Goodbyehome: Press
Imagine the organic nature of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon intercepted by folk musicians with a lot on their mind and a lot of instruments on hand. The group is what I would call “AA” or “Atmospheric Americana.” Firmly rooted in Americana, yet without any hint of rawness, their sound is polished and enveloping. Front man Gregg Combs is staking ground as an accomplished singer-songwriter.
Breathless, excitingly embryonic on stage, with a rare Folky wistfulness that makes your heart soar and drop simultaneously. Goodbyehome make the music that would accompany sad, fond memories of a road trip where, after driving for hours in the wilderness, you met a beautiful girl at a bar in the middle of nowhere, and spent your whole night with her, knowing you'd never see her again.
Goodbye Home is a combination and conglomeration of musicians, and just like their backgrounds represent different histories and stories, so their music encompasses several genres.
They lean heavy on the folk/Americana side, but “Rain Dance” is an example of how broad their tastes range. It’s a pretty trippy song that harkens back to 70s epics in the vein of Pink Floyd. It’s alternately mellow and intense and frankly, downright cool.
Goodbyehome is an alternative-country band that sounds similar to all the other “alt-country” bands that have been crawling out of the woodwork thanks to the underground (if not almost commercial) success of Jeff Tweedy and his band; Josh Ritter; and the ever emotionally-distraught Ryan Adams. What sets GBH apart is their insatiable harmonies. Also, their addition of electric guitars really pushes them up above and beyond anyone I had heard tonight - GBH teased us with a little bit of rock - but always sunk back into their Americana roots, never to push to hard for a sound that wasn’t their own.
Their front three, Jeff Brown (lead guitar), Christine Knodle (Violin) and Greg Combs (singer/rhythm guitar) have a good relationship together on stage, laughing with each other and trading harmonic high end sounds between one another while the low end stays out of the mix, carrying the tunes and chugging along almost imperceptibly with the drums.
Song by song the show went nicely, slowing down a bit near the end with the 6/8 gospel track, Dear John – but then picked up tremendously by the time their final song, Raindance, got us tapping our feet beneath the worn out chairs at Martyrs.
With roots embedded in the singer-songwriter aspect of the music scene, Goodbyehome is trying to leave the comforts of the familiar to try and send a positive message with their emotionally driven folk sound.
Greg Combs, Christine Knodle and Jeff Brown came together in May to form Goodbyehome, a folk/Americana band that can be compared to alternative country star Ryan Adams and folk singer Joshua James.
Goodbyehome takes you places most Folk/Rock artists stay away from in Rain Dance, while keeping all the soul and emotion of said genre in Apache Hotel. Their experimental side in Rain Dance takes cues from the synthetic sounds of Radiohead. The marriage of these two genres produces something closer to Wilco, not in sound, but in musicianship. Goodbyehome has a feel that they can truly claim as their own. With that said, the band is not afraid to stay simple and organic through the use of acoustic instruments (notably, real strings). I'm excited about this band and the originality they're embracing while sustaining a humble sound.