Relentless

Athens Songwriter Nate Nelson Delivers The Sounds On His New Full-Length

originally published October 17, 2007

Nate Nelson is an anomaly in the often cringe-worthy world of the singer-songwriter. In an arena where the best artists are often clumsy, unsure dreamers and journeymen, Nelson is incredibly focused. Ironic, too, is the fact that singer-songwriters tend to be mythically rootless individuals, while their music is inextricably tied to those who came before them; Nelson's music, however, sounds rootless.

His deeply intimate, gutturally romantic tunes don't sound, really, like anyone but Nate Nelson. Through very loose comparisons, one might be able to discern some Jeff Buckley, Radiohead and even Now It's Overhead in Nelson's music, but in no case can these possible inspirations be heard outright.

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Nelson's latest recording, credited to Nate Nelson & Cortright, sees its release this week. Called Knobs Have Turned, the album title alludes to the craft of record production. The album was recorded with his Nelson's backing band Cortright - drummer Ian Werden (Slackdaddy) and bassist Jay Rodgers (ex-Aqualove) - and features contributions from Modern Skirts guys John Swint and Phillip Brantley, Tin Cup Prophette's Amanda Kapousouz and Now It's Overhead's Andy LeMaster.

In just a few short years, the 19-year-old Nelson has moved from adolescence to accomplished artist, from amateur kid to engineering professional. It's all pretty impressive, especially in a musical genre that seems to reward immaturity. Even so, Nelson says, "I've never considered myself young, and still don't. When I was recording and playing out in support of my first record, Random Acts, I was 15. I felt like if I considered myself 'young,' I would be putting myself into another group away from every other songwriter. I have always said that I am a songwriter, and that I want people to like my songs because they think they're good songs, not because of how young I am. I want to be thrown into the fire with all the songwriters and bands I listen and look up to!"

It's one thing, however, to want it, and another thing entirely to do it. "I made my decision to completely pursue music my senior year of high school," says Nelson. "All of the people I talked to that play music for a living told me 'you need to do it now, school can wait, see what happens.' So I did. I took a year off and I lived completely as an artist. I engineered and produced a couple of records at Chase Park, wrote and recorded Knobs Have Turned, and built a band and did some touring in the Southeast. I quickly realized that I was much more focused than all my friends that I went to high school with. They would get pretty upset with me for being out of town every weekend and missing their parties. I have to tell them on a weekly basis that 'I'm not being too cool for you guys, I just really have to do this'."

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As an engineer at Chase Park Transduction, working alongside such notables as David Barbe and Andy LeMaster, Nelson has a solid advantage over most musicians. "I'd be lying to you if I said I don't think about what I want to do in the studio while I write," he says. "But I wouldn't say that it drives it in anyway. I think about mics I want to use and what tones I want on all the instruments… not about how I can chop it to hell in ProTools and change anything with a click of the mouse. I use the studio to write [the way] just anybody else would use their band."

That Nelson got into the recording game so early and so deeply is both impressive and a little confounding. "I became interested in recording when I realized how much I loved the atmosphere of the studio when recording Random Acts," says the Athens native. "So during my last semester of high school, I did an internship at Chase Park Transduction. Six months after that, David Barbe stopped calling me an intern and started calling me an engineer. I just did a record for my great friend Nick Light titled The World Forgetting by the World Forgot, as well as Matias' Split Leaf EP." Nelson also recorded "Clean Getaway," the Maria Taylor track that turned some ears on an episode of "Grey's Anatomy" this spring.

It's no secret anymore that there's a burgeoning underground of very talented, young singer-songwriters here in Athens (Allison Weiss, Nicole Matias, etc.) who seem to have sprung from nowhere. Or, at least, this underground hasn't sprung from the club scene in the traditional, late-night, booze-fueled sense. Nelson sees this as a positive thing. "I really think that is it great that coffee shops and clubs are taking more chances on acoustic-based songs with early shows and whatnot," he says. "I mean, that's how it's possible to get started around here. It was for me, and still is, a really great way to be playing a lot both in town and out of town, and then hit club kids with my music from a more intimate angle than they're used to."

Nelson plays a show at the Caledonia Lounge on Wednesday, Oct. 17 with his band (though Ben Leathers has replaced Werden on drums) to celebrate the release of Knobs Have Turned. He'll also put in another brief performance this week, playing on the quad in front of the University of Georgia's Myers dorm on Friday, Oct. 19 at 4 p.m. for a rally supporting Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

Gordon Lamb

WHO: Nate Nelson & Friends
WHERE: Caledonia Lounge
WHEN: Wednesday, October 17
HOW MUCH: $5

WHAT: "Rock For Barack" Rally
WHO: Nate Nelson, Allison Weiss and more
WHERE: UGA, Myers Quad
WHEN: Friday, October 19; 4 p.m.
HOW MUCH: FREE!