On Friday, Aug. 26, B.J. Barham scorched through a two hour set at The Standard Deluxe in Waverly, Alabama.
The American Aquarium frontman was backed by his touring band as he introduced songs from his new album, Rockingham.
Attendants began to arrive around 7 p.m.
Food for the event was provided by Wilton Catering, a catering company based in Opelika who caters the Standard Deluxe performances on a regular basis.
Justin Osborne opened the show.
Osborne usually acts as lead singer and guitarist for the band Susto, but performed solo on Friday.
For 40 minutes, Osborne sang about subjects ranging from the struggle of the impoverished, to unrequited love. Osborne was accompanied by the pedal steel musician from Barham's band.
Osborne, who had played at the Standard Deluxe before, held high regards for the establishment.
"I usually play with a band called Susto. We love it out here; We played The Boogie one time and I was sold," Osborne said.
Barham took the stage at 8:00 p.m.. Beginning with an acoustic song called "Unfortunate Kind," about a marriage broken by old age, Alzheimer's disease and eventual death.
Barham spent the first hour playing songs from his new album, with a backing band including a banjo/guitarist, a pedal steel/piano player, a drummer and a bass player.
During the performance he discussed what inspired the new album.
"Back in November I was touring with American Aquarium in Europe when the Paris attacks happened. We were only 45 minutes away, after that we had a few days off and I began to think about what it would have been like if I had been involved and had a family, what I would have wanted them to know," Barham said.
This lead to the formation of the album which looked at Barham's family and the city he grew up in, Rockingham, North Carolina.
After playing all the songs off the new album, Barham performed several covers, and tracks from his albums with American Aquarium.
As the show came to a close, the audience demanded two encores.
The Standard Deluxe has several more shows lined up for the fall including their Fall Boogie festival.
Their next shows will take place on Sunday, Aug. 28, with Ramsay Midwood, and Tuesday, Aug. 30, featuring John Moreland.
Tickets for both shows are $15.
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