I met Mr. Jack Carter much like I met Mr. Marshall Owen.  They each were mild mannered guys who, like most first timers at Open Mic, very quietly asked to have their name put on the list, then nervously approached the microphone after hearing their name being called.

That’s usual, that’s common.  After hosting Open Microphone for nearly eight years now, I can tell you how most people approach their first time, and you can believe that I am only speaking from experience.  What was not so common about Mr. Jack Carter and Mr. Marshall Owen were the sounds that followed the initial nervous attitude.

Both were under twenty one years old the first time I heard their songs.  Songs crafted, both lyrically and musically, like a lifetime went into them.  A lifetime.  From these two whipper snappers.  I had met Marshall before Jack, but as soon as I heard Jack, I thought of Marshall. They were both talented and skilled beyond their years.  Both writing songs that make people listen.  All people.

Soon the two were to join forces in an unstoppable way, in the form of Subterranean Bums.  A folk rock and roll, indie sound wave spitting, harmonious blend of the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jeff Buckley, Neutral Milk Hotel, Woody Guthrie, and pirate sea shanty love songs based on feeling meets punk.  These guys certainly play from the heart, with a lot of energy.

Little Richard once said that Jimi Hendrix was an excellent performer, because he gave the audience 110%.  No one wants to see an 85% performance.  You gotta give the audience every little bit of you.  All your soul has to be in it, present, unafraid, naked, raw human emotion.  The first and every time I have had the pleasure of seeing the Subterranean Bums perform, they deliver that 110%.  Be it an acoustic duet, or a full band with Steve Jackson on trumpet, Gael Mckeon on bass, Doug Pike or Taylor Bays on drums, (and whoever else has the honor of sitting in) they got it.  And it is good.

I implore you to check them out at this month’s dotmatrix project.  May 28th at the Green Burro, downtown Greensboro.  Subterranean Bums and Eating the Invaders.  Don’t miss it.

On May 29th, the night after the dotmatrix project, Subterranean Bums will have their Album Release Party at the Flatiron.  All you have to do to support local music is show up.  All you have to do to heal your soul is to show up, listen, take it all in and go home with their new album, which is amazing.

Jack Carter is currently residing in Atlanta, Georgia.  He works with Marshall every chance they get.  The amount of work James Marshall Owen produces is staggering.  He plays bass and guitar and sings in Eating the Invaders as well, plus plays out at least twice a week, and has sat in with the likes of Molly McGinn, Holy Ghost Tent Revival, and many, many others.

I’m sure there are more things he is working on (like recording the entire Subterranean Bums album at his house) and we should all be glad that he is.