason Neal on drums. In August 2008, Jordan Medas left the band to pursue a teaching career. He was replaced in October 2008 by Jon Markel. .

The band released their seventh studio album, Nothing Rhymes with Woman, on May 19, 2009. On June 30, 2009 Carbon Leaf was the featured band at Red Rocks ^{Red Rocks Park} ' Film On The Rocks .

Carbon Leaf contributed several songs to the soundtrack for the animated film Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey!, including versions of "Life Less Ordinary" and "Let Your Troubles Roll By" with new lyrics. The soundtrack, and the direct-to-DVD movie, was released on March 2, 2010.

Carbon Leaf has opened for many acts, including Dave Matthews Band, Something Corporate, O.A.R. ^{Of A Revolution} , and David Gray ^{David Gray (singer)} , and have toured with Jason Mraz, Blues Traveler, Great Big Sea, Jump, Little Children, Matt Nathanson, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, The Avett Brothers, and Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers.
Studio albums




Live Albums






Singles
* 2000 - First Place, Unsigned Music Video, Internet Underground Music Archive, (for "Flood")
* 2002 - First ever American Music Awards Presents the Coca-Cola New Music Award for 2001
* 2002 - First Place, Rock Category,
* 2003 - Pontiac Vibe Summer Soundoff Campaign Winner