Named for the street where the band originally practiced on, the members of Lullwater crank out what bassist Carter Jones describes as, “Southern influenced, 80’s style booze rock.” Band members John Strickland, Brett Strickland, Nick Thomas and Jones came together in “a moment of musical inspiration,” says Carter.

Brett explains, “Our original bassist and our guitar player called John Strickland to play with them. That was the start of Lullwater: John Strickland, Rob Smith, Will Manelos and Nick Thomas. I heard about Lullwater through one of my friends, and he introduced me to John. He sat in with me for a few songs, and we just hit it off from there. He and I started playing acoustic shows around Athens, and before I knew it I was playing with Lullwater. Last spring, John and I were playing with a group of guys for fun, and that’s where we met Carter. Carter then began practicing with us and his addition to the band finalized our lineup.”

Carter continues, “I had been jamming at Nuci’s Space with this guy named Michael Button for a few months when, one day, he said that he was going to have some friends come play with us. It turns out that he invited John and Brett to come play. We played for a couple of hours, and we were really meshing well. Everything seemed to go together. I was reading the modal changes that Brett was playing, and I really liked John’s sound. After we finished up, I helped them carry their gear out to John’s truck, and asked them if they needed a bass player. It turns out that they did, and I was in the band after getting approval from Nick. I was supposed to be a temporary fix, but it worked that after a summer of shenanigans, I was here to stay.”

Brett began taking guitar lessons in his hometown of Savannah, Georgia, when he was seven years old. “I first started taking guitar lessons, but quickly stopped, mainly, because I didn’t want to learn Jingle Bells. When I was 10, I got an electric guitar and amp for Christmas. I learned a few simple chords and simple songs. Not until I was 14 did I begin to take music seriously. My parents knew I had a huge infatuation with music and they were pretty lenient in letting me go to concerts and play gigs at a young age. They have always been 110% behind me in what I do.”

Brett continues, “In my younger days, I guess you could easily classify me as a brat. I was always so stubborn as a child and extremely competitive. When I really started getting into music, my whole outlook on life changed. I quit being stubborn, and became more concerned with peoples’ feelings and happiness. I guess you could say that music opened my eyes to the beauty of life.”

“I started playing cello in the orchestra at my school in the 4th grade, and my musical interests expanded from there. During my 8th grade year, I picked up the bass for the first time, and I have been playing it everyday since,” says Carter. “My childhood was pretty regular. I never felt like I was that “cool”, in fact, I was and still am a bit of a nerd, but I’ve never really had difficulty finding similar people. I was always a bit of an over-achiever.”

Working with the band on a new EP due out this summer, Carter and Brett are anxious to see where Lullwater leads them. Brett says, “I think we are heading in the right direction. We have built a fan base around the southeast, and we are constantly getting better and gaining more fans. I love music. It means everything to me because I know the power of it, and how it is the only thing throughout history to unite people all over the world.”