Bud Carroll: Legendary (Guitar) Hero

You’ll have to forgive fans of Bud Carroll for being excited about any new music he’s putting out. And you’ll have to forgive those that cover local bands if they get a bit confused about any new lineup the 27-year old Huntington resident has unveiled in recent weeks.

For a recent show at Shamrock’s in Huntington advertised as The Legendary Heroes, Carroll, who is set to release a new Southern Souls CD in the coming weeks, threw a name out there, just to shake things up a little.

“Legendary Heroes was going to be a different project,” Carroll explained over email. “And I originally put it out there because people were bugging me about a name, and there was a mix-up as to what band was supposed to be booked. Man it’s hard enough to get people out to shows with my history and all of the things I’ve done, let alone go and slug it out under a different name. It keeps me from having to start from scratch every time I want to do something new.”

“I decided it was stupid, and by then everyone had run with it. What can you do, you scamps in the press?”

Any news organization is only as good as the info they get. But with Carroll, whether it’s on a new Southern Souls record, or a new Bud Carroll band (with a different drummer, whatever the name) you can forgive area rock fans for being excited. We recently read Herald-Dispatch writer Dave Lavender rave about the new Carroll release, and that just made us more excited to hear the new stuff.

Carroll and the Souls again made the short drive to Athens, Ohio to record with Eddie Ashworth, who they’ve worked with a few times at this point, as the Souls and with Jeff Ellis. Carroll said recording with Ashworth -- who’s worked with Pennywise and Sublime -- brings out the best in him.

“It was fucking great, he is an awesome dude with a lifetime’s worth of experience making records…we’re lucky to have him in this area, that’s the only situation as in personnel and place, in my opinion, within a few hundred miles where an up and coming artist can make a record that will put them on even footing with someone who is funded by a major record label. He is an avid listener and true fan of music. He definitely pushed me.”

“I feel like the CD is quite a departure, insofar as the sounds and directions the songs took. When I’m at the helm production-wise I have a definite sound and feel that I generally end up with, and Eddie helped me find my way to new places.”

Carroll said we can expect the Southern Souls CD/DVD released locally on Caustic Eye “…by the time school is back in…with some special packaging,” so again, Carroll fans, it’s okay; go ahead and get excited.

Speaking of excitement, back in April Carroll added his talents to a few tracks on the upcoming Black Knots release None More Fresh, helping out longtime friend and Knots frontman Jerry Lee Queen.

“Oh man, it was hilarious. With all respect due to the Knots and Jerry in particular, it was pretty much the complete opposite of working with Eddie. We did it in Jerry’s kitchen, on the oldest Pro Tools set up I’ve ever seen. The recording monitors were like some old JVC home stereo speakers that your dad would have had in like 1984. I think they were stolen from a sorority house.”

“It was like a bunch of people hanging out drinking and partying, and me laying down my tracks was just part of the whole thing. I think Jerry would occasionally kind of rock out super hard when I did something he liked, or offer some direction about being more full on, just going for it, or something really cryptic, but other than that it was like pretty much wide open. Brian Myers was mixing it that night, and they had to have it done that night. He passed out blackout drunk like right after I was done recording my parts. There’s a video of it on YouTube.”

So, it’s obvious to anyone who’s seen Carroll jam live or heard a Souls CD that he’s hugely talented. It’s not up to the press to get someone on a national label, or turn them into some kind of superstar. Carroll’s music will do that on its own.

Even though, Carroll said that he’d love to get his music out on a national stage.

“I’m devoting most of my time to this new band right now, and building a studio, so there will be a release locally, and hopefully a national one. Labels? No one really in particular that I can talk about; I fucking hate getting asked about that shit, cause you always have to explain why this or that didn’t work out.”

“But I still have all of the connections from the Minor days, and so far the responses have been very positive. So, we shall see.”