On Saturday, December 26th, 50+ artists and hundreds of thousands of viewers around the world came together for Georgia Comes Alive, a virtual music festival aimed at promoting voter participation in Georgia’s Senate runoff elections on January 5th, 2021, which saw a record-breaking voter turnout.
One of the many Peach State locals to appear at Georgia Comes Alive was Futurebirds, who performed a pair of original compositions early in the stream. Ahead of the band’s studio performance, multi-instrumentalist Thomas Johnson appeared to discuss the importance of the then-upcoming Georgia Senate runoff election while enjoying a few adult beverages with his family on Christmas.
Johnson also shed some light on the specifics behind his band’s impending performance, which was recorded back in June. The performance marked the first time the members had all performed together since the pandemic hit last spring when they had to make a “Mad dash out of Colorado.” The set was recorded live at the Portico, a 19th century church outside their hometown of Athens, GA.
The first song of the performance, “Wandering Minds”, described by Johnson as “A song about managing expectations, something that goes a long way this time of year,” took on an indie-alternative dream quality as Johnson bent the vocal notes through the cavernous anals of the old church that is the Portico.
For the next song, “Tan Lines”, which Johnson says is “About wishing you were somewhere else, maybe somewhere a little sunnier, a little brighter, something I think we can all relate to,” the band opened up with a rollicking instrumental romp that showed the musical prowess of the band. With a stable of guitars—two electric, one acoustic, and one pedal steel—the soundscape is dense with strings that all align like a constellation. With Carter King on vocals, the song takes on more of a straightforward lyrical approach due to a lack of distorting effects. “Tan Lines”, however, is an instrumentally-driven song as Johnson delivers a roaring late-game solo to send the song home after one last chorus.
Related: Portugal. The Man Brightens Up Georgia Comes Alive With “Colors” [Watch]
Revisit Futurebirds’ full set from Georgia Comes Alive below and subscribe to the Live For Live Music YouTube channel for more Georgia Comes Alive videos:
Futurebirds – “Wandering Minds”, “Tan Lines” – Georgia Comes Alive