Author’s Note: I lifted some of this essay from the review of Sycamore Meadows that I wrote earlier this year.
Although The Rise and Fall of Butch Walker and the Let’s Go Out Tonites failed to elevate Butch Walker to mainstream rock stardom, he remained in the public eye. He was the third judge on 2006’s Rockstar: Supernova and produced their record. He produced records for The Academy Is, Fall Out Boy and Avril Lavigne. He also continued to write his own music, working with longtime drummer, Darren Dodd and Academy Is guitarist, Michael Guy Chisslet in a side project called 1969. He was dropped by Epic, and decided to take a cue from Radiohead, releasing all his new music himself. Butch began work on his next solo album, but was interrupted.
In November of 2007, Butch Walker’s house burned to the ground. He lost all of his possessions, including the master tapes to every song he had ever written. In a heartfelt letter to fans, he asked them not to send money, but to send mementos; pictures, flyers, records. The record was delayed for several months before being released in November.
Sycamore Meadows could have been an album of sad bastard music. The guy lost his house and everything he owned, so it would have been completely acceptable. If I lost my house, my record would probably end up being a cross between Blood on the Tracks, Berlin and This Year’s Model.
Sycamore Meadows is not an album of sad bastard music, which is why it is so remarkable. The record begins with “The Weight of Her,” in which Butch asks the listener to forget about the weight of the world on their shoulders. The arrangement is sunny and bright. On “Going Back…Going Home,” he recounts his entire life and asks God for 38 more years. You get the sense that Butch truly understands what is really important. He’s not a morose character, he’s a survivor.
Home is a recurring theme on Sycamore Meadows. Walker talks about every place he has lived, from Los Angeles (”a town of cocaine fiends and glitter girls”), to New York (”guys wear sweaters, even in the warmest weather”), to his beloved Atlanta. Atlanta plays a vital role in the structure of the record. Walker peppers his melodies with strains of “Dixie” and bluegrass guitars. Even when he is not overtly referencing the city, its presence is felt.
Walker’s love for Atlanta is the highpoint of the record. “ATL” is a stark piano driven ballad about how he never realized how much he loved the city until he left. When he talks about needing Atlanta, it’s not just because his family or friends live there. To Butch Walker, Atlanta represents his old life, a life without complications or responsibility. He wants to go back, but knows it can never be the same.
The album’s misstep is “Song for the Metalheads,” which comes off as self-conscious and slightly hypocritical. Someone obviously forgot about a tainted angel that came to wash his sins away.
With Sycamore Meadows, Butch took his personal tragedy and turned into a triumph. He didn’t take the easy way out by asking us to feel sorry for him, he just wrote about what he went through.
Key Tracks: “ATL,” “Here Comes the…,” “Ships in a Bottle,” “Closer to the Truth, Further From the Sky”
Tomorrow: Odds and Ends (At some point…the show is tomorrow night)