SOTD: "Big House" - Deer Tick

This is the closing track on Deer Tick's upcoming album, Negativity. I think it's one of the best songs they've written in years, both lyrically and musically.

"You spoke in to the sky, and you lied a million times
You showed me how to die, I guess I'll catch you on the other side"....


Here's a live version...

SOTD: "The Rock" - Deer Tick

Wow, loving this first single, "The Rock" from Deer Tick's upcoming release, Negativity.

From the Rolling Stone premiere article....

"'The Rock' is a song about being in love with an artist and subsequently having your heart broken by that artist,' McCauley tells Rolling Stone. "The silly little metaphors in the song are 'the rock' which is the power to destroy your relationship, and 'the window' which is the relationship. I like the idea of a breakup being represented by shattering glass."

Shine A Light 2013: "A Night With Deer Tick"

This upcoming Thursday night, the Tommy Brull Foundation will be presenting Shine A Light 2013: "A Night with Deer Tick" out in Rockville Center, NY. From the event's Facebook page.

THE TOMMY BRULL FOUNDATION is proud to announce SHINE A LIGHT 2013 with special guests DEER TICK
Please join us to celebrate Tommy's life and the completion of the new Camp ANCHOR building that we have been raising money towards for the last five years. We will be celebrating that the gymnasium/auditorium will be named after Tommy!
The show will start off with opening acts Matt Barthel and The Midnight Snacks.
We have changed the venue to Cannon's Blackthorn and tickets will be limited so please purchase in advance to assure a spot at this special night of music.

For people in NYC, this is a short half hour or so train ride out and the venue is right next to the station. Not a bad trip for people in surrounding areas either. Tickets are available HERE.

I've been trying to make it out for this benefit the last few years but have always had a conflict, really glad to finally get the chance to attend.

Below you'll find two videos, the first is the making of the posters for the event and the second is a short preview that Deer Tick released last week for their upcoming album, "Negativity".

SOTD: "Friends Like Those" - Robert Ellis

I was introduced to Robert Ellis on Sunday night in Newport when he opened for Deer Tick. Take a listen to "Friends Like Those" and you can also download the song below.

Newport Folk Festival or Bust......

Just arrived in Newport, RI for the 2012 Newport Folk Festival Weekend (w/ three nights of Deer Tick & Friends at the Newport Blues Cafe). Going to be an epic weekend...... a few pics I took last year to kick off the festivities....

DELTA SPIRIT

JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE

DAWES

MAIN STAGE CROWD

MIDDLE BROTHER

HEAD & THE HEART

ME & JOHN McCAULEY (of DEER TICK)

JOHNNY CORNDAWG & THE BOYS

SOTD: "Main Street" - Deer Tick

The latest video from Deer Tick....

SOTD: "Main Street" - Deer Tick (on Letterman)

Video of Deer Tick's great performance of "Main Street" from Letterman last night...

Deer Tick on Letterman tonight!

Deer Tick will be performing on Letterman tonight, playing "Main Street" from their new album, Divine Providence (Partisan), to be released October 24

New Deer Tick Album & Single Download

Deer Tick will be releasing a new record, Divine Providence on October 25, 2011, The new record features for the first time lead vocal turns on a couple of songs by guitarist Ian O'Neil and drummer Dennis Ryan.

You can download the first song from Divine Providence HERE. The track is called "Miss K."


The tracklisting for Divine Providence is:

The Bump
Funny Word
Let's All Go to the Bar
Clownin' Around
Main Street
Chevy Express
Something to Brag About
Walkin Out the Door
Make Believe
Now It's Your Turn
Electric
Miss K.

Middle Brother SXSW 2011

Just had to share this Middle Brother video, love these guys....

Middle Brother - SXSW 2011 from Miku & Ryan on Vimeo.

Middle Brother @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg - 3/5/11

On Saturday night, I finally had the opportunity to see the new group Middle Brother. If you haven't heard of them (or their music yet), Middle Brother consists of the lead singers from three bands: John McCauley of Deer Tick, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes & Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit. This tour also featured Deer Tick and Dawes opening these shows for the new group.

Deer Tick & Dawes have been alternating the opening slot with Middle Brother finishing the show and on this night Deer Tick would take the stage first. I've seen Deer Tick several times but it was cool to hear some songs off their latest album, "The Black Dirt Sessions", which came out last year. John and the guys have a lot of energy so they always put on a good live show but I really enjoyed some songs I haven't heard live like "Twenty Miles" & "Christ Jesus". The closer to the set was "Mange", a song that really lends itself to a powerful live performance, really comes alive in person.

After a short intermission, Dawes took the stage and played a solid mix of some older tunes off their album "North Hills" along with some new songs that will be on their upcoming album (slated for release this year!). I've seen these guys a bunch over the last couple years and I think they just get better and better every show, the older songs have really grown over the last year or so. The new stuff sounded great, at one point Taylor split the crowd in half to sing the chorus (felt like a Ben Folds moment). I especially loved "Peace In The Valley" and "That Western Skyline", two great songs off their debut album.

About half way through the Dawes set, the guys invited Jonny Corndawg on stage to sing a few tunes, the highlight probably being "Trashday", which went out to all the "married people", haha. The whole set was great but the best part was when they played a raucous version of "When My Time Comes" with guest appearances by John McCauley & Matt Vasquez, I filmed video of this one (see below), check out John on the harmonica!



Middle Brother closed the show and played mostly songs off their self-titled album that just came out about a week ago. This album is really solid so definitely pick it up if you don't have it yet. As I usually find, there's always a song that I think is just okay on an album but really impresses me in concert, I give the nod to "Blood and Guts" this time around. Taylor absolutely owned this song, really, really good performance and got me listening to the song all day. I took some footage of another tune, "Blue Eyes", which you can check out below.



All in all a great night out in Brooklyn at one of my favorite venues. You often hear people complain about ticket prices nowadays but for $25, you couldn't get a better 4-hours in my opinion, worth every penny. These guys will be on tour over the next month or so, try to see the show if they're coming your way.

Middle Brother Album Stream

Head over to Spinner.com to get a streaming preview of the new Middle Brother album (lead singers of Delta Sprit, Deer Tick & Dawes). I'll be checking these guys out Saturday night in Brooklyn, should be a great one!

MIDDLE BROTHER STREAM

John McCauley & Ian O'Neil (Deer Tick) @ City Winery 1/19/11

I took my first trip to City Winery last night to check out a performance by John McCauley & Ian O'Neil of Deer Tick. Below are a couple videos I took, "Baltimore Blues No.1" and "Daydreaming". Enjoy!

BALTIMORE BLUES NO. 1





DAYDREAMING

Subway Shuffle: 1/17/11

SUBWAY SHUFFLE 1/17/11

Track #1: Tom Gabel: "Anna Is A Stool Pigeon"
Track #2: The National: "Brainy"
Track #3: Frightened Rabbit: "Nothing Like You"
Track #4: Matthew Good: "Pony Boy"
Track #5: Deer Tick- "Houston, TX"

Middle Brother Album Preview

Head on over to Middle Brother's site HERE to preview their upcoming album.

Middle Brother Download "Me, Me, Me"

You can download the new single from "Middle Brother" (John McCauley of Deer Tick, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, and Matthew Vasquez of Delta Spirit) right HERE. The album will be released on March 1st, 2011 but enjoy this until it comes out.

Deer Tick - Europe Clips

Some clips/interviews of Deer Tick from their recent European dates, check out the video HERE.

SOTD: "Daydreaming" - Middle Brother

Really excited for this album featuring Lead singers John McCauley of Deer Tick, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, and Matthew Vasquez of Delta Spirit.

From the newsletter I got last night, "The band will be playing a one-off show December 20 at the Troubadour in Los Angeles (an Invisible Children benefit). The show will also feature an acoustic McCauley set."

They'll be on a national tour in the Spring 2011 so keep your eyes peeled for that. Enjoy this one!

John McCauley & Ian O'Neil (Deer Tick) Tour Dates

John McCauley and Ian O'Neil of Deer Tick have announced some 2011 tour dates for the east coast. Most of these venues are pretty small so this should be a great tour.

JOHN MCCAULEY AND IAN O'NEIL TOUR DATES

Fri-Jan-14 Boston, MA Middle East Upstairs
Sat-Jan-15 Providence, RI Met Café
Sun-Jan-16 Northampton, MA Iron Horse
Wed-Jan-19 New York, NY City Winery
Thu-Jan-20 New Haven, CT Daniel Street
Fri-Jan-21 Philadelphia, PA First Unitarian Church Santuary
Sat-Jan-22 York, PA Strand Capitol Performing Arts Center
Sun-Jan-23 Washington, DC Rock and Roll Hotel

Subway Shuffle: 8/1/10

I've been on the road quite a bit over the last week, in fact this is more of a "Subway/Plane/Taxi/Airtrain/Rental Car" Shuffle. Been in four different airports: Charlotte, Laguardia (NYC), JFK (NYC) and Buffalo.......... and listened to a lot of music. The good news is that I heard some great stuff over the last week so here's a 10 song "Subway Shuffle" for your listening pleasure:

SUBWAY SHUFFLE 8/1/10

Track #1: Dawes: "When My Time Comes"
Track #2: Band Of Horses: "Great Salt Lake"
Track #3: Frightened Rabbit: "Footshooter"
Track #4: Deer Tick: "Smith Hill"
Track #5: Smashing Pumpkins: "Disarm"
Track #6: Mumford & Sons: "Little Lion Man"
Track #7: Empire of the Sun: "Standing on the Shore"
Track #8: The Black Keys: "Ten Cent Pistol"
Track #9: Pete Yorn: "For Nancy"
Track #10: Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson: "Boat"