Guadalcanal Diary principal Murray Attaway belatedly has own album to do

But rather than being another folk-rocking R.E.M. clone, the band embraced a much more straight-ahead approach. “It was just a rock ‘n’ roll band to us,” Attaway continued. “Our EP was called ‘Watusi Rodeo’ because that kind of described our initial sound.”

Credit: Photo courtesy of Moon Ray Sound

Credit: Photo courtesy of Moon Ray Sound

The band returned in 1997 for sporadic shows around the South and self-released a live CD but never offered any more official new music. “I had quit the business by then anyway,” Attaway recalled. The occasional Guadalcanal reunions were purely for recreational use only. “We didn’t have any preconceived notions of getting signed again or anything. I’d been there and wasn’t interested in going back down that road again.”

Having been signed to Elektra in the ’80s with the band and Geffen in the early ’90s as a solo artist, Attaway opted to focus his attention on his web design business (attawaydesign.com) and spending time with his family.

“I’ve not done a lot of live shows for a long time because I didn’t think there was any reason for me to play out. When I quit the music business, I think I did it at the right time because I hadn’t fully embarrassed myself yet. To me, I was ahead of the game at that point, so it was probably better to just cut bait.”

Then, after a handful of shows with Walls in the Bomber City and Blasting Cap ensembles, Attaway went off the live music grid. “We just did those things for fun, too. I’m glad we did, because those were the last times I was able to play music with Jeff. I didn’t know that then, of course.” Walls, also a long-standing member of the Woggles, died in 2019.

“So now, since my solo album (1993’s ‘In Thrall’), it‘s been, what, maybe 32 years since I put out a record — or close, I’d say. And I guess it‘s time for a new one.” Forming the self-funded Moon Ray Sound label, his first product is “Tense Music Plays,” an eight-song collection pressed on bright orange vinyl.

“‘In Thrall’ never got put on streaming, so probably nobody born after I did it has even heard it,” Attaway, 67, continued. “But still, people would ask if I was ever gonna do another record. I’d say, ‘Yeah, I will, sometime.’ My life certainly wasn’t about records anymore at that point. Then, as I noticed I was getting older, I thought, ‘You know, I guess I’d better do this pretty soon.’”

But the process wasn’t fast. “It definitely took quite a while to do these songs,” he explained. “I must say, [producer-engineer] Mark Williams is one of the most patient people in the world. Two years later, we finally had the material you’ll hear on the album. He guided me through everything — how to work in a studio again, how to sing, how to make it a high-quality production. He made it all happen.”

The stark, acoustic-based pieces bristle with the immediacy of a live performance. “If I’m sounding off key, it‘s because I’m off key. It‘s organic and ‘real,’ for lack of a better word. If I’d done auto-tune or whatever on this thing, that would have been embarrassing. I was just trying to make a record that I’d want to listen to myself.”

The mature sound should please genre-addled radio and content programmers who tend to lump older singer-songwriters into the ever-widening Americana market. “But technically, ‘noncommercial triple-A’ is what I am right now,” he said. “Just don’t call it jangle pop and I’ll be fine.”

Attaway said he hadn’t completely abandoned songwriting before writing the songs that ended up on the new collection. He’d also composed film scores for director Howard Libov and incidental music for a comedic podcast called Dazzle Dudes.

Credit: Photo by Terry Allen

Credit: Photo by Terry Allen

“Writing these songs wasn’t much of a reach for me,” he said. “For this one, I didn’t have to go too exotic. Maybe a Mellotron here and there, a little percussion thanks to Robert Schmid and strings from Ana Balka. At some point, I banged on some pots, but that‘s about as weird as it got.”

Attaway will celebrate the album’s Friday, May 9 release with a full-band live show the night before at Eddie’s Attic in Decatur and again on May 17 at the Foundry in Athens. Two perfect locations for the musician to introduce material because he’s been active in both music scenes.

“Guadalcanal was technically a ‘Marietta band’; then we were an ‘Atlanta band’ and then an ‘Athens band’ — but really, I think we were mostly just a Georgia band. We were always back and forth between those places anyway. Plus, the whole ‘Athens band’ thing was something we largely disavowed — because, in the early ’80s, that probably meant ‘dance music’ to a lot of people. The B-52s, Pylon and Love Tractor, all of whom we loved, were more or less in that category, while Guadalcanal wasn’t. We just didn’t want to misrepresent ourselves.”

But Attaway said he does enjoy being an Atlanta-area resident again. “It‘s comfortable. This is where I was born, and it feels good to be back over here from the Athens suburbs.”

 Moving back into music, as well, Attaway said his focus on “Tense Music Plays” project merges with the accompanying pressures of running his own label. “Now here I am, with a new record coming out after three decades. If that label manager doesn’t do a good job with this thing, I may have to get tough with him — because I know where he lives!”

For the upcoming live shows, he said he’ll feature songs from the record, adding anything from his back catalog can pop up on the set list, including audience favorites from the four classic Guadalcanal Diary albums.

“I would be an idiot to not do any Guadalcanal songs, for two reasons,” Attaway said. “One, I’m not cocky enough to think that anybody would come to the show just to hear songs from a new record by me. And two, it‘s really fun to play those old songs. So why not?”

CONCERT PREVIEW

Murray Attaway and Friends

7 p.m. Thursday, May 8. $26.70-$32.26. Clay Harper opens. Eddie’s Attic, 515-B N. McDonough St., Decatur. 404-377-4976, eddiesattic.com. Attaway (with opener Harper) also performs at 7 p.m. May 17, at the Foundry, 295 E. Dougherty St., Athens. Call for availability, ticket prices: 706-549-7020

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Lee Valentine Smith is an Atlanta-born artist, writer and musician. A regular contributor to the AJC, his work has been syndicated internationally. He has appeared at Music Midtown, on CBS Radio and on Air America. He also served as art director, consultant and archivist for projects with ’80s hitmakers the Go-Go’s.

Credit: ArtsATL

Credit: ArtsATL

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