Doug Balmain plays solo at last year’s America has a Birthday. His group, the Doug Balmain Band, will play at the Beartree Tavern in Centennial this Saturday. They are known for playing music “with an alt-country disposition that bleeds into red dirt, rock-n-roll and blues.”
Doug Balmain, a philosophy student graduating this semester, is planning to release his band’s breakout album “Troubled Mind” during their first performance at the Beartree Tavern in Centennial this Saturday. The group, The Doug Balmain Band, describes their music as having an “alt-country disposition that bleeds into red dirt, rock-n-roll and blues.”
“This is an absolute unveiling of the album; it’s the first time people will hear it,” Balmain said, “The idea was we wanted to go someplace close to Laramie but also not a place they go very often. We wanted to make it be a unique venue.”
Balmain draws from his past experiences when writing his raw and very personal lyrics.
“You hear many different influences in my music, but it’s lyrically based. In that sense it’s Americana, which is the melting pot of different music and genres,” Balmain said. “There is lots of country influence in ‘Troubled Mind’ and that’s attributed to where it came from, here in Laramie.”
Doug Balmain Sr., Doug’s manager, agent and father, explained the process of creating the album.
“Doug originally recorded the album earlier last year but, after coming back, he wasn’t happy with it. So we basically threw it out. He got together with some Wyoming artists and recorded the new album at Thunderground Studios here in Laramie,” Balmain Sr. said.
The result is an album described by music critic Jorge Broines as “pure, raw and honest.” The country influence is evident in his singing, but sounds of rock, blues and folk intertwine to give a down-to-earth wholesome sound.
“The whole goal was to create a feel that you can communicate with someone else. That’s why it took so long to make this album,” Balmain said.
Balmain did not come from a family of musicians: he is the first. He never made a conscious effort write music, he said, it just fit with what he was dealing with in his life.
“I never sat down and intentionally wrote down music. I had gone through a tough time and ‘I know a girl with a troubled mind’ got stuck in my head. One day, I sat down and started putting some chords to the words and what came out was actually a song,” Balmain said. “I didn’t have any formal training or have an intention to have real structure to the sound. Life experience is what I bring to the table.”
“Good music is good music, no matter what kind of music it is. I just want to make sure my music is genuine,” he added. “There are always twists in the road, and I’m looking to have new sounds in our new album we’re currently working on.”
