Sad Soul

Steve Poulton's songs play like prematurely abandoned picaresques of the urban, down-at-heel variety, and he sings his lyrics in a damaged croon that's actually soulful. On Altered Statesman's new self-titled full-length, Poulton and co-producer Joe McMahan have perfected a minimalist funk that falters and swings like it's dead on its feet. But the head is alive. Altered Statesman is a puzzle, and one of the most sophisticated records a Nashville band has made in recent memory. "It is soul music, but that's the kind of thing you say when somebody asks you what kind of music it is," Poulton says of Altered Statesman. He talks about soul like an aficionado, so a conversation with the songwriter comes complete with discursions on Chicago singers such as Major Lance and Otis Leavill. Poulton goes deep with the genre—he can quote the lyrics to George Clinton's 1967 "All Your Goodies Are Gone," which he says the group is doing in their live sets. Read the full story on The Altered Statetsman.
Mon., Aug. 4, 9 p.m., 2008