Carbon Leaf is a familiar presence in Bethlehem.<\/p>\n
The band performed at the Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks in 2024, \u201cCeltic Classic\u201d in 2004, and Musikfest Cafe in 2012 and 2025.<\/p>\n
The band had a concert at The Sellersville Theater in April.<\/p>\n
The group\u2019s Aug. 21 free concert at the Union Terrace Amphitheater, Allentown, was the first of a long tour.<\/p>\n
Carbon Leaf\u2019s music cannot be classified into a category, although the closest definition might be the catch-all term Americana. The band\u2019s website calls the group an \u201cindie folk rock staple.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe play diverse instruments and styles of music. It can confuse a lot of people. Each song is different,\u201d says Carbon Leaf lead singer Barry Privett in a phone interview from his home in Richmond, Va.<\/p>\n
Privett says there were four or five Celtic songs out of 14 on the band\u2019s 2001 release \u201cEcho Echo.\u201d One of the songs, the opening track, \u201cThe Boxer,\u201d had a regular rotation after the band played it at the American Music Awards.<\/p>\n
The band\u2019s best known song is \u201cLife Less Ordinary,\u201d a melodic rock tune from the 2004 album \u201cIndian Summer,\u201d that became a mainstream radio hit.<\/p>\n
The lyrics branch out from standard themes. Privett says, \u201cHopefully people can appreciate that they are more sophisticated and nuanced, even inspirational.\u201d<\/p>\n
The title track from their latest release, 2024\u2019s \u201cTime is the Playground,\u201d includes the lyrics: \u201cTime is the playground\/And the high-rise cityscape fades\/As the conversation\u2019s winding down\/As the engine vibrates\/It threads me like a needle.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTime is the Playground\u201d is Carbon Leaf\u2019s 15th studio album. The band recorded three albums for Vanguard\u2006 and then left the label, re-recording them to regain the copyrights.<\/p>\n
While the band was on the Vanguard record label, MP3s of its songs were included on new Dell personal computers, which introduced many fans to the group.<\/p>\n
In 2002, Carbon Leaf was the first unsigned band to play the American Music Awards after winning the first-ever American Music Awards Presents the Coca-Cola New Music Award for \u201cThe Boxer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Privett recalls: \u201cThere were a couple of thousand tapes submitted. It was narrowed down to 800, then 100, then 50, and we kept making the cut. Finally, five bands got to compete in front of Dick Clark and go on a national tour.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2002, Carbon Leaf won the \u201cPontiac Vibe Summer Sound Off,\u201d with \u201cThe Boxer\u201d being played in Pontiac Vibe commercials on MTV and VH1.<\/p>\n
The band wrote and performed the music for the 2010 animated feature film \u201cCurious George 2: Follow That Monkey!\u201d Says Privett:<\/p>\n
\u201cJack Johnson did the music for the first film. We got a call from the studio for the second. They were using our music [\u2018Life Less Ordinary\u2019] as a placeholder for the second one. They liked it so much, they kept it and asked us to do most of the soundtrack.\u201d<\/p>\n
One appearance Privett recalls as \u201cvery strange\u201d was on the \u201cDr. Phil\u201d talk show:<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a long time ago. I think he was doing a segment about indie music. Carter could not be with us, so we went on as a foursome.\u2006 I think we were the only band that was ever on his show.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carbon Leaf formed in 1993 at Randolph Macon College in Virginia. Three of the five members are original: Privett, Terry Clark, guitar, and Carter Gravatt, guitar, mandolin, and other instruments. Jon Markel, bass, has been with the band for nearly 20 years, and Jesse Humphrey, drummer, for almost 10 years.<\/p>\n
Carbon Leaf does not have a special meaning, says Privett:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t have a name for our first gig. Carbon Leaf came out of my mouth, and the woman who was promoting the concert put it on a poster.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fig for a Kiss opened the Union Terrace concert. The Celtic group performed at Musikfest and will be at Celtic Classic, Sept. 25-27, Bethlehem.<\/p>\n
ArtsQuest presents the free Union Terrace concert series, which began in 2025. This year, the five Friday night monthly series began May 22. It concludes Sept. 11 with Little Lies: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac.<\/p>\n
Carbon Leaf, Fig for a Kiss, 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. Aug. 21, Union Terrace Amphitheater, 200 S. Saint Elmo St., Allentown. Free. Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets.<\/p>\n
PHOTO BY BRITTANY DILIBERTOCarbon Leaf, 6 p.m. Aug.21, Union Terrace Amphitheater, Allentown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Carbon Leaf is a familiar presence in Bethlehem. The band performed at the Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks in 2024,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270105,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":["post-270104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}