OWNER OF THE SUN

The right place at the right time. We’re all aware of that notion, and most of us have experienced it at one moment or another. For Brad Boulet, it was standing in the mud at the Shaky Knees Music Festival in Atlanta last spring. Beside him in the downpour was Caleb Burress, lead singer of Haywood County Americana outfit Soldier’s Heart. The two began talking and quickly found out they had much more in common than a love for music.

Turns out Boulet was born and raised in Jackson County, the Town of Webster to be exact. Turns out they ran around in similar music circles, too. The duo quickly connected, with Boulet coming up to Haywood from Atlanta seemingly every weekend to collaborate with Soldier’s Heart and their extended family of Appalachian musical cohorts.

Boulet also fronts the band Owner of the Sun. A blend of folk, bluegrass and backwoods stompin’, the sextet has been making their rounds in Western North Carolina to raucous crowds. And it’s the admiration from both sides of the microphone that justifies the melodic passion shared in this area, one that has recently provoked Waldrop to return to his hometown.

Smoky Mountain News: How did you get started playing music?

Brad Boulet: My family, mainly my dad, made music a huge part of my life from such an early age I couldn’t say where it started. Dad routinely used lyrics to convey messages about life to me as a kid. A method he went on to use for years as a school counselor. I played harmonica in the band, but the most vivid memory I have is of playing Fiddler’s Grove. Our upright bass player was sick and couldn’t make the trip. It was determined bass was more integral to the performance than harmonica, so I learned the bass part for our song in a station wagon on the way to the festival. I recall that experience evoking extreme terror.

SMN: What’s the philosophy of Owner of the Sun?

BB: I think we all believe there’s a place for folk instruments and sounds in songs they’re not supposed to go with. You could walk into a show at one point and call us a bluegrass band, then walk back in 10 minutes later and swear you’re listening to a country band, then come back 10 minutes later and get unmistakably rocked.

SMN: You’re a Jackson County native. What does it mean to you to be able to perpetuate Appalachian music and its ever-evolving history?

BB: I guess I grew up thinking every kid got to go listen to Harry Cagle play the fiddle on his porch. It ain’t so. Mountain music is unique and known the world over. When I tell people in Atlanta I grew up in WNC, it’s very common for them to bring up the music of the region. I like how Appalachian music is evolving. No longer is it mandatory to stand stoically and play a banjo the way it’s “supposed” to be played in order to represent and pay homage to mountain music.

SMN: What do you want folks to feel leaving your show?

BB: That we just gave them everything we had. I think too much comparison happens in music. There are certainly varying levels of musical talent which can be recognized, but we’re all guilty of saying what’s “better.” I think people appreciate passion and energy as much as musicianship — sometimes more. If folks leave our show feeling like we were honest, then we’re doing it right. - Smokey Moutain News