By Brian Tucker

American Aquarium has toured relentlessly the last five years. The band’s high energy country and rock music is part Bruce Springsteen and Old 97’s. Their storytelling style is painted by living, loving and learning in the south. The band’s heartbeat, guttural and relatable lead singer BJ Barham believed he could build a band by touring.

“People thought (touring) would be a cool idea until they realized (I’m) serious about never being at home,” Barham said by phone from snow covered Cincinnati, a few weeks from their stop at The Soapbox April 19^th billed as a post-Drive-By Truckers show.

For three years the band has generally maintained its members but during the first two years Barham went through twenty-plus musicians. He blames no one for leaving given the commitment he was asking. This year American Aquarium plans to take things easier since building up a significant fan base playing 300 shows a year for the last two years. Taking it easier means playing 150 to 200 shows, still far more than most bands.

“It’s definitely a sliding scale. This is the first tour we’ve done in 2011. It’s only a fourweek tour. We’ve been doing a lot of weekends, trying to enjoy being home a lot more,” Barham said. “It definitely takes its toll when you’re only home fifty days a year. It proves how strong your relationships are. Everybody is in a relationship. Girlfriends, family, they understand the reason this is what we’ve chosen to do. Reason they’re still with us is because they completely support that.”

Between playing 302 shows in 2009 they found time to record the introspective Small Town Hymns in Oxford Mississippi, their fifth album in four years. It features “Reidsville,” a song illustrating Barham’s gift for telling tapestry-rich stories. On what could have been another “Summer of ‘69” became a burning nod to his hometown in which he sings about “trading wheels for a wedding band.”

This summer they’re set to record a new album in Muscle Shoals with Drive-By Truckers’ Jason Isbell serving as producer. Barham and Isbell bonded after playing shows together. Hanging out in a Raleigh bar the notion of producing for American Aquarium came up.

“(Isbell) made the comment, when are you going to let me produce one of your albums? I said, how about the next one?”

Barham is a blunt writer, singing with a raw throated fashion soulful and gutsy, something he’s been ridiculed for but sees it as how a singer-songwriter does things. His drive and personality stems from growing up in a small town and later attending North Carolina State University.

“Maybe it was being from a small town. For eighteen years I never got outside of my hometown. When I went to college I moved to Raleigh. It was a bigger city and I got bit with a bug – there’s bigger cities out there, I want to see them.”

That bug influenced songs Barham would wrote for the next album focusing on the darker side of being on the road and how it affects the lives of everyone involved.

“The new record is the realities of being on the road – addictions, failed relationships. We’re going on thirty and it’s about growing up and realizing, maybe, what if we made the wrong decision? Years later you realize, maybe we can at least make a living at this. Its stark reality starting to show its face and that’s what coming out in songs.”

For a solo show last fall at the Soapbox Barham performed with just an acoustic guitar. Onstage anyone could see Barham’s comfort, confidence, a sense of humor, and sincerity. His spare take was fun yet caustic. He was playful at times, like warning women in the crowd about breaking a musician’s heart (“They’ll write songs about you and play them forever”).

“I’ve had some onstage moments,” Barham laughs, reminded of that moment. “It goes back to what I majored in – college communications. It’s always been something that came second nature to me – talking to people. The way I write songs, is kind of put everything out there in the open, and let people know everybody know exactly how I’m feeling. It’s very easy to be on stage and talk about feelings I’m writing about.”

During that solo Soapbox show Barham sang with grace and fury, still able to channel emotions for songs about when things had gone so badly. A reminder that life stings and it doesn’t always go away. Barham’s renditions made that clear.

“When you write that honest I think it’s a lot easier to feel it. There are songs I’ve played 600, 700 times and I still feel the same exact way as the day I wrote them. It’s real easy for those emotions to flood back.”

More with BJ Barham

You don’t see a lot of bands touring that hard, that many shows a year.

Barham: There’s a couple that still have the “We’re going to tour until we make it.” But a lot of bands these days are lazy and expect it to come to them. We look at it from the standpoint that nobody’s going to give us anything. Anything we want we’re going to have to go out and take. Instead of being the naïve band and wait for the record to come in we’ve been going out and building fan base. Screw a record deal. I’d rather tour the rest of my life and have people listen to my music than sit in my parent’s basement and waiting for a record deal.

BB King said it wasn’t hard to sing “The Thrill is Gone” over and over because that original feeling remains. Is it a quick transition onstage to sing those sings and feel them time and again?

Barham: There are songs, they’re personal when you sing ‘em. A lot of people write songs just because they sound pretty. And then there are songwriters. I like to think of myself as somebody who writes from personal experience and writes just completely honest music. I’ve been ridiculed sometimes for being a little too honest for being a little too blunt. When you write stuff that that honest I think it’s a lot easier to feel it. There’s songs I’ve played 600 700 times and I still sing them the exact way as the day I wrote ‘em. I think it’s just the emotion I think it’s about singing a song and when you’re singing a song putting yourself in the place when you wrote it. I think it’s real easy for those emotions to flood back.

You used to manage a record store? Do you miss that aspect of being around music, all the different things you come across?

Barham: I managed a store for four years – The Record Exchange. That’s the one thing I miss, a record store. The one I was at shut down because nobody bought records anymore. It’s hard to own a record store these days. In Raleigh it was three doors down from School Kids Records. It was nice. There were two independent record stores in Raleigh. It was one of my favorite jobs. I got to listen every day and find new bands and stay ahead of the curve.

You’re recording a new album with Jason Isbell in Muscle Shoals?

Barham: We will this summer. We’re really exited about doing it down there. He’s a good guy. We’ve played a lot of shows with him and bonded when we played those shows. (Another) goal is before 2012 is to put out the American Aquarium catalog out on vinyl. That’s the goal. Vinyl is a very expensive way to put record out. It’s always double what it costs to put out cd’s for half the product.

Writing for the next record?

Barham: I’ve written most of the new record. There’s still a couple songs I need to write. I’ve got eight or nine. It’s about the darker side of being on the road. One of the guys in our band just got out of marriage. It’s a blatant reminder that what we’re doing is not all fun and games, we’re not in our early 20s anymore. We’re going on 30 and it’s about growing up and realizing maybe what if we made the wrong decision.

What if we epically fail at this? It’s an upbeat record but it’s a kind of a downer thing…when your 18, 19, 20, you think I’m going to start a band I’m going to be a rock star. It’s all fun. You get your first tour and you think, this is awesome. We’re gong to be huge. I’m getting ready to be 27 in May. Several years later you realize maybe were not going to be as popular as we thought were but maybe we can at least make a living at this. Its stark reality is starting to show it face and that’s what coming out in songs.

Do you play the west coast much?

Barham: Every year at least twice we do the west coast – San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, the entire northwest really embraces us. We’ve been a very lucky band that our fan base is a really good fan base and spreads the word about us. If they know someone across the country that’ll dig us they send them an email or burn them a CD. We totally support people burning our CD and sharing and getting our music to people. I would much rather someone have a free $10 CD and come see us for the next 10 years than making someone pay for music. As long as they come out and as long as they see us and occasionally buy a t-shirt or a CD or throw us some gas money, buy the next record. I don’t care who gets our music for free.