Psychedelic Appalachian guitarist Daniel Bachman performed his unique brand of stylized finger-picking at Espresso News to an audience willing to brave the snow that cancelled classes Tuesday night.
“Given the snow I’d say it was an excellent turnout,” organizer Devon Tuttle said. “Everyone that’s here, I can tell they’re adventurous enough to venture out in the snow to catch a different kind of show.”
The audience of approximately 30 people who came out to see Bachman and Boone-based duo Grow Well was larger than anticipated for a Tuesday with poor weather conditions, but was smaller than the 40 that came out to see Bachman in August.
“What it comes down to, some tours are always different,” Bachman said. “Some are good and some are not so good. It doesn’t really have to do with turnout or money, but really just how you feel.”
Currently on a short East-coast tour, it seems the 24-year-old has not slowed down since his last stop in Boone – and he still shows no signs of stopping, with new records coming out in March and April and tour dates booked through July.
“I’ve got a pretty un-lived-in bedroom,” Bachman said.
He recently moved to Chapel Hill from his native Virginia in hopes of continuing school at UNC in the fall of 2015.
Bachman said he hopes to continue his undergraduate education in folklore, an area that interested him in high school but that he couldn’t afford to pursue originally. While he borrows song names and themes from Appalachian tales, he hopes his music and his studies will meld more once he starts the program.
“It’s not super-premeditated, it’s a really broad term but all of that is something I’m really into and care a lot about,” Bachman said.
Bachman has fast become a welcomed visitor in Boone.
“In this area, there’s definitely an interest for sort of primitive-American styles of music,” Tuttle said. “I love a rock show just as much as anybody else, but I love having Daniel because he represents another, subtler side of my interests and I hope sharing that with the town is appreciated.”
Story: Lovey Cooper, Senior A&E Reporter