Article - The Meeks Family debuts with Thirty One Years of Lullaby

Brooks Meeks’ musical dreams didn’t die with the Close after all

Brooks Meeks has a gift for wrapping sentiment in a few simple words that resonate far beyond the surface. Thirty One Years of Lullaby is Meeks’ solo debut following the 2007 breakup of his dour Atlanta indie-rock outfit the Close. In every way, the record embraces the emotional letdown that goes along with the death of a band as well as a dream.

For as long as Meeks can remember, he banked on spending his life on the road. But as adulthood approached, success wasn’t materializing for the Close so he abandoned the romantic notions of surviving solely on playing music. “Thirty One Years of Lullaby is my response to having put my whole life into music and then deciding not to tour anymore,” he says. “It’s the biggest sense of heartbreak that I have ever felt.”

Despite the heavy remorse surrounding the album, Meeks has crafted a concise collection of somber, countrified numbers that ooze with symbolism and catharsis, and it’s not all about depression. Jonathan Bradley (drums) and Johnny Kral (bass) join Meeks (guitar and vocals), who is at the top of his game with “Lips for Your Kissin’,” a lighthearted duet with former bandmate Theresa Fedor. “Tower of Envy” is an ode to being overwhelmed by the enormity of life, while “Roots and Boots” muses on the realities of choosing home life and parenthood over the road, with a subtle tussle between pride and melancholy.

But defeat brings liberation for Meeks. “Most people feel this way when they graduate and enter the working world,” he says. “Maybe they wanted to be an astronaut or the president of the United States, but suddenly find themselves doing phone sales in a cubicle. Instead of it happening when I was 21, it happened when I was 31. But with music I’m not making any compromises, and I’m not doing anything that I don’t want to do.”