"Downtown Conversations" with Singer/Songwriter Chad Caroland

 

This past weekend brought with it a refreshing bit of new perspective embodied in 48-hour resident Chad Caroland. Caroland, a native Tennessean singer/songwriter, was kind enough to spend some time getting to know our beloved Circle City.

Driven by his curiosities in the Indianapolis art scene, Caroland cruised up I-65 in his 1986 baby blue Cadillac Fleetwood with a songwriting project fresh on his mind and his fingers itching for the fret board of his guitar. “Because I haven’t spent much time in Indy, I thought it would be a good idea to seek out Indianapolis natives because they know this city a lot better than I do,” he explained.

To this end, Caroland spent all day Saturday interviewing Hoosiers on the streets of downtown and in the midst of Art in Odd Places. His process began by asking a number of city-goers what it is they love about the arts scene in Indianapolis. “I borrowed a tape recorder from one of my buds, attached a mic and spent Saturday talking to people on the sidewalks,” he said. “I asked them different questions about art and community in Indy. I also asked them about the kind of atmosphere surrounding their favorite art galleries and concert venues.” With step one of the project complete, Caroland then split his time on Sunday afternoon between an informal porch party in the Herron-Morton neighborhood, and writing and arranging what would become the magnum opus of his 48-hour (well… 72-hour) Indy adventure.

On Monday morning, Caroland hit the HCA Soundcave and did not emerge (save during lunchtime) for the next six hours. During this time Caroland laid down an eight-track piece featuring snippets of the audio from his downtown interviews sitting neatly upon the tight sounds of acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, drums, and banjo carrying the melody of the tune with a little Tennessee volunteer twang. “The style of the song is definitely influenced by my southern roots. So this piece is really me bringing myself to Indianapolis in a musical sense,” Caroland explained.

Check out HCA 48-hour resident songwriter Chad Caroland’s Indy inspired song “Downtown Conversations.”