Warm In The Wake describe their music as simple American songs that have been gently thrown into the space rock realm. Their Livewire Recordings debut “Gold Dust Trail,” with tracks produced by Adam Lasus (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Yo La Tengo, Helium), is a fine mix of verses and audio flashcards, character sketches, rough-hewn acoustic ballads, and bent rhymes.

Playing together on and off since they were teenagers, Warm In The Wake’s Christopher Rowell (vocals, guitar, bass) and James Taylor Jr. (drums) come from a rich musical past in Birmingham, AL. Rowell performed and recorded with Regia and members of Verbena, while Taylor played with future members of The Drive By Truckers. Brothers Daniel Barker (keyboards) and Andy Barker (bass) hail from Ft. Payne, AL (also home to country’s ALABAMA) and have shared stages with Kings of Leon and Willie Nelson.

In 1997 Chris Rowell moved to Atlanta and became a founding member of King Lear Jet. Later joined by Taylor and Barker, KLJ released an L.P. and enjoyed a modicum of success with songs licensed to several Fox TV shows (Felicity, Dawson’s Creek), a couple of PBS shows and the independent film “Tadpole.” However, the music took the boys in another direction- one that convinced them to pursue their new incarnation as Warm In The Wake. Rowell had a personal epiphany and realized the importance of Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Brian Eno and a few other super heroes- not only for their art but for their “craft” as well. Rowell and Taylor began to comprehend that writing a simple song- and then trying to make it “magical” in a way that goes beyond just strumming the guitar- was the path to their musical future.

Addendum- We grew up in the south. Along the way we have played music for many good people. We have also met Catahoula leopard hounds, cypress knees, molten iron, old Brooklyn firehouses, the people of Leicester (pronounced Lester in western N.C.), the third tier of the Channel 6 TV tower, fine Italian wedding cookies, a rude musical hero, an inquisitive cottonmouth, a strong god of the Forge, a brilliant musical stranger, a doomed entrepreneur, M.Ward, a Pez dispenser owned by the Cox-Arquettes, a stubborn friend, a red slot canyon, a nearly frozen Hellbender, a doubtful DNR representative, a guitar with character, a vengeful neighbor, a smiling dog, the caverns of Pilsen, the saddest of all counties, a gritty scuppernong, a satisfied Barracuda, Charles Simic, the underside of a train, a registered liar, the perfect Old Fashioned, the Twin falls.