- [Announcer] Welcome to "Peach Jam," recorded live in our GPB studios in Midtown Atlanta, where songs and stories come together from the talented musicians who call the Peach State home.

(plucky upbeat music) On this episode, you'll meet an award-winning country artist, learn about classical crossover, and discover post-genre music.

♪ Embrace the pain ♪ - [Announcer] Up first from Hahira, Georgia, this is Lloyd Carter.

(thrumming upbeat music) ♪ I met Amy at the county fair ♪ ♪ A short sundress and long blonde hair ♪ ♪ We stayed out till dawn ♪ ♪ I thought she was the one ♪ ♪ But love's a game ♪ ♪ I can't seem to outrun ♪ ♪ Oh, I ain't good at being alone ♪ ♪ Every time I wind up on my own ♪ ♪ Chasing hearts ♪ ♪ That always lead me wrong ♪ ♪ No, I ain't good at being alone ♪ ♪ Then there's Tina ♪ ♪ With the heart of gold ♪ ♪ The girl of my dreams ♪ ♪ Now she's turned cold ♪ ♪ We stayed out till dawn ♪ ♪ I thought she was the one ♪ ♪ But love's a game ♪ ♪ I can't seem to outrun ♪ ♪ Oh, I ain't good at being alone ♪ - Hey, I'm Lloyd Carter, country artist from Hahira, Georgia.

- Country music, just straightforward, country music.

- [Lloyd] Country music.

Well, I try to slip a little R&B in there, fun stuff too.

- Yeah?

- Yeah.

I'm ADD, so I have to keep it changed up a little bit.

(Lloyd laughs) And I like to have a little soul.

So thanks for having having me, Jeremy.

I appreciate you having me.

- I'm glad you're here.

You won, let's see, you won the georgiacountry.com.

- George Country Awards Male Artist of the Year for 2023.

Nominated last year.

Nominated again this year with the Georgia Country Awards.

And pleased to announce we've got nominated for Song of the Year and Country Artist of the Year for the Josie Awards coming up in November at Nashville at the Opry.

♪ Let them old guns rust in peace ♪ ♪ For battles fought and souls released ♪ ♪ End the silence of the night ♪ ♪ Let the echoes cease ♪ ♪ Oh Lord, won't you let them guns ♪ ♪ Rust in peace ♪ ♪ Please Lord, won't you let them guns ♪ ♪ Rust in peace ♪ ♪ Oh Lord, won't you let them guns ♪ ♪ Rust in peace ♪ - What is life like in Hahira?

- Very quiet.

(laughs) Very quiet.

That's another reason why we love playing music.

I have a barn set up in the back, and that's where we rehearse and we record and we just have a good time out in the country.

- Is there a music scene in Hahira?

- Not so much in Hahira.

Valdosta's a little bit of music scene.

I've got some really good friends there that I, we try to help each other out and we love on each other.

Matter of fact, I'm bringing a buddy of mine, Derrick Dove with me.

He's from Norman Park, Georgia.

But he's with Derrick Dove & the Peacekeepers.

He's coming with us today to actually perform.

He's filling in for my buddy Henry that normally plays with me.

But glad to have him today.

- Gotcha, yeah.

So Derrick was able to fill in on guitar.

The way the recording works is we've heard the music already.

And so he got to fill in on guitar and he is a character.

(bell dings) - Oh, he's so much fun.

- It sounds like that.

- I get in so much trouble with my wife when he and I go do acoustic duo shows together 'cause we have so much fun.

- Yeah, y'all have a good time together.

- [Lloyd] We do.

- And so is that what the musicianship is like in South Georgia?

Almost a brotherhood?

- Yeah, for the most part.

It's small town, small community, so everybody knows everyone.

And it's like probably everybody knows what you had for lunch or what you had for dinner because it's small town living.

It's simple.

♪ I caught you watching me ♪ ♪ You caught me watching you ♪ ♪ Girl, don't deny ♪ ♪ Don't even try ♪ ♪ You can't say it ain't true ♪ ♪ I've been with her ♪ ♪ You've been with him ♪ ♪ It's time to find our own soul ♪ ♪ Let's leave this place and find space ♪ ♪ Where we can be alone ♪ ♪ I only got one question ♪ ♪ Before I spin you round and round ♪ ♪ Like a 45 vinyl record ♪ ♪ Making that Motown sound ♪ ♪ Do you wanna dance with me ♪ ♪ Because I'd love to dance with you ♪ ♪ I wanna smell your sweet perfume ♪ ♪ I wanna feel your body move ♪ ♪ Now can you feel the beat ♪ ♪ Do you like the key ♪ ♪ Can you hear the harmony ♪ ♪ So come on and dance with me ♪ (smooth laidback music) - And you're on the radio.

- I've been on the radio for quite a number of years.

I do afternoons on a station called The Mix.

It's WQPW 95.7.

- Do you get to talk about your music career on the radio?

- They let me, but honestly, I kind of like to keep that separate.

I thought to keep my life separate on that.

It's just one of my things, I guess.

But they're really gracious to me because it is still a local station.

And they say anytime I wanna talk about the station or what I'm doing on the station, I'm welcome to.

But I don't know, I just kind of like to keep it separate.

- You keep your country music life- - [Lloyd] My dark side.

- Yeah, is that what it is?

(laughs) You keep that country music side over here.

- Keep that old dirty side over there.

(both laughing) ♪ Do you wanna dance with me ♪ ♪ 'Cause I'd love to dance with you ♪ ♪ I wanna smell your sweet perfume ♪ ♪ I wanna feel your body move ♪ ♪ Can you feel the beat ♪ ♪ Do you like the key ♪ ♪ Can you hear the harmony ♪ ♪ So come on and dance with me ♪ ♪ Well, I ain't trying to rust forever ♪ ♪ 'Cause we've both seen ♪ ♪ A lot of stormy weather ♪ ♪ So baby, tonight let's dance together ♪ ♪ Come dance with me ♪ ♪ Just dance with me ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ - [Announcer] Coming up, Skylar Peterson, a young man with an amazing voice.

♪ Mirage ♪ - [Announcer] And later, you'll meet the one and only Bam Fatale.

♪ Silence ♪ (warm happy music) - [Narrator] Community, learning, working, playing, celebrating, doing life is always better together.

At GPB, we aim to provide you with the tools to be able to do life together well.

Our mission to educate, inform, and entertain inspires everything from our wide range of programming to our stimulating radio conversations, to our fun in-person events.

We've got something for everyone.

Visit gpb.org/community to learn more about our upcoming events.

(soft anguished music) ♪ When we played our charade ♪ ♪ We were like children posing ♪ ♪ Playing at games ♪ ♪ Acting out names ♪ ♪ Guessing the parts we played ♪ ♪ Oh, what a hit we made ♪ ♪ We were next to closing ♪ ♪ Best on the bill, lovers until ♪ ♪ Love left the masquerade ♪ - I'm Skylar Peterson.

I'm from Dacula, Georgia and I am a classical crossover singer.

- What does classical crossover mean?

- Yes, so classical crossover is a genre that kind of makes up a lot of different things.

In its simplest form, it's basically taking themes of classical music and blending it with commercial music.

In classical crossover, it's a lot of different overlap with things like adult contemporary and different cinematic types of music.

So it's something that really fuses a lot of different styles together into its own unique umbrella.

- Who are the big names in that genre?

- Big names of classical crossover are Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Il Divo, Il Volo.

Those are usually the most synonymous names with the genre.

- [Jeremy] Okay, yeah.

And as soon as you say that, it's like, oh, that's the type of music you play.

- Yes.

♪ Fate seemed to pull the strings ♪ ♪ I turned ♪ ♪ And you were gone ♪ ♪ While from the darkened wings ♪ ♪ The music box played on ♪ ♪ Sad little serenade ♪ ♪ Song of my heart's composing ♪ ♪ I hear it still ♪ ♪ I always will ♪ ♪ Best on the bill ♪ ♪ Charade ♪ ♪ The best charade ♪ - How old are you?

- I'm 21.

- Yeah, you are.

(chuckles) Your voice, your speaking voice and your singing voice are much more mature than 21.

Where did this come from?

- I mean, my mom's a singer, and there's music on both sides a little bit, especially her side.

But I think the bass voice, it comes from my mother being a mezzo, and I think my granddad.

My granddad was a bass and was a bass singer.

- When did it start?

- It was a very gradual descent when I was in high school.

And I wasn't a singer until towards the end of high school.

So as it was declining, I wasn't even singing.

So when my voice finally dropped to basically about where it was gonna drop, that's when I started singing.

So I didn't have to relearn anything.

Especially, becoming a bass, that would've been a lot to relearn going from a treble voice to a bass voice.

So I'm lucky that I was able to start later.

But yeah, it just kind of happened.

(chuckles) There was never voice cracks or anything like that.

Just kept getting deeper and deeper.

♪ Take my heart and soul ♪ ♪ The shadows of your love ♪ ♪ The shadows of your love ♪ ♪ I know I'm only dreaming ♪ ♪ But I'm yearning for your touch ♪ ♪ These clouds are floating on ♪ ♪ It's all a grand mirage ♪ ♪ I hope when I fall ♪ ♪ It's in the shadows of your love ♪ ♪ In the shadows of your love ♪ I've always been a musician.

So I started here when I was in Dacula at Osborne Middle School.

That's when I started playing the saxophone.

And my love for the saxophone, that really crossed over, and I got into jazz music.

I was like the top baritone saxophone player in Palm Beach County when I lived in Florida all four years.

So I was really just a jazz musician.

And then one summer, my sister's a professional dancer, so she was going for an intensive with the Rockettes, and I was going for a jazz intensive.

And my mom was looking at Broadway tickets just to see what we would wanna see.

And I had always heard of "Phantom of the Opera."

I didn't know what it was.

And I heard that and I was like, something, this is hitting right on the nail, what I love musically.

And when I heard the Phantom, and then right after that, the voice of Norm Lewis, who's a famous baritone musical theater artist, when I heard his voice, especially singing that music, I was like, "I think this is something that could fit me."

That type of singing with that type of voice.

♪ Keeping it to myself ♪ ♪ Never loved someone else ♪ ♪ I've been yours ♪ ♪ Since the moment we touched ♪ (Skylar singing in Spanish) ♪ I silenced my heart ♪ ♪ Hiding every feeling in the dark ♪ (Skylar singing in Spanish) Finding out this open lane, it just, it feels right.

It feels like, okay, there's a reason why I've been led to this and there's a need for it and I have a passion and have a desire for it.

And it's something that I love this music.

And even more importantly, I love the international appeal of it.

I love being able to communicate across cultures, sing in different languages, travel.

Those are all things that are really qualities that I love about this genre is how it reaches people from all over the world.

It's not just America.

- How many languages do you speak?

- I am conversational in Italian, Mandarin, and Spanish.

I'm trying to get all those up better.

And I've done a year of German for schooling.

But I've actually been trained in IPA, which is the international phonetic alphabet, as a classical singer.

So I've sung in French, German, Spanish, Italian, English, Latin, all those different things.

So singing in different languages is something I really, I love to do ♪ I silenced my heart ♪ ♪ Hiding every feeling in the dark ♪ (Skylar singing in Spanish) ♪ If I were to whisper my secret ♪ ♪ Will you speak the same words I say ♪ - [Announcer] What is post-genre music?

Bam Fatale is here to explain it.

(hypnotic floating music) ♪ Is this how it ends ♪ ♪ Are you here to save me ♪ ♪ Thoughts rewind ♪ ♪ As the night increases ♪ ♪ Sunrise ♪ ♪ Will I ever see you again ♪ ♪ Is it too late ♪ ♪ Am I too far gone ♪ ♪ Did I become the villain ♪ ♪ Looking down at all my broken pieces ♪ ♪ Is there anything ♪ ♪ Left for me in this world ♪ - [Bam] So I'm Bam Fatale.

I play post-genre music, which basically just means I don't have a box.

And I'm from Atlanta.

- So okay, explain post-genre music.

- So basically for me, I just say that 'cause it's like, I don't like to have a box, like a category, a genre, right?

It's like I just make what comes to me.

That may be a rock song, a pop song or whatever.

I'll say I haven't tapped into country.

It's not that I wouldn't, I just haven't yet, you know?

So I just kinda like to be a little all over the place with the sound.

It's all from the same place though.

- It's a little heavy.

- It is a little heavy.

- Yeah?

- [Bam] Yeah.

- You scream a little bit.

- Yeah, for sure.

- And you don't necessarily look like the way most people who make that type of music.

- No, no.

I think the thing, too, is that there's not necessarily a lack of representation, if that makes sense.

There's a lack of it being shown.

I think that there's the same amount of people of color as the Caucasian people that make this genre.

They're just not showcased, you know?

So that's how I feel about it.

- So you're getting out there and you're gonna do your thing.

- I'm gonna do my thing.

I'm gonna kick some doors down, bro.

That's the plan.

Oh yeah.

Let's go.

♪ Awakened by the kiss of life ♪ ♪ Awaiting all the new surprises ♪ ♪ To laugh, to love, to live, to cry and ♪ ♪ One last chance to see the sunrise ♪ ♪ Awakened by the kiss of life ♪ ♪ Awaiting all the new surprises ♪ ♪ To laugh, to love, to live, to cry and ♪ ♪ One last chance to see the sunrise ♪ ♪ I want to ♪ ♪ No, I need to ♪ ♪ See you again ♪ ♪ I want to ♪ ♪ No, I need to ♪ ♪ See you again ♪ ♪ See you again ♪ ♪ See you again ♪ ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ See you again ♪ - Okay, let's talk about the fact that you are not a stranger to the stage, or a stranger to being interviewed because of why?

- Okay, so my mom was an opera singer and did theater and all that kind of stuff.

So I grew up doing that stuff with her.

So she'd have a role, I'd be the little kid on stage doing something on the stage.

I did "The Color Purple" tour with my mom.

She directed it and just, yeah, so when it comes to that.

And then when it comes to being interviewed, I did pageants, so used to being interviewed for those types of reasons.

I enjoy it though.

I like meeting new people and all that kind of stuff.

- When you did pageants, did you do it from when you were really little?

- No, I started doing pageants in my, I was like 20.

- Really?

- [Bam] Yeah.

And I did it basically up until COVID.

And then I stopped doing pageants because of COVID.

Honestly, I'd do it again.

I know they have a bad rep, but I enjoyed it.

I think it's just kind of more of a, if that's what you wanna do.

I don't believe in people forcing their kids into stuff or that type of thing.

But if your kid's enjoying it and you're having fun and all that, I'm like, let them be cutesy and live their best life.

I was up there having my grand old time.

♪ Yeah ♪ ♪ Beaten day by day ♪ (gritty energetic music) ♪ Stripped away from ♪ ♪ Everything I've ever known ♪ ♪ Silence fills this room ♪ ♪ And echoes of fear start to swell ♪ ♪ Reminding myself ♪ ♪ You're no longer there ♪ ♪ Release me ♪ ♪ From my own hell ♪ ♪ Release me, release me ♪ ♪ As silence fills this room ♪ ♪ And echoes of fear starts to swell ♪ ♪ Reminding myself ♪ ♪ You're no longer there ♪ ♪ Release me ♪ ♪ From my own hell ♪ ♪ Release me from hell ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ ♪ Release me from hell ♪ Let's go!

(giggles) Hell yeah.

- You're a unique individual.

- [Bam] Thank you, I appreciate that.

Why be normal?

- Right?

- It's boring.

Boo.

(laughs) Don't be normal.

- Where does your name come from?

- Okay, so my mom nicknamed me Bam 'cause it's just my initials, so Brianna Ariel Mays.

And she was like, "You came into this world like bam."

I've always had a very big, bold personality.

So that's where that nickname came from.

And long story short, when I picked my stage name, I was like, "I'm just gonna go by Bam."

Well, that wasn't possible.

I had to add a last name 'cause of other people.

And so I was like, okay.

And I just randomly took this archetype test, like a female archetype test.

It was like, "Oh, you're a fatale."

And I was like, "Oh, that's kind of dope."

Like, all right, Bam Fatale.

It kinda rolls off the tongue nice like that.

So that's where the Fatale part came from.

And then boom, yeah.

- So is there a difference between Bri and Bam?

- Absolutely not.

(laughs) It's the same thing.

- And who you are on stage and who you are sitting right here is who you are at home.

- Yep, one and the same.

♪ Let go to fly ♪ ♪ Breathe in to find ♪ ♪ What's inside you ♪ ♪ Reach out to them ♪ ♪ Embrace the pain ♪ ♪ Rise through the ashes ♪ ♪ Survivors ♪ ♪ I stand for those ♪ ♪ Who paid their tribute with pain ♪ ♪ Trail of tears, boats of fears ♪ ♪ I'm laying on my back ♪ ♪ Slain for gains ♪ ♪ Bloody hands in vain ♪ ♪ Arise now ♪ ♪ I'm calling out to the old spirits ♪ ♪ Inside ♪ ♪ Ancestors, do you hear my cry ♪ ♪ Mmm ♪ ♪ Mmm ♪ - [Announcer] Do you wanna hear more songs and stories?

Check out our podcast at gpb.org/peachjam.

♪ Arise ♪ (uncanny tense music) ♪ Arise ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ ♪ Mmm ♪ ♪ Mmm ♪ - [Announcer] Thanks for watching.

Please go out and support live local music and independent record stores in your area.

(tambourine rattles)