Local acoustic duo to release latest CD this weekend

Factoid:Carter and Connelly will release their newest album, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, at 10 p.m. Saturday at the Copper Dragon.

It was a match made in Altgeld Hall.

Perhaps an odd place for two of Carbondale’s most established popular musicians to have met, but as Tom Connelly says, it was obvious to both of them. It was the fall of 1987 when he was first introduced to Curt Carter while taking Music 101 in Altgeld’s choral room; the vibe he caught was unmistakable.

We caught each other’s eyes, said Connelly, who is also the technical director at the Student Center. There’s something about a guitar player where you look at them and say, That guy’s a guitar player.’

The hunch proved true the following spring when the two, after bumping into each other in a convenience store lot, began to combine their efforts to form a double acoustic threat. Almost 15 years later, they’re still together, and the release of a new CD this weekend at the Copper Dragon only confirms that Carter and Connelly are still looming figures on the local music scene.

To Carter, this comes almost as a surprise. After all, the beer-drenched bar scene is not the most conducive to two guys spinning acoustic songs about nuclear power plants and organic farming, and most of their recent gigs have been for crowds also pushing the environmental agenda. Regardless, says Connelly, their first CD, Songs From the Seventh Direction, sold out of its first run, and the number of venues they have played over the years is as diverse as their music.

But from where did this success come? Carter and Connelly both attribute it, first and foremost, to the simplicity of their melodies (Carter credits Dan Fogelberg and John Denver as influences on their laid-back country sound). After that, it comes down to lyrics that are politically charged and hit with a little weight.

Art empowers politicians, Carter said. More change has occurred through the arts than through any other medium.

In addition, it can be argued that different backgrounds provided for a unique sound. Connelly grew up as a musician in Little Rock, Ark., where he started several bands and opened for acts such as David Alan Coe and then-Gov. Bill Clinton. Carter came of age in Bourbonnais and was heading up the country rock band Harvest when he met Connelly at SIUC. By the time they began to play together, both were ready to bring different musical styles to the table.

And with the release of their new CD a live album recorded at Booby’s in 1992 called The Revolution Will Not Be Televised the two are hoping to see their popularity continue. Connelly said plans are in place for another CD, titled Home In the Heartland, to be released later this year, and the duo will continue its usual touring circuit of bars and environmental conventions that are spread throughout the Midwest.

When all is said and done, both agree it has been a rewarding partnership.

The audience has changed a little, Connelly said. The bars have changed a lot. But the audience is coming around again to acoustic music.

Carter stressed the creative rewards of the music.

My writing and performing is not a choice for me, he said. If I don’t find an outlet, I don’t feel like I’m expressing myself.

Reporter Geoffrey Ritter can be reached at [email protected]