"Forty Acres as a band just started to form in February of 2006. Forty Acres as a concept started about a year ago while I was touring playing drums for a successful singer/songwriter" says frontman/singer/songwriter John Allen. "I realized that banging on basically a non-melodic instrument was only gonna allow me to put my stamp on his/our music so far. So, I wrote a bunch of songs, played all the instruments except for a few and made a video that WHFS saw and then DEMANDED I form a band so I could play their legendary WHFS-Tival in May of 06!!!" Needless to say John put the band together.
"It's just back to the basics... rocking the fuck out! I just want to get in a van and play music." Recording most of the self titled upcoming release this past year in between traveling to Japan, Mexico, Greece and England, John has developed more of a world view. "I would love to play all over the globe - no matter if it's for 5000 or 5 people. I can't wait to step out on stage behind the microphone instead of being behind the drumkit. I'm just doing stuff that I love, and right now, that's the most important thing to me."
Forty Acres' music runs the gamut of high energy blistering stomp to slow-burn bourbon garage blues groove. All the while painting lyrical scenes of the down trodden ("Everyday"), prostitutes ("Lil Girls") and the everyday working man ("House Fire"). Other subjects such as betrayal ("Burn Baby Burn"), self-loathing/inner conflict ("Someone" & "Pour Me Another...") death, religion and classism are all tackled in one form or another. As is the case in reality, the spectre and inferences of mortality are ever present in his songs. John's struggle with the concept of organized religion and the afterlife surface in many of the songs, albeit sometimes hidden, but other times quite obvious.
Taken from MySpace.com/FortyAcres
The band is now known as Charm City Devils So go check them out at myspace.com/charmcitydevils