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He was going to die, and I didn't know how to stop it. He had become completely non-functional, couldn't eat or speak coherently, could barely walk half the time, let alone play much guitar. I already missed him. He was already gone. And nowadays it's like a fucking miracle, because I suddenly have my best friend back. -Hutchens on Carter |
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Eric Carter (left) and Danny Hutchens (right)
As teenagers, the two moved around a bit, playing open mics and landing small gigs whenever they could. In 1986 their path led to Athens, GA and it was in the college town's rich rock soil that Bloodkin evolved from a songwriting partnership into a real band.
 Vintage Hutchens & Mike Mills (REM)
By Jackie Jasper |
Already armed with around 300 songs and telepathic communication skills built on years of playing together in the living room, it wasn't hard to plug in and let their rock & roll balls drop. From that point on, Bloodkin would always encompass fierce guitar interaction, often led by Carter's ability to shift from distorted, grimy passages to delicate slide to dusty country, but at the core, it was and always will be about the songs.
"The backbone of the Bloodkin sound is definitely electric guitar," says Hutchens. "But I don't think any Bloodkin song has ever - at least in my mind - been just a vehicle for jamming or anything like that. To me, the songs are always the meat and potatoes, always, always. Great musicians without great songs are, to me, like empty calories, junk food."
As Hutchens and Carter began to assemble the pieces, meshing their brilliant songs with heated compositions, it didn't take long for other Athens bands to take notice. It was around this time that Widespread Panic began to crawl up through the bars and they immediately took a shine to Bloodkin. By the early-90s Panic were covering Bloodkin songs live and they would record three of their staples. Widespread Panic still regularly play several Bloodkin songs including, "Makes Sense To Me," "Can't Get High," "Henry Parsons Died," "Who Do You Belong To?" and "End Of The Show," and many (including Hutchens and Carter) credit Panic with helping Bloodkin gain some hard fought notoriety.
"From the very beginnings of Widespread Panic to today and beyond, Bloodkin has been one of our greatest influences" says John Bell, Panic's lead singer and rhythm guitarist, who was very eager to comment on Bloodkin. "Danny and Eric's music has a consistent blend of poetry, intestinal fortitude, and song-craftmanship that I envy. I can hope their example sinks in to my own approach to music. We can voyeuristically cover their songs during our sets but ultimately it's best to listen to Bloodkin and surrender to what is coming at you - pure intention in the form of music. Bloodkin's presence in, and their approach to, rock & roll - or whatever you call it - is as much of what makes up the backbone of the Athens music story as any other band that has come through this town. That's what Danny and Eric mean to me."
 Vintage Carter by Jackie Jasper |
For many, it was Widespread Panic who put Bloodkin on the map, but their fans run far and wide and one need only read a few words of Baby...'s liner notes from head Drive-By Trucker Patterson Hood to cement the notion. Another rocker who built a following in Athens, Hood boasts that the new album is "truly one of the best damned rock & roll albums that I have heard in many a year... life-affirming rock & roll in the grandest tradition," and goes on to say that Bloodkin is "one of the most under-rated bands on Earth."
Speaking to JamBase following the Truckers' recent tour with Bloodkin, Hood added that, "They're a great band playing in top form. I've known them as long as I've lived in Athens, 15 years now, and they've never been as great as they are now. I've seen all that they've been through and their rebirth is inspiring."
Clearly folks in the Athens scene have long known the power of Bloodkin, but the band has never found much success outside passionate pockets of fans, and the mainstream press has all but ignored them, until now. In a recent issue of Rolling Stone, legendary writer-editor David Fricke chose the band for his "Fricke's Picks," exclaiming, "On Baby, They Told Us We Would Rise Again, Bloodkin are at a hot peak in their odyssey, opening with the hypnotic hell of 'The Viper,' a catalog of addictions checked off by Hutchens in a belly-to-the-bar drawl against a seventies-Neil Young tornado of banjo, dirty guitars and prairie-chapel organ."
Of course Hutchens welcomes the good press, but this ain't his first rodeo.
"I always love any exposure the band receives, because that ultimately means the songs get heard by more people, and at the bottom line that's what it's all about for me," he says. "So, I'm very appreciative of nice write-ups, but at the same time, I think I've gotten pretty levelheaded about things over the years. I don't get too high over a great write-up, and I don't get too down over a negative one or even total lack of attention. I've achieved a pretty good perspective on what I'm doing by now. To me, it's all about creating a body of work that will survive long after I'm gone. I think I'm doing a pretty good job of it – a great majority of the songs actually still remain unheard, but they're written, and many are already recorded - most on the upcoming box set [no solid release date yet, but Hutchens says it is assembled and stands to be six discs and 108 songs] – and I think I have a pretty solid, unflappable estimation of where I stand, how much work I've completed and how much I still have left to do."
Continue reading for more on Bloodkin...
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