Necessary Smiles | American Aquarium, Blackberry Smoke, and Turnpike Troubadours in Jacksonville, FL

American Aquarium, Blackberry Smoke, and Turnpike Troubadours may show up in the same section of the record store but they each bring something special to the table. American Aquarium frontman BJ Barham writes introspective, often painful songs, BlackBerry Smoke is a chart-topping radio-friendly machine, and Turnpike Troubadours have developed a cult-like following by being masters of melody. Saturday, November 5, 2022, joins all three to bring buckets of joy at Daily’s Place amphitheater in Jacksonville, FL.

The previous weekend saw the annual Florida-Georgia game in Duval County marred by a rousing ovation for Florida’s fascist governor followed by anti-Semitic messages being projected around downtown. Hate was palpable that night. This is a state and a city in need of the healing balm of live music and these three bands feel like the perfect prescription.

On the way into the amphitheater one cannot help but guess who each tailgater is there to see. The older folks are probably ready for Blackberry Smoke? Girls in sundresses and boots are fired up for Turnpike Troubadours? Bearded guys in trucker hats and pearl snaps got there early for American Aquarium? No matter who the motivating us all to be here, the general vibe feels celebratory and loving. Smiles abound.

American Aquarium takes the stage at a prompt 7:00. Folks are still filing in with some unaware of this opener and others scream singing lyrics on the way to their seats. BJ and the boys open with a new one, the gorgeous “All I Needed” from their latest record Chicamacomico. As the opener, they only have about forty minutes to cover a catalog spanning back to 2006. It is a tall order for most bands but American Aquarium is up to the task. We are getting newer songs, an obligatory “Jacksonville” which never gets old in this setting, and of course the loud singalongs for which an American Aquarium show is known. 

During one of these communal performances, “I Hope He Breaks Your Heart,” two guys with wide-eyed grins shuffle into their seats.

“Who IS this?!” 

“The band on stage? That’s American Aquarium.”

“Damn, they are great! I’ve never heard of them. Gonna look it up on Spotify. Oh, shit! I’ve liked a bunch of their songs already. Hell yeah. By the way, don’t you think it’s weird Blackberry Smoke isn’t the headliner?”

“I mean, maybe from a record sales perspective, but for my taste American Aquarium is the best band on this bill with all due respect to the others.”

“No shit?!”

“No shit.”

By the end of Burn. Flickr. Die. both men are singing along with the chorus, drunk on the discovery of a new favorite band. 

BJ Barham has been at this music making thing for a long time. The crowds have steadily grown and so have the lines waiting to meet him at the merch table. It is a time honored tradition at American Aquarium and BJ Barham solo shows. He shakes every hand he can. Signs every record. Takes every picture. Tonight the line to say hello spans what looks like fifty feet and keeps replenishing itself. Not a melancholy look in sight waiting to meet the sultan of sad songs. 

Blackberry Smoke is playing a stripped down set with one of their members recovering from a health scare. They are a dextrous band. Clearly full of talented musicians, Blackberry Smoke can start off the night with a bro country radio hit and then drop into a psychedelic jam. Tonight feels like they got together for a pickin’ circle and the venue contributes to that vibe. Their songs make a lot of sense in this context and they are an ideal bridge between American Aquarium’s heart wrenching lyrics and Turnpike’s own brand of Americana. 

The sound, coming off of American Aquarium’s burning rock n’ roll set, is dialed in for this quieter affair. There does not seem to be a bad seat in the 5,500 capacity amphitheater. It is a Florida November night. The kind where you leave the house unsure of whether to wear jeans or shorts. The slight breeze carries Blackberry Smokes tales of backroad driving into contented ears. 

As we wait for Turnpike Troubadours to take the stage, that positive energy begins to swell. Regardless of whoever got each of us in the door, we are now there for one band. A band that has not been to Florida in way too long. A band that has drawn 5,500 rabid fans to this wonderful amphitheater on this gorgeous night. A band that seems poised to put a boisterous bow on this beautiful experience. 

The ovation is deafening as they saunter on stage. Ear plugs have not been necessary to this point but from the first note Turnpike and their fans make it clear that is about to end. Unlike American Aquarium, Turnpike has only produced five records so if you want to hear something your wish is probably gonna come true. This has been the kind of night where most of us feel satisfied.

Turnpike Troubadours took a well-publicized break a few years ago and have only been back on the road a few short months. If there is any rust from that hiatus, it is not on display tonight. This is a boot stomping production without a throw away song or performance. The band looks like they are having as much fun as we are.

As the last note of the encore rings and we shuffle unimpeded from the venue, those smiles that were ever-present as we all started the night have grown into billboards of love. 

Album Review | American Aquarium's Lamentations

It feels like yesterday American Aquarium released Things Change, a record begging the listener to live in its characters. A man consoling his partner who devastatingly recognizes the “world is on fire.” Someone coming to the hard realization they are better off confronting their addictions. Characters wrestling with the unconscionable and somehow making sense of it. 

Things Change was strong enough that new realizations continue to bubble to the surface. My initial reaction to the news that American Aquarium was headed into the studio with Shooter Fucking Jennings was, “I get you have a lot to say BJ, but we ain’t done processing the last one.”

Things Change was released in 2018. Since then, the pace of the real world has accelerated to warp speed while the power of American Aquarium’s Things Change has kept pace. When BJ Barham removed the governor from his songwriting motor several years ago, the result was an ascendancy to the upper echelon of his generation of tunesmiths. 

Lamentations, American Aquarium’s latest release straddles the raucous honky tonk rock of early American Aquarium and the more socially conscious nature of Barham’s last collection of songs. The themes are familiar - hard work, substance abuse and sobriety, the South, sad stories. With Lamentations, Barham has taken another huge step forward in songcraft. 

As we have come to expect, the album opens with a kick-in-the-teeth tune that comes to a soaring, anthemic coda. These things usually need time to marinate before we declare superlatives. Nonetheless, the title track is Barham’s finest songwriting. “Me + Mine (Lamentations)” sets the tone for an album full of scorching hot songs that feel like they were recorded at an American Aquarium show somewhere in Texas, the band’s home away from home. 

If you have seen them there, you know what I mean. American Aquarium always brings it regardless of venue. BJ and the boys (this lineup and those past) are professionals who take their craft seriously. But, the band is fueled by the fervor of its fans and folks in Texas take it up a notch.

More than any other studio release, Lamentations captures the spirit of American Aquarium’s greatest live shows- a testament to the touch of producer Shooter Jennings. Shooter seems to be the bridge between early, raw American Aquarium and the renaissance that began with Burn. Flicker. Die.

Most importantly, Barham has taken another stride in his examination of the South. We are living in a time where a generation of southern writers are taking on the South with a warm demanding hand. Folks like the Bitter Southerner, Jason Isbell, Drive-by Truckers, Lee Bains III- the list is long and growing. A group of people who are not content to make excuses for the way things are and the way things were. 

“I believe in a better south,” Barham sings on the album’s eighth track. It is a tune showcasing his acute ability to use critical observation as a source of hope. Hope for a better South, a better nation, a more honest examination of the ills that plague us collectively and individually. Lamentations is more than a new American Aquarium record. It’s a manifesto of the power of our best instincts.