The Attic at the Blind Mule hosted a four-act bill on Friday, February 21 that stretched from Brooklyn apocalypse rock to Mobile singer-songwriter intimacy, with doors opening at 9 p.m. and music starting at 10 for the 21-and-up crowd.
Headliners The Sky Captains of Industry arrived in Mobile from Brooklyn with a stage persona built around time travel — the band jokes that it has come from the future to warn audiences about the coming apocalypse, or failing that, to rock it to rubble. Their set leaned into that theatrical, high-volume approach.
The bill also featured John Carolina, the folk-and-swing project of Steven Bryte Laney and Joelle Rosen of Mobile’s Underhill Family Orchestra. The duo pairs harmonic vocals with thought-provoking songwriting, giving local fans an early look at half of one of the city’s most talked-about bands outside their usual full-band setting.
Mobile-area songwriter Adam Taylor opened the night with one of his unpredictable sets. Taylor is known locally for showing up with anything from a pile of noise-making devices to a lone acoustic guitar, delivering evocative personal songs rooted in the blues tradition.
Nashville’s Casey Black brought his literary, storytelling style to the lineup as well. A songwriter who owns more books than records, Black writes conversational songs about optimistic pessimists and the battles between brain and gut, delivered in a gravel-tumbled baritone that critics have praised as a revival of old-school craft songwriting.
Rounding out the evening, filmmaker and video artist Timothy Dixon of Burning Mirror Films shot and projected live video throughout the show, adding a visual layer to the performances.