Enemy Lines by Art Linton

" Cuccaro says, "It doesn't take long to realize that Linton is probably first and foremost a singer-songwriter. The feel of the arrangements are one signal, and the sheer diversity of the album is another." Cuccaro writes, "Be it rock, light funk or soul, or folk... this CD trips through styles and even time periods with impressive dexterity. What ties Enemy Lines together is, actually, Linton's equally dexterous vocals."

Cuccaro goes on to say, "On the song 'Death of Eros' (my personal favorite) he sings a simple, disenchanted folk song that Billy Bragg would be damned proud of. Then he almost mimics some of Billy Joel's best work on 'Died Like Romeo.'" Cuccaro sums up by saying "...Enemy Lines is a fine and very listenable debut of Art's talents."

Art Linton is a native son of Atlanta, GA. He was one of the first acts to play at the Downstairs music club/restaurant, which was a small but eccentric part of the Athens music scene in the late 1980's. Art performed his songs solo there on acoustic guitar, sometimes with harmonica and of course, harmonica rack. He would later perform at the Uptown Lounge, the Georgia Theatre, Rockfish Palace, the Flying Buffalo, Charle McGruders, the Lighthouse and the Foundry as part of an acoustic guitar duo with singer-songwriter Mike Robinson.

Mike and Art opened for the legendary John Prine at the Georgia Theatre in 1990. They also opened once for a group called "The Kentucky Headhunters," and that's when Art made the "mistake" of jokingly playing the first few notes of "Sweet Home Alabama." The hostile headhunter audience demanded they finish the song, which they did. Mike and Art also performed at the Second Annual Athens Music Festival and at the 1990 Human Rights Festival in downtown Athens.

In 1993, Art helped start a rock band called Seedmachine with singer-songwriter, guitarist & drummer Steve Milsap (formerly of the Smash Fantastic). Art and Steve worked together at John Keane Studios in Athens, with Keane and producer/bassist David Barbe (Mercyland, Sugar, Buzzhungry, etc.) recording and playing on some of the album. Former Mercyland drummer Joel Suttles and the super talented and versatile drummer Sean O'Rourke also joined them in the studio, as did the illustrious bassist extrordinare David Webb and the fantastic keyboardist Tom Grose.

Seedmachine also recorded at Exocet Studios in Atlanta (with producers/engineers Bruce Bennett and Geno Montgomery) where they finished their 16-song album project. The final product, Hard World, saw a limited cassette release locally in Athens and received good radio airplay. Seedmachine also performed shows at The Georgia Theatre and The City Bar in Athens and at The Wreck Room and Sylvia's Art of This Century in Atlanta.

Art eventually left Athens and Seedmachine in 1994. He moved back to Atlanta and landed a job as a writer and associate producer at CNN Headline News, where he worked for several years. During this time, he completed his own CD entitled "Enemy Lines".

Art produced Enemy Lines at Exocet Studios in Atlanta, Georgia with the help of co-producers and engineers Scott Patton (Sugarland, Richard Bicknell), Bruce Bennett and Geno Montgomery. Art sings all lead and background vocals, and plays lead and rhythm electric guitar and acoustic guitar on all tracks. Guitar-player Scott Patton makes a solo appearance as lead guitarist on "Anything Goes," and serves as a second rhythm guitarist on a few other tracks. Bass player extraordinaire David Webb (Sugarland) also helped flesh out Art's songs in the studio.

Several top-notch drummers helped Art with his solo project, including former Aleka's Attic (with River Phoenix) and Big White Undies drummer extrordanaire Josh Greenbaum, the well-known Atlanta drummer Yonrico Scott (Derek Trucks Band, Aquarium Rescue Unit, Yonrico Scott Band, among others), as well as super-bad, world famous drummers Sean O'Rourke (seanorourke.com , Mother's Finest, Aquarium Rescue Unit, Sugarland and many others), Michael Grando and Mike Mulholland. Other notable Atlanta music scene players appearing on the album include the talented keyboardist Tom Grose.

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