Family folklore fuels music festival

In the earliest stages of forming Carver Commodore in 2016, Payton Pruitt and his fellow bandmates had exhausted several ideas for a name before Pruitt turned to a piece of family lore for inspiration.

Not only would the name help set the emerging rock band apart from dozens of others trying to make names for themselves in the music industry, but the spine-chilling tale of Carver Commodore Pruitt was also on-brand for the quirky, sometimes spooky lyrics the band has become known for.

“My dad actually wanted to name me after him,” Pruitt said of his late great-great uncle. “My mom wouldn’t do it because she thought it was bad luck. So, now we get to use it as a band name.”

The legend often whispered about among members of the Pruitt family ended in tragedy on May 14, 1957, when Carver Commodore Pruitt was struck by a Ford coach just a quarter-mile from his home in Lauderdale County.

“There was actually a big article written in the local newspaper about his death when it happened,” Pruitt said, adding that’s actually the details omitted from the papers that took place days later that give the story it’s eerie ring of prophecy.

“The short version of the story is that he was apparently in his backyard one night when this orb of light came down out of the sky,” Pruitt recounted. “This orb of light told him that three days later, he was going to die. I guess he took it pretty seriously and started getting all his affairs in order. Then, three days later, he was walking home and got hit by the car. He died instantly.”

The ghostly echo of that story felt too perfect to ignore. Now, that same dark whimsy fuels one of the band’s biggest undertakings, the Carver’s Creepy Crawly Halloween Festival.

While the concert returns to the Shoals for the second time this fall, Carver Commodore has dedicated itself to Halloween shows in Florence every year since the group was founded, Pruitt added.

“We just love it and always have,” he said. “It’s the holiday where you get to express yourself and be the most creative, but we also just love horror movies. The fall is probably our favorite season because of all the imagery and vibes that go along with Halloween. It’s a lot of fun.”

Still, not all Carver Commodore’s songs lean into the macabre.

“I think we’ve got around 60 songs that we’ve put out so far,” said Pruitt, who lends vocals and his songwriting talents to the group. “There are so many things that inspire my songwriting. Mostly life and different experiences that you have when you get out there and live life. Some are stories that I’ve heard and will turn into a song, and sometimes, it will even start with a musical phrase or a guitar riff.”

Though he’s among the first in his family to hone his musical skills, Pruitt said his interest piqued when he was in middle school and first picked up a guitar. Even before that time, he said, his parents’ varied taste in music was influencing his own.

“My love for classic rock comes from my dad, and then a lot of the more modern, alternative rock sounds comes from my mom,” he said. “I feel like that informed the music that I write. So, yeah, I grew up listening to a ton of music, but I never really learned to play an instrument until I was around the age of 12. A friend of mine was learning guitar, and he was learning AC/ DC songs. That sparked my interest, so I started learning alongside him and took some lessons for a few years.”

Throughout high school, Pruitt played with various classmates and other garage band members who shared the interest. Then in 2011, as a student at Northwest Shoals Community College, he was introduced to Phillip Blevins, who would become the co-founding member of Carver Commodore.

“Phil was at (the University of North Alabama), and we just started playing music together,” Pruitt recalled. “We started a different band that was more folk rock. We played, but we didn’t tour much. It was a good experience, but when we started Carver in 2016, we really started hitting it hard.”

By that first year, Pruitt and Blevins had added drummer Noah Freeman. By 2021, they brought on bassist David Smith and Clayton Christopher, who plays keys and guitar.

Though a couple of the members live nearly two hours away, Pruitt said each member is dedicated to their craft both in the studio and on tour. Taking their music to venues around the Southeast, they make sure to include plenty of shows in their hometowns for their first fans.

“Our line of thought is always go bigger and better,” Pruitt said. “We want every year to be bigger and better than the last, whether that’s growing the Halloween shows, working on music, or doing these tours. Everything that surrounds the band, we want to keep growing it and making it better.”

That motto certainly applies to the annual Halloween show Carver Commodore started in Florence. What began as a small concert to dozens of local attendants has since grown to include three stages hosting 16 groups and artists over two days in October.

For the band, the festival is more than just a gig. It’s a way to build community around the things that inspire them — art, creativity, and the freedom to not take yourself too seriously.

“We go all out,” Pruitt said. “We play music that we usually wouldn’t at normal shows. Songs that are kind of Halloween themed like ‘Thriller,’ or ‘Don’t Fear the Reaper.’ Then we also have a few songs of ours that are spooky-themed, and they’re songs we haven’t played in a long time, like ‘Carver Commodore,’ written based on the story I shared earlier. That song is from our first record. It’ll be really fun to dust that one off and play again.”

WANT TO GO?  

Carver’s Creepy Crawly Halloween Festival 

DETAILS: A two-day fall festival and concert featuring local and regional artists Carver Commodore, Jordy Searcy, Firekid, Sam and the Big Boys, Lightwatch, Morgan Jones, DwayneBaba, Holy Living Creatures, Mckenzie Lockhart, Exotic Dangers, Brother Goode, Bailey White, Copper Pots, Waltn, Hunter Bobby, Jacob Brock. 

FRIDAY, OCT. 24: The Halloween Market and Fall Festival opens at 10 a.m. in downtown Florence with concerts happening on the Mobile Plaza stage and at various venues in downtown Florence. The night will conclude with a screening of 1990s favorite “Mars Attacks” at the Shoals Theatre at 10 p.m.  

SATURDAY, OCT. 25: Open to ticketholders, shows begin on the main stage in Mobile Plaza at 2 p.m. An after-party is scheduled at the Lava Room, featuring DJ Steve Metz (free for ticketholders or for a small cover charge). 

TICKETS: Fridays events are free and open to the public. Tickets for Saturday events are $28.52 and available for purchase on the Carver Commodore website: https://carvercommodore.com/halloween.