BARTON CARROLL
The former North Carolinian makes his home elsewhere now, but his new LP, Avery County, I'm Bound to You, makes it abundantly clear his heart and soul have never left the mountains where he came of age. Tapping into regional styles with fiddle waltzes, banjo folk, acoustic reels and rural rock, Carroll's rich narratives are peopled with unforgettable characters - mountebanks, drunkards, accursed bible zealots and lots and lots of ex-girlfriends, some who left Carroll behind (like the cineaste in "It Had to Be a Train") and some he left behind (like the pole-dancer in the brilliant "Every Little Bit Hurts"). Carroll's played in the bands of other fine songwriters, such as Eric Bachmann's Crooked Fingers and Al James' Dolorean, but takes a backseat to neither. Carroll's pulled off the neat trick on Avery County of injecting fresh perspective and life into these traditional styles, all while turning out a classic take of his own. $5. Oct. 19, 10 p.m. Snug Harbor, 1228 Gordon St.