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Event
SUSTO w/ Clint Roberts and the Holler Choir at Bourgie Nights 11/19/22
Doors 8:30pm. Show 9:30pm. $20 ADV $25 DOS.
SUSTO
https://www.sustoisreal.com/
Mobility has always helped define America. Dont settle for where you start. Find a new town, new coast, or new state of mindthen make it yours. We export this idea of getting in your car and going somewhere, trying to find something new, bouncing around, says Justin Osborne. We live in some strange, crazy times. There is a sense of darkness. But Im crisscrossing the country, and people are good and fun. There is a lot of beauty everywhere. I think not forgetting that is important.
Osborne is home in Charleston, South Carolina, reflecting on the personal journey and cultural climate that have led to Ever Since I Lost My Mind, the third record and label debut for his acclaimed project SUSTO. The album is a resounding triumph: a mix of new partnerships and collaborations with old friends, all anchored by Osbornes perceptive songs that explore connection, loss, and transienceand the pain and joy each brings.
Ever Since I Lost My Mind is very personal. This collection of songs came together over the course of a couple of years, and they all represent different moments, he says. It felt cathartic writing all of them, and they were also all fun in different ways.
With a rock-rooted sound that doesnt shy away from radio-ready hooks, SUSTO keeps listeners engaged by refusing to occupy an easily defined space. Produced by Ian Fitchuck (Kacey Musgraves, Ruston Kelly) and featuring key input from Osbornes longtime creative sounding board Wolfgang Zimmerman, Ever Since I Lost My Mind defiantly experiments with synth embellishments, Latin heart, guileless folk, and more. Osbornes mellow vocals comfort without losing the ability to surprisedelicate croons, growls, and occasional screams take turns.
Osborne wrote his first songs as a 14-year-old in small town South Carolina, sneaking time with his late grandfathers parlor guitar that his parents had actually forbidden him and his three rowdy brothers to touch. So Id go steal it out of my dads closet whenever they were out of the house, he recalls. It only had like three strings on it. I remember figuring out how to do barre chords, and I wrote a three-chord song about a girl I liked. Drawn to music and supported by parents who just hadnt wanted their boys to break a family heirloom, Osborne played in bands throughout high school, military school, and college.
But SUSTO didnt begin until Osborne thought he was walking away from music for good. Burned out after years of self-booking, self-management, and a relentless grind, he had played a farewell show with his then-band and was prepping for a move to Cuba. He set up an online home for SUSTO as a holding tank for demos he couldnt quite bear to toss.
When Osborne moved to Havana as part of a study abroad opportunity, he thought he was abandoning music for anthropology. But the Cuban musicians and artists he befriended had other ideas. They were among the first to see that SUSTOand the music that would ultimately fuel itcaptured him too well to remain an afterthought. Re-energized, he returned to the States half a year later and recorded SUSTOs first album. Just after the release of the bands self-titled debut album, Osborne faced a clear choice. It was a weird moment. I just had to finally quit keeping one foot out of music and dive in. So, I got knuckle tattoos and havent stopped trying to make this work since then, he says with a laugh. SUSTOs acclaimed sophomore album & Im Fine Today made it even more clear that music and Osborne were meant to be.
In Latin American cultures, the word susto describes an intense fear understood as a condition of the soulan ongoing, spiritual panic attack. All of the letters of susto also appear in Osbornes full name. SUSTO was this combination of phonetics and meaningit felt like me, like a name for myself, he says. I chose the name SUSTO for the project because the meaning behind the wordthat deep frightwas something I was experiencing, and songwriting felt like it was helping me cure it by helping me to process what was happening. Personally, it was a time of so many powerful transitions: abandoning my religion, losing touch with my family, and just having a general sense of being lost, without direction.
That nod to transition reverberates loudly throughout Ever Since I Lost My Mind. While SUSTO began as a band and still benefits from collaboration with peers, the new record also positions the project finally and firmly as what its really always been: Osbornes vision. I come from a background of being in bands, so its hard for me to be comfortable taking complete control, he says. Even being the only person in a promo photo was a hard thing for me to get used to. Its taken years for me to realize what SUSTO should bewhat it really is.
That acceptance of himself and others may be SUSTOs defining trait. I can lose my mind on stage sometimesI will break down and cry or have to keep myself from doing it, Osborne says. I think about my grandads guitar, all the bands Ive been in, and just seeing these people responding to and connecting with the songs He trails off before grinning again and adding, I just feel so incredibly lucky.
Clint Roberts and the Holler Choir
https://clintrobertsmusic.com/
Hailing from the rural mountains of western NC, Roberts combines Folk, Americana and Bluegrass to create a powerful country sound full of luscious soundscapes. His commanding voice, evocative lyricism and carefully crafted storytelling touches on an array of emotions to create what he calls contemporary Appalachia music.
Roberts found his calling on the stage. At 14, a senior in his drama class brought in a ukulele. Because he had always wanted to learn a stringed instrument, he used the uke as a jumping-off point which eventually led him to banjo. At the age of 20, Roberts switched to guitar, and started using his voice more powerfully. Everything changed when another guitarist showed him Travis picking, where the thumb is on the bass strings and the fingers pluck the higher strings. I thought that was infinitely more interesting than strumming a guitar, because all of a sudden, now you can hold the rhythm down but you can also be playing these intricate melodies if you need to, he recalls.
As a guitarist, singer, and songwriter, Roberts has multiple paths to forge a connection with an audience something he strives to do with every show. I think my music has something for everybody.
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LocationBourgie Nights (View)
127 Princess St
Wilmington, NC 28401
United States
Categories
| Minimum Age: 18 |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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