Sol Driven Train performs tonight at The Cavern

The Charleston-based band, Sol Driven Train will perform tonight at The Cavern located at 312 E. Solomon Street in Griffin.  Dane and Ashley Slaughter, owners of The Cavern, recently acquired their liquor license, which will be put to use tonight.  Tickets are $10 at the door, and doors open at 9 p.m. Stop by and tell ’em The Grip sent you.

Information about Sol Driven Train, pulled from www.soldriventrain.com:

“If you need to visualize the soul, think of it as a kind of train. Yes, a long, lonesome freight train rumbling from generation to generation on an eternally rainy morning: its boxcars are loaded with sighs and laughter, its hobos are angels, its engineer is the queen of spades – and the queen is wild. Whoo-whoo! Hear that epiphanic whistle blow. The train’s destination is the godhead, but it stops at the Big Bang, at the orgasm, and at the hole in the fence that the red fox sneaks through down behind the barn. It’s simultaneously a local and an express, but it doesn’t transport weaponry, and it certainly ain’t no milk run.”Tom Robbins, Villa Incognito

Sol Driven Train’s music weaves through genres like images in a Tom Robbins paragraph. The band’s sonic schizophrenia absorbs songwriting influences like Jon Prine and Paul Simon, and afro-caribbean rhythmic explorations, into honest songs of life, love, loss, and long johns. The 5-piece band, based in Charleston, SC, features rotating lead vocalists, and multi-instrumental talent spread across horns, strings, and percussion. The band members share a musical history dating back to childhood, and their music and live shows are filled with a spirit of positivity and joy, even while traversing subjects of suffering and death.

Sol Driven Train is a band in motion. Perpetually piling on and off the bus, the momentum of their hard work and heart-felt music propels the group in front of growing crowds across the country. At shows, the band members bounce to the pulse of the music along with the crowd. Stylistically the band seamlessly mixes Allmanesque Southern rock, languid world-beat, swampy funk and downright catchy melodies as they swap lead singers and instruments. A punchy horn section adds an extra dimension of sweaty soul‚ (Atlanta Creative Loafing, 11/21/06).  “Believe,” the band’s 8th independent release, is earning critical praise and quickly gaining the band many new fans through national radio airplay.

Since the fall of 2005, “the train”¬†has been touring full-time, averaging 150 shows per year at festivals, theaters, and bars. In the spring of 2010, they celebrated their 1,000th live show and ten years together as a band.  In those ten winding years they have shared stages and bills with a diverse array of artists including Micheal Franti, Richie Havens, Keller Williams, Arlo Guthrie, and Blues Traveler. Despite the pace, the band takes time on the road to enjoy outdoor activities such as whitewater rafting, surfing, rock climbing, and cloud gazing. The tour schedule has begun to resemble the nomadic wanderings of a raft guide, ski bum, and itinerant surfer racing between the mountains and the beach. Sol Driven Train enjoys Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka as a tour sponsor and over ice with a splash of water and a lemon wedge.

 Ward Buckheister on guitar, trombone, and vocals; Rusty Cole on bass and vocals; Wes Powers on drums; Russell Clarke on saxophones and vocals; Joel Timmons on guitar and vocals