Boy From Black Mountain is the third release from the determinedly eclectic Boston-based ensemble Beat Circus. Beat Circus is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist / singer-songwriter Brian Carpenter. The music bridges a number of disparate genres including experimental music, Americana, cabaret, circus music, Appalachian string music, bluegrass music, old-time music, Southern Gospel, and funereal music. The current edition of the band features a unusual and versatile instrumentation. Brian brought in violinist Paran Amirinazari and violist Jordan Voelker (who also provide background vocals), trombonist Doug LaRosa, and the rockabilly-style rhythm section composed of upright bassist Paul Dilley, guitarist/banjoist Andrew Stern, and drummer Gavin McCarthy. The understatedly beautiful cover artwork and illustrations within the full color booklet are by Carson Ellis, known for her work on albums by The Decemberists

Boy From Black Mountain began shortly after Carpenter's son was diagnosed with autism in late 2006. He began writing songs inspired by the experience of living with his son during the time of diagnosis and treatment. Carpenter further dedicates the album to his father and grandparents, whose lives as watermelon farmers in the rural Bible Belt inspired some of the songs. This is a very artful-yet-accessible album with great lyrics, memorable songs and rich orchestrations. In addition to the songs are a handful of haunting instrumentals which help to frame the overall work of the songs to a larger canvas.

"With the release Boy From Black Mountain, the second album in [Brian Carpenter's] “Weird American Gothic” trilogy, Carpenter and his Beat Circus have created something completely unique and yet somehow amazing. Most concept albums fall short due to a lack of the artists understanding that while filling the concept lyrically and musically, the album still has to be listenable and captivating. Carpenter gets that. The lyrics...aren’t about some made up land or characters, but rather the life he has experienced... To bring the songs to life with a Southern Gothic feel, Carpenter has used a wide range of not so typical instruments that at any given time include accordion, viola, tuba, cello, and Chinese Suona. Wrap the odd instrumentation around a deep and dark lead vocal that is often times accompanied by a haunting soprano and this album comes alive. Concept albums are typically not my thing but this one delivers on every level from relatable lyrics to a well-crafted story of everyday life." – Guest List

"...the band mixes carnivalesque tunes with rock moments. The rich and tight orchestrations feature a Morricone-inspired combination of harmonica, viola, banjo, guitar, tuba, violin, trombone, upright bass, and drums." — The New Yorker

"Boston's circus of malcontents not only has the chops but features a fallen hellfire preacher/band leader (the captivating Brian Carpenter) who simultaneously channels Nick Cave and Johnny Cash." — The Village Voice

Boy From Black Mountain press release

ì Ötis a tale of dreams and nightmares, the conscious mind and the subconscious mind, responsibility and consequence.ì ñ Brian Carpenter, Beat Circus

Produced by Martin Bisi, Beat Circusí Dreamland is an astonishing CD: a dark American epic, cinematic in its scope. It is the first part in a Weird American Gothic trilogy of song cycles written by singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Brian Carpenter, the leader of Beat Circus ñ a band aligned with Bostonís internationally recognized post-cabaret music scene (The Dresden Dolls, Reverend Glasseye and HUMANWINE). The Dreamland song cycle is based on historical fact ñ real people and events in the turn of the century Coney Island amusement park of the same name ñ interwoven with Carpenterís fictional tale of an impoverished, alcoholic gold miner who makes a pact with the devil before fleeing eastward to work in Dreamlandís sideshows. In Carpenterís own words: ìÖtis a tale of dreams and nightmares, the conscious mind and the subconscious mind, responsibility and consequence.î

To bring his historical fiction to life, Carpenter created a 150 page musical score that blends Vaudeville, cabaret, parlor songs and other old-time, pre-jazz American popular musical forms with modern composition and post-rock. The resulting music is a surreal new-folk Americana, resounding and brutal in musical and emotional power. Blurring the lines between past and present, fact and fiction, nightmares and the American Dream, Beat Circusí Dreamland exists in a perverse and magical netherworld, where reality shifts like sand on Coney Islandís wave-washed shore.

The historical facts underlying Dreamland read like surreal fiction. The original Dreamland, one of three grand amusement parks that forged Coney Islandís identity in the early 1900ís as Americaís recreational escape, was built by Tammany Hall-connected businessman William H. Reynolds. It opened in 1904, a Utopian vision of all-white buildings dominated by a grandiose, beacon-lit tower that gleamed by day and glowed at night ñ a novel, awe-inspiring spectacle made possible by Americaís newest invention, a million electric lights. Designed to entertain under an educational pretense, Dreamland was in fact ìa surreal and macabre world of horrors and delightsî that offered the public exotic (Alpine villages, Venetian canals) and improbable locales (a Lilliputian Village built for 300 dwarves), dangerous rides (the deadly Rough Rider) and ëscientificí and ëtechnicalí exhibits (burning tenements featuring real New York City firefighters in action, a display of premature triplets in incubators). A religious and moral undercurrent coursed through it all; historian Adam Sandy described Dreamland as ìthe Bible brought to Brooklyn with hints of showmanship.î The parkís entrance ñ an arch formed by gigantic angel wings and capped by a colossal Statue of Liberty crown (America as dream-land, mankindís gateway to redemption and rebirth!) ñ doubled as Creation, an attraction that took visitors on a journey through Genesis and the creation of the world. Another attraction, ìopened by a fan of sobriety hoping to scare customers straight,î took visitors on a boat trip to Hell. In 1911, under Samuel Gumpertzís new management, Dreamland closed to remodel and repaint its buildings in riotous color. At 2 AM on May 27th, the night before re-opening day, a fire broke out in Hell Gate during repairs and spread rapidly, burning Dreamland to the ground. Never rebuilt, Dreamland was replaced by a freak show and other, smaller attractions; the New York Aquarium now sits on Dreamlandís site. Dreamland has been commemorated in a documentary film by Ric Burns, a post card collection by Richard Snow, historical books and websites by Adam Sandy and others, and a ëhistorical novelí, Dreamland, by Kevin Baker.

A lovingly compiled tribute, Beat Circusí Dreamland may well be the first musical narrative/concept album devoted to Dreamlandís colorful past. Ironically, Beat Circus completed the CD in 2007 during what the Gotham Gazette called ìConey Islandís Summer of Reckoningî, as massive redevelopment plans were unveiled to erase all physical character ñ and characters ñ from Coney Islandís carnival past.

A full-length recording that contains 16 cuts of lyrical songs and through-composed instrumental music, Dreamland was produced & mixed by legendary NYC producer Martin Bisi (Sonic Youth, Swans, The Dresden Dolls, Barbez) and mastered by Fred Kevorkian at Avatar Studios in NYC. It features a pantheon of Carpenter's long and short-term collaborators, including the nine-piece Beat Circus and numerous special guests, including:
Steven Berson (cello), Holly Brewer (vocals), Brian Carpenter (vocals, harmonica, harmonium, toy piano, drums, trumpet, slide trumpet, tambourine, Mellotron, outside talker, stomping), Ron Caswell (tuba), Brian Dewan (electric zither; also did cover illustration), Frank Difficult (electronics), DJ Hazard (chain gang, outside talker), Orion Rigel Dommisse (vocals), Curtis Hasselbring (trombone), Michael Hearst (theremin), (One Ring Zero), K 0the Hostetter (violin), Chris Jenkins (viola), Julia Kent (cello), Briggan Krauss (alto & baritone saxophones), Matt McLaren (drums, washboard, percussion/stomping), M. McNiss (chorus vocals, chain gang, outside talker), Alec K. Redfearn (accordion, jaw harp, stomping), Todd Robbins, Director of Coney Island USA (piano), Brandon Seabrook (banjo, mandolin), Sxip Shirey (bells, extended pennywhistle), multi-instrumentalist Jesse Sparhawk (harp), Helen Yee (violin)

Dreamland press release