Act of Congress spreads its sound throughout Birmingham and the Southeast

It’s hard to believe the members of Act of Congress have been playing together for less than two years. The bluegrass-influenced Birmingham band released its debut LP, Declaration, with a sold-out show at WorkPlay in September. And listening to the album, it’s easy to understand the draw. Adam Wright (mandolin, guitar and vocals), Bethany Borg (fiddle and vocals), Chris Griffin (guitar, dobro and vocals) and Tim Carroll (bass and vocals) are each individually talented, and their tightly-focused arrangements highlight each member’s strengths.

The band has gathered steam since the album’s release and will likely continue to do so with an impressive lineup of shows this spring. Act of Congress plays WorkPlay on Thursday, and will appear at Arova Dance Company’s performances of Between the Lines March 6 to 8. Griffin and Wright recently took time to fill me in on the band’s latest developments.

BBS: Things seem to have been picking up for y’all since the release of Declaration last fall. You’ve garnered a lot of attention around town, been in the news and have been playing more and more shows. How has the release of your first full-length affected the band?

Chris Griffin: All of this interesting stuff has happened. Over Christmas we took a week and we went to Nashville and went up to Virginia and tried to meet with some interesting folks that were up there. Then we got to do kind of a showcase for Red Light Management, which was Dave Matthews’, kind of their parent management company. That was real cool, and now we’re back.

BBS: How long were y’all together before you began work on Declaration?

CG: I think we started writing for that CD right at the get go. The prep for that was almost a year probably. We knew because of budget stuff that we had to get in and cut it really quick. We prepped that for a while, and then we cut it over the course of … I don’t know … Jason Elgin, who produces the album, he’s a guy who just totally believed in us and sacrificed a lot. We don’t have any money, but he believed in us as musicians and he sacrificed a lot to make that happen.

He works with label bands on a weekly basis. He really believes in us and gave us confidence to go out. … We knew nothing about the industry from an outside perspective, and he knows a lot. So he’s been very helpful to us with aligning us with the right people. He’s aligned us with music business attorneys, given us a lot of wisdom on the things to do and who you need to hang out with as far as helping you along in the process. Good people. We feel really blessed to have the team around us that supports us.

BBS: You’re playing WorkPlay again this month, and you’ve also got several other interesting shows on the horizon, like playing at this year’s South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. How have those opportunities come together?

CG: We’re crazy pumped about that. They contacted us like a week ago and asked us to go and do a showcase there. We’re going to try to work a week-long tour. [Michael Panepento, currently president of ChapelLane Productions] told us a long time ago … You take a map and you draw a tack and you put that tack where you live. You draw a smaller circle and then a little bit bigger circle until you feel like you’ve created a good base, and that’s when you expand.

AW: We’re definitely thinking more regionally in 2009. I think when we went to Virginia, that was our first time to go out a little ways. That’s when we realized how close these other markets were—Memphis, Nashville, Atlanta.

BBS: And you’re also playing with Arova Dance Company’s March production. What will that be like?

CG: That’s going to be crazy. I have no idea. We’re all musicians, so you just go where there’s work. Today Adam and I are sitting and arranging this piece for this … band called Maylene and the Sons of Disaster. You just do the opportunity that comes. [Arova] wanted to set three of our songs to a contemporary ballet.

AW: We’re constantly met with the bluegrass stigma. Our producer, he’s actually encouraged us to think of ways to musically separate our selves—I guess just give us more of a distinction than just a bluegrass band. An opportunity like this where they’re going to take three of our songs, we’re going to play them live and they’re going to perform contemporary dance to them [is cool].

BBS: What’s ahead for you guys?

AW: I think just to sum it up, last year we made a list of goals. At the end of the year, we actually found that we had met if not surpassed all of them, which was really cool to see that happening. I think the big ones on our list this year are to just think more regionally as far as where we’re playing and try to grow our fan base a little bit outside of Birmingham. Like we said before, Birmingham is a central hub to so many music markets. We’re already trying to research good venues for acoustic music and where people are going to come and hear original stuff.

We definitely want to try and put new music out there. Since Declaration, we recorded a Christmas tune [released online]. We’ve actually got a cover EP—going to put that out in February. We’re trying to constantly put out new stuff for people to be listening to.

CG: The days of releasing a record just based on the songs on the record are over. There’s so much other stuff that goes with it. … I think it comes down to content, constantly having content for people who enjoy your music to grab onto. I think in ’09 we’re going to try to diversify in that area.

Act of Congress plays WorkPlay on Feb. 26, with Erick Baker opening. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 on the day of the show, and available at workplay.com. Fans of the band and of contemporary ballet will have a chance to see the two combined during Arova Dance Company’s Between the Lines, at the Virginia Samford Theatre March 6 to 8. Tickets are $35 for singles and $60 for couples during the opening night benefit, and will be $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and $13 for students the following two performances. Learn more at arova.org.

Keep an eye on Act of Congress’s live schedule at actofcongressmusic.com, and preview the band’s sound at its MySpace page.