I can’t WAIT for this one.
American Aquarium frontman BJ Barham just announced that their 9th studio album, Chicamacomico, will be released this summer on June 10th.
It was recorded at the famous Sonic Ranch in El Paso, Texas with producer Bradley Cook, and was 100% crowd funded, which is incredible because it means people are supporting completely independent, quality music.
You love to see it, especially because that kind of thing seems more and more like a rarity these days… and it’s just part of what makes bands like AA one of the best in the indie scene right now:
“Happy to announce that our ninth studio album CHICAMACOMICO will be released on June 10th via Losing Side Records.
Preorder your copy on vinyl or CD over at americanaquarium.com and thanks for always supporting live, original, independent music.”
And for a little context on where the inspiration for this new album comes from, Chicamacomico is a reference to the small settlement that was on Hatteras Island, off the coast of North Carolina at the Outer Banks.
It was a heavily wooded and dense forest that was actually home to Native American settlers for hundreds (potentially thousands) of years. Eventually, as more British settlers began to arrive in the 1700s and 1800s and the groups began to mix and marry, it became three separate villages known as Rodanthe (yes, from the Nicholas Sparks movie) Waves, and Salvo.
And don’t worry, BJ already has pronunciation video lesson up for the title (I was born and raised in NC and had no clue how to say it myself):
“Pronounced with no long “I” sounds, and a long “O” at the end, as in “Chick-cah-mah-com-a-co.”
I’m already so intrigued by the whole concept of this album, and as evidenced in their last record Lamentations, BJ is so good at working his personal life and background through every story of every single song.
Seeing as he’s a native of North Carolina, I have a feeling this record will be no different in terms of his impeccable songwriting and personal life experience.
June 10th, people… put it on the calendar. This is easily one of my most anticipated albums of the year.
BJ previously previewed the title track with an acoustic video back in September:
Catch ’em on the road this year too:
