Belly Up to Clemson’s 356 and Sol Driven Train

By Michael Staton

Thursday, February 4, 2010

We’ve already featured a review of Sol Driven Train’s latest concert DVD in the pages of “Upstate Be,” but for those who missed out on that story we’ll do the catching up for you. Sol Driven Train is a Charleston-based band that plays supremely catchy hybrid music, and their popularity is steadily forcing them to break out of their Southeast region.

The band has been busy of late and will be coming off a two-week Virgin Island tour when they stop in to play Clemson tonight. Guitarist and vocalist Joel Timmons wouldn’t be surprised if their music was still a little reggae-saturated after two weeks in paradise.

“We’ve got a beach vibe so we fit well there,” Timmons said. “We’ll emphasize the reggae aspect while we’re there, but we look forward to 356 because we always have a blast there.”

Timmons said the band is in the midst of finishing work on their upcoming album, “Believe,” which will deliver more music in the style fans are accustomed to, albeit in a more polished form. He said the band added guest vocals and overdubs to several tracks, resulting in a combination of the band’s live sensibilities and studio work.

He said the Sol Driven Train is trying to slowly roll out the new songs in a live setting, but if the time is right for a song the band isn’t afraid to break out new material. Timmons said the urge to play songs off “Believe” is hard to resist, especially as the album draws closer to completion.

Timmons said the band has flirted with the idea of not performing album material live and just going into a studio with fresh music. However, Timmons feels this would be difficult because of how much time the band spends on the road and the massive amount of new material they consistently write.

“Music getting stale is something I struggle with, but we’re still trying to not play the new stuff too often,” Timmons said. “We’re just excited to get album versions of songs to people who’ve enjoyed them live.”

The album’s title track features a heavy brass section and a “blue-eyed soul sound,” Timmons said. The lyrics concern a break up the singer went through and how not believing in something basically means it’s over. Timmons quickly added that the song could easily profile the life of a working musician. Another standout track is “Toda La Gente,” a highly percussive song about how all locals are immigrants and vice versa.

The band members are known for playing several different roles and performing on different instruments during a single show. Timmons said they look forward to mixing things up for a Clemson crowd that is no longer so familiar to them.

“When we first played Clemson it was for groups of our friends,” Timmons said, “but there’s a turnover and we’re playing for strangers. We enjoy the challenge of trying to connect with people just through our music.”