take this bread

GOODBYE and HELLO to Frankiesgun.com

2011-02-21T10:22:00.000-08:00

I am Moving. My new site is Frankiesgun.com

I am working with a friend, on starting a new fansite that will be better suited to the growing allegiance of The Felice Brothers fans.

I will be staying home more this year, which means less materials in terms of set lists and video/pictures than i did previously, so we need to get more from everyone, plz share pics and taking videos while you are out there. I will be home more, but working on promoting the band and trying to connect fans to the music more than ever.

Song of the Day from New Album "Fire at the Pageant"

2011-02-18T06:50:00.000-08:00

its actually called "Fire at the Pageant" pretty sure to be on the new album to be released this spring on Fat Possum Records!

Song of the Day from New Album

2011-02-17T06:53:00.000-08:00

Everyday we will try to provide a song we think will be on the new Felice Brothers album to be released this spring

We will start off with "River Jordan" from Castaways in Ithaca NY.

Look for more over at our other site Frankiesgun.com which will be adding a news section this spring, and is now a fan forum

Felice Brothers sign with Fat Possum Records

2011-02-16T07:13:00.000-08:00

THE FELICE BROTHERS SIGN TO FAT POSSUM RECORDS

NEW ALBUM COMING THIS SPRING

The Felice Brothers announced today that they have signed with Fat Possum Records, home of Andrew Bird, The Walkmen, and Wavves, among many others. The band will release their fifth full-length album and Fat Possum debut later this spring. More news on the upcoming album will be confirmed shortly.

Last week, The Felice Brothers announced new headlining tour dates in the US, Australia, and New Zealand. Before heading out on the six-week international tour, the Palenville, NY-based band will perform during SXSW in Austin, TX, on March 19th at Auditorium Shores alongside Bright Eyes, Wavves, Man Man, and Middle Brother. The first leg of the US tour begins March 25th in Oneonta, NY, and wraps up April 16th at Coachella in Indio, CA, where The Felice Brothers will make their debut performance at the festival. The second half of the tour will begin April 28th in San Francisco, CA, and currently continues through May 6th in Chicago, IL. The band will also travel for the first time to Australia and New Zealand from April 20th through 24th. Tickets to the US shows are currently on sale; for more information, please visit www.thefelicebrothers.com.   More US tour dates will be confirmed in the coming weeks.

The Felice Brothers are: Ian Felice, James Felice, Christmas, Greg Farley, and David Turbeville. The band's fourth album, Yonder Is The Clock, was released in April 2009.

The Felice Brothers on tour:

MARCH 19     AUSTIN, TX                           AUDITORIUM SHORES (SXSW)
MARCH 25     ONEONTA, NY                        ONEONTA THEATER*
MARCH 26     HUDSON, NY                         HELSINKI ON THE HUDSON*
MARCH 27     HOBOKEN, NJ                        MAXWELL'S*
MARCH 30     PHILADELPHIA, PA                 FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH*
MARCH 31     WASHINGTON, DC                 ROCK AND ROLL HOTEL*
APRIL 1         HUNTINGTON, WV                 V CLUB*
APRIL 2         LEXINGTON, KY                     BUSTER'S BILLIARDS & BACKROOM*
APRIL 3         KNOXVILLE, TN                     RHYTHM 'N BLOOMS
(Dogwood Arts Festival)
APRIL 5         CHARLOTTE, NC                     VISUALITE THEATER*
APRIL 6         ATHENS, GA                          40 WATT CLUB*
APRIL 7         NASHVILLE, TN                      EXIT/IN*
APRIL 8         BIRMINGHAM, AL                   THE BOTTLETREE*
APRIL 9         MEMPHIS, TN                         HI-TONE CAFÉ*
APRIL 10       DALLAS, TX                           THE LOFT*
APRIL 12       LUBBOCK, TX                         BLUE LIGHT*
APRIL 13       SANTA FE, NM                        CORAZON*
APRIL 16       INDIO, CA                             COACHELLA
APRIL 20       SYDNEY, AUS                         ANNANDALE HOTEL
APRIL 21       MELBOURNE, AUS                  THE PRINCE
APRIL 22       MELBOURNE, AUS                  BOOGIE FEST
APRIL 23       MEENYAN, AUS                      TOWN HALL
APRIL 24       AUCKLAND, NZL                     GRASSROOTS FESTIVAL
APRIL 28       SAN FRANCISCO, CA              GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC HALL**
APRIL 29       PORTLAND, OR                      MISSISSIPPI STUDIOS**
APRIL 30       SEATTLE, WA                         TRACTOR TAVERN**
MAY 2            SALT LAKE CITY, UT               URBAN LOUNGE**
MAY 3            DENVER, CO                         HI DIVE#
MAY 4            OMAHA, NE                           THE WAITING ROOM#
MAY 6            CHICAGO, IL                         LINCOLN HALL#
* Diamond Doves supporting
** You Are Plural supporting
# Shovels And Rope supporting

For more information on The Felice Brothers, please contact Amanda Pitts at Cobra Camanda Publicity, tel: 718.569.0352; emailer: ap@cobracamanda.com.

Tour Dates in!

2011-02-09T09:18:00.001-08:00

MARCH 19         AUSTIN, TX                           AUDITORIUM SHORES (SXSW)

MARCH 25         ONEONTA, NY                           ONEONTA THEATER*

MARCH 26         HUDSON, NY                           HELSINKI ON THE HUDSON*

MARCH 27         HOBOKEN, NJ                           MAXWELL’S*

MARCH 30         PHILADELPHIA, PA                  FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH*

MARCH 31         WASHINGTON, DC                  ROCK AND ROLL HOTEL*

APRIL 1         HUNTINGTON, WV                  V CLUB*

APRIL 2         LEXINGTON, KY                  BUSTER’S BILLIARDS & BACKROOM*

APRIL 3         KNOXVILLE, TN                  RHYTHM ‘N BLOOMS

(Dogwood Arts Festival)

APRIL 5         CHARLOTTE, NC                  VISUALITE THEATER*

APRIL 6         ATHENS, GA                           40 WATT CLUB*

APRIL 7         NASHVILLE, TN                  EXIT/IN*

APRIL 8         BIRMINGHAM, AL                  THE BOTTLETREE*

APRIL 9         MEMPHIS, TN                           HI-TONE CAFÉ*

APRIL 10         DALLAS, TX                           THE LOFT*

APRIL 12         LUBBOCK, TX                           BLUE LIGHT*

APRIL 13         SANTA FE, NM                  CORAZON*

APRIL 16         INDIO, CA                           COACHELLA

APRIL 20         SYDNEY, AUS                           ANNANDALE HOTEL

APRIL 21         MELBOURNE, AUS                  THE PRINCE

APRIL 22         MELBOURNE, AUS                  BOOGIE FEST

APRIL 23         MEENYAN, AUS                  TOWN HALL

APRIL 24         AUCKLAND, NZL                  GRASSROOTS FESTIVAL

APRIL 28         SAN FRANCISCO, CA                  GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC HALL

APRIL 29         PORTLAND, OR                  MISSISSIPPI STUDIOS

APRIL 30         SEATTLE, WA                           TRACTOR TAVERN

MAY 2                  SALT LAKE CITY, UT                  URBAN LOUNGE

MAY 3                  DENVER, CO                           HIGH DIVE

MAY 4                  OMAHA, NE                           THE WAITING ROOM

MAY 6                  CHICAGO, IL                           LINCOLN HALL

* Diamond Doves supporting

Simone Felice Announces Spring Tour

2011-01-28T03:07:00.000-08:00

To celebrate the publication of his novel, Black Jesus, Simone Felice will be making select appearances around the UK this coming spring. In venues chosen for their intimacy, Felice will recite short passages from the story and sing treasured tunes from both The Felice Brothers and The Duke & The King songbooks, as well as new, unreleased material.

Black Jesus is a tale told with wicked humour and haunting lyricism. Felice digs for innocence, for the strength of spirit and beauty that can lie in the unlikeliest of places. Part love story, part protest at the broken promises lying at the heart of the American Dream; this novel is a passionate, twisted hymn to the marginalised and forgotten. Here is the story of Lionel White, a young Marine shipped home after being blinded in action. Back in upstate New York, Lionel is left to battle his nightmares and a growing dependence on painkillers. Then Gloria appears, a beaten up dancer from the other side of America, fleeing darkness and violence of a different kind. SimoneFelice.com

shows/events

*
Apr 9
St. Ann's Chursh

Manchester, UNITED KINGDOM
*
Apr 12
St. Bonaventure's Parish Club

Bristol, UNITED KINGDOM
*
Apr 13
The Attic

Winchester, UNITED KINGDOM
*
Apr 15
The Haymakers, Cambridge

Cambridge, Cambridges, UNITED KINGDOM
*
Apr 16
The Chattery,

Swansea, Wales , GB
*
Apr 18
The Shipping Forecast

Liverpool, UNITED KINGDOM
*
Apr 20
Brudenall

Leeds, UNITED KINGDOM
*
Apr 21
The Cluny: Ouseburn Warehouse Workshops

Newcastle, UNITED KINGDOM
*
Apr 22
Òran Mór

Glasgow, UNITED KINGDOM
*
Apr 26
The Glee Club

Birmingham, GB, UNITED KINGDOM
*
Apr 27
Nottingham Glee Club

Nottingham, UNITED KINGDOM
*
May 2
Bush Hall

London, United Kingdom

Review: The Felice Brothers at Mass Moca

2011-01-21T09:24:00.000-08:00

Link
With so many disappointments in our daily lives – from government to banks, lawyers, greed, media, celebrity culture, gun violence and that unsustainable, bad idea of globalization… it is nice to be face-to-face for a couple of hours with an experience that does not disappoint in any way.

Saturday night’s concert by the Felice Brothers at MASS MoCA in North Adams did not disappoint – at any moment for any reason. Louder, faster and more raucous than anything they do on record, it would have been hard to not leave this performance less than totally impressed.

It is not just all fun at a Felice show. It gets pretty edgy, too, and it presents some pretty seriously twisted scenarios for you to absorb. Seemingly autobiographical, these songs present some narrations that no one person could have lived through by themselves, nor probably any band of fellows like this group. They simply have great imaginations and stories to tell.

While their songs sound simple on the first listen, one layer below the surface there are all sorts of levels of abstractions and surrealism, even though the band does not have one iota of outward aesthetic snobbishness about them. They are as real as real can be, but they write songs that hit the mark in both conscious and subconscious ways. Their songs resonate, and their live performance did even more so.

God, are they great live. What great balance. Two of them seem like they maybe are drugged to slow down appropriately, while the other three move and play with constant frenetic energy. And how beautiful James Felice’s accordion is at exactly the right moments in so many of the songs.

Between songs, Ian Felice stated, “I can’t believe we sit in our rooms and write these songs, and then people like you come to hear them. That’s amazing.” I believe he really thinks that, and I think it’s part of the magic.

Yes, some think they are like Bob Dylan. Let’s not hang that kiss of death on them. Okay, “The Basement Tapes” come to mind, as does the Band and their way with the blending, layering and colliding of instruments and sounds, with the distinctive and heartfelt vocals and abstract lyrics that changed rock and roll forever. Remember when “Music From Big Pink” sounded like nothing ever before it?

It is probably not a coincidence that the Felice homestead in Palenville, NY is just a short jaunt over Ridge Road to West Saugerties and then a little farther on to Woodstock. With only Levon left there to the south of them, and Bob, Van and Rick departed, these sounds – with origins under the shadow of the Plattekill and Hunter Mountains – take off where the others before left off.

However, make no mistake, the Felice Brothers seem to be the real deal, uniquely their own, reflecting exactly where they come from and the lives of those around them. They are no copycats. These songs and ideas are too good to be copies. And they do not sing about how awful success and a little fame is, like so many musical talents with no ideas beyond themselves do.

About 500-plus fans were treated to something really special at MASS MoCA. They got to live with the Felice Brothers for a couple of hours and hear about the world in real terms – all loud and chaotic – fraught with love, emotion, death, confessions and vulnerability at the same time.

And when the band finally played “Frankie’s Gun,” as their third encore and final song on the night, they torn it down and deconstructed it, thundering through it to such a drastic degree that it was a perfect ending to the evening. The crowd needed no more after that.

The Felice Brothers heading to New Zealand

2011-01-19T12:45:00.001-08:00

Link

Grassroots Festival Second Announcement
Thursday, 20th January 2011 8:53AM
The brand new Grassroots Festival has released it's second and final line-up announcement and if you thought BB King and Elvis Costello couldn't be topped - how bout adding in the legendary Grace Jones!

Here are all the second announcement acts:

Tony Joe White (USA), Imogen Heap (UK), Lulo Reinhardt (GER), Felice Brothers (USA), Eugene Hideaway Bridges (USA), Flip Grater (NZ), Hammond Gamble (NZ), Shona Laing (NZ), Doug Jerebine & Billy T.K. SR (NZ), Heart Attack Alley (NZ), Julia Deans (NZ), Darcy Perry (NZ), Caitlin Smith (NZ), Riverhead Slide (NZ), The Warratahs (NZ), The Bads (NZ) and The Thomas Oliver Band (NZ).

They join the already announced:

BB King (USA), Elvis Costello & The Imposters (USA), Ben Harper and Relentless7 (USA), Rodrigo Y Gabriela (Mexico), Eric Bibb (USA), Paul Ubana Jones (NZ), Ruthie Foster (USA), Cairo Knife Fight (NZ), Ticket (NZ), Don McGlashan (NZ) and Sola Rosa (NZ).

GRASSROOTS : PUHINUI RESERVE
Saturday 23rd & Sunday 24th April

Tickets on sale now - full details below.

Press Release:

In a summer that has seen more international and local talent perform for New Zealand than ever before, the inaugural GrassRoots Festival closes our Summer 2011 with a must see 2 day line up on Saturday 23rd & Sunday 24th April at the stunning Puhinui Reserve.

This two-day festival will bring together some of the world’s most renowned artists as well as a raft of local acts across a multitude of genres whilst still having its core ethos firmly grounded in blues and roots based music. Thirty artists on two stages over the two days will launch GrassRoots – The New Zealand Blues and Roots All Music Festival 2011.

Chugg Entertainment are thrilled to announce that joining the already incredible line-up are the phenomenal Grace Jones (USA), Tony Joe White (USA), Imogen Heap (UK), Lulo Reinhardt (GER), Felice Brothers (USA), Eugene Hideaway Bridges (USA), Flip Grater (NZ), Hammond Gamble (NZ), Shona Laing (NZ), Doug Jerebine & Billy T.K. SR (NZ), Heart Attack Alley (NZ), Julia Deans (NZ), Darcy Perry (NZ), Caitlin Smith (NZ), Riverhead Slide (NZ), The Warratahs (NZ), The Bads (NZ) and The Thomas Oliver Band (NZ).

Artists announced earlier include the fabulous BB King (USA), Elvis Costello & The Imposters (USA), Ben Harper and Relentless7 (USA), Rodrigo Y Gabriela (Mexico), Eric Bibb (USA), Paul Ubana Jones (NZ), Ruthie Foster (USA), Cairo Knife Fight (NZ), Ticket (NZ), Don McGlashan (NZ) and Sola Rosa (NZ).

GrassRoots is bringing the music to New Zealand for Easter. Do not miss your chance to say that you were there first. Please scroll down for artist performance days.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

GRASSROOTS : PUHINUI RESERVE
Saturday 23rd & Sunday 24th April

Ticket options include Single day, 2-Day with VIP & camping options. For more info visit the Grass Roots site.

grassrootsfestival.co.nz

The Felice Brothers add Coachella to SxSw

2011-01-19T04:54:00.000-08:00

Link

The official 2011 Coachella lineup was released Tuesday night, following a wild string of online predictions and fake posters that began infiltrating the web during the first month of 2011.
Rumors have been circulating for months; in fact, many speculations began the day after Coachella 2010. There was talk of Daft Punk, The White Striples, Coldplay…even the Rolling Stones were rumored to have been offered $5 million to be headliners for the festival. And while we won’t be seeing Mick Jagger strutting the stage this year, the organizers of Coachella have promised us a pretty sweet lineup for 2011, with welcome surprises like Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and Mumford & Sons. A complete list, as announced by Goldenvoice (the festival’s promoter) follows:
!!!, 12th Planet, Afrojack, Alf Alpha, Andy C, Angus and Julia Stone, Animal Collective, Arcade Fire, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, A-Trak, Axwell, Beardyman, Best Coast, Big Audio Dynamite, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77, Bomba Estereo, Boys Noize, Brandon Flowers, Brandt Brauer Frick, Breakage, Bright Eyes, Broken Social Scene, Cage the Elephant, Caifanes, Caspa, Cee Lo Green, Chromeo, Chuckie, City and Colour, Clare Maguire, Cold Cave, Cold War Kids, Crystal Castles, CSS, Cults, Cut Copy, Daedelus, Death From Above 1979, Delorean, Delta Sprirt, DJ Hype, DJ Kentaro, DJ Marky, DJ Zinc, Duck Sauce, Duran Duran, EE, Elbow, Electric Touch, Eliza Doolittle, Ellie Goulding, Emicida, Empire of the Sun, Erick Morillo, Erykah Badu, Excision, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Fedde Le Grand, Fistful of Mercy, Flogging Molly, Foals, Foster the People, Francis and the Lights, Freelance Whales, fun., G.Q., Gayngs, Glasser, Gogol Bordello, Good Old War, Gord Downie, Goth Trad, Green Velvet, Gypsy and the Cat, HEALTH, Here We Go Magic, High Contrast, Hurts, Interpol, Jack Beats, Jack’s Mannequin, Jakes, Jenny and Johnny, Jimmy Eat World, Joachim Garraud, Joy Orbison, Kanye West, Kele, Kings of Leon, Klaxons, Kode9, Kyle Hall, Laidback Luke, Leftfield, Lightning Bolt, Lil’ B, Lorn, Los Bunkers, Magnetic Man, Mariachi El Bronx, Marina and the Diamonds, Mary Anne Hobbs, MEN, Menomena, Monarchy, Mount Kimbie, Moving Units, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Mumford & Sons, Nas & Damian Marley, Neon Trees, New Pants, Nosaj Thing, OFF!, OFWGKTA, Omar Rodriguez Lopez, One Day as a Lion, Ozomatli, Paul van Dyk, Phantogram, Phosphorescent, PJ Harvey, Plan B, Ramadanman, Raphael Saadiq, Ras G, Ratatat, Riva Starr, Robyn, Roska, Rye Rye, Sander Kleinenberg, Sasha, SBTRKT, Scala & Kolacny Bros., Scissor Sisters, She Wants Revenge, Shpongle, Skrillex, Sleigh Bells, Steve Angello, Sven Vath, Take, Tame Impala, Terror Danjah, Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, The Aquabats, The Black Keys, The Chemical Brothers, The Drums, The Felice Brothers, The Henry Clay People, The Joy Formidable, The Kills, The London Suede, The Love Language, The Morning Benders, The National, The New Pornographers, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Presets, The Radio Dept., The Rural Alberta Advantage, The Strokes, The Swell Season, The Tallest Man on Earth, The Twelves, Thunderball, Tinie Tempah, Titus Andronicus, Tokimonsta, Trampled by Turtles, Trentemoller, Twin Shadow, Two Door Cinema Club, Warpaint, Wire, Wiz Khalifa, Yacht, Yelle and Zed Bias.

New Song "The Great Kaleidoscope"

2011-01-17T14:11:00.000-08:00

poor sound quality sorry

Simone Felice The Communion Launch in Brooklyn January 9

2011-01-17T14:09:00.001-08:00

Simone is recording his Solo debut and will be touring this spring.

Quick note

2010-12-23T06:31:00.000-08:00

More later as I am so flu ridden I can hardly move.

But, we collected over 500 new toys for the Toys for Tots program and plenty of Coats for Kids as well. Thanks to all that donated and to Sgt Timothy Harrington of the US Marine Corps.

I'll have a more complete recap later.

Digger

The Duke and the King get another top ten album nod

2010-12-18T04:30:00.000-08:00

Link

Here is the original review of Long Live The Duke and The King:

This year is turning out to be a vintage one for me, album-wise. This timeless offering from Duke & The King is right up there on my list. From the opening bars of ‘Gloria’ I knew that the bar had been raised even higher than Nothing Gold Can Stay, which was one of my albums of 2009.

The crafting of the songs and the soaring harmonies put this in a league of its own. There is no genre or boxes you can tick with these guys, they are unique and carving themselves a niche in rock’n'roll folklore. From the late 60s San Francisco feel of lead single ‘Shaky’ through to the more traditional Americana sounding ‘You and I’, they arouse your senses and carry you away into your stereo. At times I almost felt that I was in their log cabin studio deep in the woods of Bearsville, New York.

This album has a much more collective feel to it than the debut, with lead vocals shared amongst the band members, much like a Duke & The King live show. This record takes you to a better place in your heart. Track four ‘Right Now’ will take you to that better place immediately, it’s a true uplifting message straight from the gospel of Reverand Loveday. The bluesy ‘Hudson River’ is just stunning and Simi Stone has the most stunning vocal delivery on ‘No Easy Way Out’.

Every one of the ten tracks on this long player is mindblowing, however just for this week ‘Children Of The Sun’ is taking me the highest places. I have been privileged and honoured to both meet and interview the band as well as catching them live on a couple of occasions. They bring their love back to the UK next month and I tell you it’s the most moving gig experience I have ever had and one you should not miss out on. I’m not sure if I can give an album 11/10 but I’m going to anyway! This is the best record I have heard in the last ten years!

Long Live The Duke and The King drops on Loose Music 27th September. The lead single ‘Shaky’ is available from Monday 20th September.

No Depression tabs Mix Tape in top albums of 2010

2010-12-16T05:27:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again for everybody to begin pushing their own year-end picks of 2010. For my 2010 picks, I chose the 20 albums released this year that I predict I'll surely be returning to beyond December 31st, 2010.
Link
Here's my list, in no particular order, followed by brief impressions of each.

1. Johnny Cash: American Recordings VI: Ain't No Grave
2. Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band: Legacy
3. Punch Brothers: NPR's Newport Folk Festival Recording
4. Mark Lanegan & Isobel Campbell: Hawk
5. Neil Young: Le Noise
6. Bill Callahan: Rough Travel For A Rare Thing
7. Roland White: I Wasn't Born To Rock N Roll
8. Black Twig Pickers: Ironto Special
9. Carolina Chocolate Drops: Genuine Negro Jig
10. Del McCoury: Del McCoury
11. Mavis Staples: You Are Not Alone
12. Ben Sollee & Daniel Martin Moore: Dear Companion
13. Steeldrivers: Reckless
14. Trampled By Turtles: Palomino
15. Charlie Parr & Black Twig Pickers: Glory In The Meeting House
16. Felice Brothers: Mix Tape
17. Charlie Louvin: The Battles Rage On
18. Black Keys: Brothers
19. Justin Townes Earle: Harlem River Blues
20. Bonnie Prince Billy & Cairo Gang: The Wonder Show Of The World

"16. Felice Brothers: Mix Tape. The Felice Brothers are best when performing live on a stage. Comparing the band's live dynamics, which shift between energetic rambunctiousness, somberful serenading, and rural-tinged ballads, to the renditions found on their studio releases, is just pointless. The band's live performances and studio releases are just two, equally satisfying, experiences. Mix Tape is a loose collection of tunes that doesn't hint at the artistic seriousness of the excellent Yonder Is The Clock, but seems more like middle ground between that album and The Felice Brothers. It's a comfortable and unimposing collection, that stretches out just enough and feels simpler and more understated without too much refinement. Mix Tape wears well like those old jeans you just can't toss away."

Felice Brothers DVD available for Christmas

2010-12-15T10:10:00.000-08:00

Link

It's from Mountain Jam 2007
Setlist:
Two Hands
Two hands
Waterspider
Take this bread
Oxycontin
T for Texas
Black Girl
Roll on Arte
We bid you goodnight
Ballad of Lou

Forever Green from the Felice Brothers in Rochester

2010-12-05T14:54:00.000-08:00

I got it a little late, sorry but it was history. A very lively set,
much attributable to the Reggae show next door. 90 minutes.

Forever Green
Fire at the Pagaent
Wonderful life
Dance hall
Ponzi
Let me Come home
Tenderly
Stepdad
River Jordan
Whiskey
Ballad of Lou the Welterweight
Bread
Limo
Chicken run
Ruby
Frankie's gun
Better be
Greatest Show
Liquor
2 hands

Rochester 12-3-10

2010-12-03T20:59:00.001-08:00

Forever Green
Fire at the Pagaent
Wonderful life
Dance hall
Ponzi
Let me Come home
Tenderly
Stepdad
River Jordan
Whiskey
Ballad of Lou the Welterweight
Bread
Limo
Chicken run
Ruby
Frankie's gun
Better be
Greatest Show
Liquor
2 hands

Middle Aged Guy ties jacket around waist, and rushes the stage

2010-12-03T14:19:00.000-08:00

Syracuse Setlist

Fire
White Limo
Murder By Mistletoe
Ponzi
Dance Halls
Take This Bread
Whiskey in my Whiskey
Step Dad
River Jordan
Frankies Gun
Farley's Song
Run Chicken Run
Wonderful Life
St Stephen's End
Got WHat I need
Helen Fry
Marie
---
Loves Me Tenderly
Two Hands

What Take This Bread is Up To

2010-12-01T15:46:00.000-08:00

Last Week we were in Boston, feeding folks meals under the Expressway overpass by Albany St, it was a good time and we handed out roughly 90 meals and met some nice folks.

Over the holiday we also helped deliver about a ton of food to The Food Pantry,

We are continuing our free landscaping program for senior citizens through the leaf season. (2 jobs left).

And from Dec 5-December 20th The Take This Bread truck will be collecting Toys for Tots on Edgartown Rd on Martha's Vineyard. We will also be accepting Cellphones for Soldiers and Coats for Kids. Please stop by and make a donation if you can.

Finally we adopted 4 Teens!

Through the Salvation Army's Adopt a Family Program, we are adopting the Christmas wishlist for 4 Cape Cod area teens this season. We are pretty excited about it.

If you are interested in Adopting a Family, in your area check it out on this link

We got some more kicking as well.

What do The Felice Brothers share with Hugh Hefner???

2010-12-01T10:22:00.000-08:00

I know!

For those have heard their new outstanding track "Ponzi", The prerecording at the beginning of the tune, there is dialogue from an apparently old film. That film, i think is the 1946 Rita Hayworth classic "Gilda"

Hugh Hefner, porn extroadinaire and film buff (of the non-porn variety) recently listed the 5 sexiest movies ever, and Gilda was on the list

Here is what he had to say about it:

''It defined Rita Hayworth as a sex icon. Afterward, she said that men went to bed with Gilda but woke up in the morning with her.''

LINK

Here is a performance of the song from Brooklyn last month. Thanks to Sean, who filmed it and is starting up the new Frankiesgun.com with me in 2011!

Ian Felice does Harry Nilsson

2010-11-30T14:54:00.001-08:00

linkage

Nod for Simone Felice in Album of the Year list

2010-11-30T14:31:00.001-08:00

#2 on albums of the year list: Simone Felice: Live from a Lonely Place

Top Ten CDs of 2010

LINK

I’ve finally settled on my list of the top ten CDs of 2010. Probably unlike anyone else’s list, I give it to you here. The order of the CDs from one to ten was the toughest part, and I can’t say that I won’t want to switch some of them around immediately after posting them, but this is the way it looks to me at this moment in time.

1. Salter Cane – Sorrow
This release is fairly recent, but the power of the songs, the beauty of the performances, and overall sense and feel of the entire work is just overwhelming. Sorrow is released as having a Creative Commons License, which is to say, if you have a copy, you are free to make other copies and Salter Cane encourages you to give them away. What a wonderful concept, being about the music rather than corporate greed.

2. Simone Felice – Live From a Lonely Place
This CD is in very limited release, and that’s a shame. Felice is a one half of the duo, Duke and King, and a former member of the Felice Brothers group. Recorded at home (in the barn) just a few weeks after his open heart surgery, this retrospective collection includes songs from the earliest Felice Brother days, Duke & King favorites, and the traditional Celtic waltz Wild Mountain Thyme arranged by Simone. Naked as the day you were born, these stark recordings cut to the bone, revealing the essential brilliance of the songwriting, the poetry, like a ghost in the attic, like a wind at the door. Available exclusively at simonefelice.com as well as all live Simone Felice appearances.

3. The Vatican Cellar – The Same Crooked Worm
Just released this month, The Same Crooked Worm is a series of cathartic, cut to the bone songs dealing with loss, hope, and redemption. Essentially a duo, The Vatican Cellar uses acoustic instruments, beautiful solo and harmony vocals, and deep, brooding lyrics to convey what they wish to share, musically, with the audience. Bears repeat listenings, which given the beauty of the music, will not be a difficult assignment.

4. Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan – Hawk
Like their previous two collaborations, this one is a gem. Maybe nobody in the music world has produced as much great, must-have music in the span of three CDs as this duo has done. Every song is a keeper, but that’s true of their other work together as well. Hawk isn’t a new CD so much as it is a continuation of what began with the inception of their musical alliance begun in 2006 with Ballad of the Broken Seas, and continued with 2008′s Sunday at Devil Dirt.

5. Thea Gilmore – Murphy’s Heart
Any year that Thea Gilmore releases a new CD, it’s going to be on my best of list. She does not record anything average, ordinary, or mediocre. Everything she puts out is a masterwork, and Murphy’s Heart is no exception. While not as extraordinary as 2002′s Songs from the Gutter, nor as breathtaking as 2008′s Liejacker, this is a great work from a great, and too much under appreciated artist.

6. Sharon Krauss – The Woody Nightshade
A dark, ethereal, brooding, but revealing CD about love missed, love found and lost, and love never achieved. Largely piano based, acoustic, with breathy but splendid vocals, The Woody Nightshade gives us a glimpse into a world we seldom find ourselves looking. As the name implies, these songs are filled with beauty and danger all at the same time, taking its name from the beautiful but poisonous plant also known as deadly nightshade or belladonna.

7. Black Dub – Black Dub
With the production values of band member, Daniel Lanois, producer of such acts as U2, The Neville Brothers, and Bob Dylan, this CD would be hard pressed to miss. Throw in the wonderful pyrotechnic vocals of Trixie Whitley and you have winner without even trying. A couple of songs are a little too hip-hop for my taste, but once the CD gets cooking, Trixie Whitley steps right up and lays claim to being one of the best female vocalists working in popular music today. Once she grabs you by the throat, there’s no letting go.

8. Richard Thompson – Dream Attic
After having put out a couple of mostly acoustic CDs in a row, Richard Thompson cuts loose on this one, laying claim to being one of the best guitar players in popular music today. Actually, one of the best ever if the truth is known. With his usual sardonic wit and wisdom, he takes us, lyrically, through a tour de force of great music, and throughout it all, his ringing, baroque-style, rock and roll guitar weaves a web from which the listener can’t escape. And doesn’t really want to.

9. Joanne Shaw Taylor – Diamonds in the Dirt
Taylor proves herself to be one of the best blues guitar slingers out there with the release of this CD. Not one of the best female player, but one of the best players, period. Her earlier CD, White Sugar, allowed her to lay claim to all the accolades that came her way. This follow up cements it all in place. This girl isn’t going away. Called “the love child of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Dusty Springfield,” she does them both proud, even if the statement was made in hyperbole. She sings, she plays, she rocks.

10. Doghouse Roses – This Broken Key
One of my favorite groups of the last couple of years returns with a new CD just in time to make the list. Paul Tasker and Iona Macdonald started playing music together in 2005. Tasker’s intricate guitar and Macdonald’s golden voice caught my ear with their initial release, 2009′s How’ve you Been (all this time)?, and I couldn’t wait to hear more. Broken Key is the perfect follow up. It trades on the strengths of what they began on the earlier release, and plows ahead into new territory that should keep them vital and interesting for the long haul.

There’s lots of other good releases out there this year, but these are the ones that have stood the test of time and repeat plays on my iPod and elsewhere. If you’re interested in some really great music, look up these releases. Cuts can be heard all over the internet, and most of the CDs are available from a myriad of sites selling CDs and downloads. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Live Gig of the Year: The Duke and The King

2010-11-30T14:23:00.000-08:00

Shine On
The Duke And The King
The Fleece, Bristol
Friday October 29th 2010

Review: Lee Edwards
Photography: Martin Tompkins
Video: Alex Crowton

Electricghost.com

A gentle drizzle washes the streets of Bristol as Alex and I make our way from Temple Mead Station to the newly re-vamped Fleece. We are heading out ahead of photographer Martin to catch the The Duke And The King for their pre-gig soundcheck and sort ourselves out for the interview which we are videoing. Later we’ll be joined by Martin and a capacity audience to see the band play. They were last in Bristol in the Spring at the Thekla where they gave a devastating performance and we proclaimed it was ElectricGhost’s gig of the year. Since then they have produced an amazing second album Long Live the Duke And The King, Simone has has emergency heart treatment and came over a few months ago for a solo tour.

Arriving at the Fleece we are greeted by the band’s tour tour manager Joey. It is the usual bustle of activity that is soundchecking. Bobbie and Simi appear and we get a sense that all is not well in the Duke and King camp. The bereavement mentioned online that cancelled the Glasgow gig turns out to be Bobbie’s dad, also Simone is not well and in pain, but the show will go on. There is a somber mood in the venue. Nowell appears and seems like the other to be friendly but affected by the recent events. Finally Simone appears and he look frankly like he should be in bed and not about to perform in front of a capacity audience. Whilst they work on their soundcheck Alex and I decamp to the dressing room to set up the camera and prepare for the interview. After the interview which will appear on our blogsite (http://www.electricghostmusic.com) and Journal soon we head of to meet up with photographer Martin for a break and food.

Back at the venue the support act is on and the place is full to capacity. It seem an eternity before the band appear. Without the usual jovial banter they kick off with If You Ever Get Famous, Don’t Wake The Scarecrow and The Morning I Get To Hell. Its good to see them live again but they they seem more restrained than usual and pacing themselves, the stage lighting is dark and they seem to merge into the shadows. Simi, who added electric guitar to her instruments, takes the lead vocals on the highly infectious No Easy Way Out and this seems to to be a turning point this is followed by another favourite from the new album Shaky and the audience are engaged and singing along with the band.

Following a moving reading of Suzanne from Bobbie, Nowell is front of stage for Hudson River with a vocal power than never ceases to knock me off my feet. He could easily dominate any lesser band, and it is a testament to the phenomenal musical abilities of each member that they all shine equally and come together with heavenly spine tingling four-part harmonies. Talking of shining the live version of the anthemic slow-burning Shine On You, a favourite of mine from the new album has a new intensity tonight with an acid guitar solo from Bobbie that is incendiary.

Another favourite follows, Gloria, and the emotional intensity is almost unbearable through I’ve One More American Song (Simone solo with just acoustic guitar and harmonica), Have You Seen It and Radio Song. The set finishes with a magical and heartfelt cover of Neil Young’s classic Helpless with the whole audience acting like a choir, many people including the band are close to tears at this point.

Howls of ‘more‘ and foot stamping that rocks the venue eventually brings them back for devastatingly dark and ominous version of Don’t Take That Place Tonight followed by a heartbreaking beautiful version of Union Street; and then they’re gone. This has been an extraordinary evening by any standards with a band battered and bruises by bereavement and illness giving a heroic and transcendental performance. There is no question that The Duke And The King are the most important and best live band on the planet at the moment. They’ve also just become ElectricGhost’s live gig of the year to be shared with their performance earlier this year at The Thekla in Bristol.

Tracklist for Radio Woodstock's 30th anniversary CD

2010-11-30T13:56:00.000-08:00

Live in Studio performances featuring The Felice Brothers and The Duke and the King

Disc 1:
Track # Artist Title Preview
1 The Allman Brothers Band Midnight Rider
2 Rick Danko Blue River
3 One eskimO Kandi
4 Wilco Handshake Drugs
5 The Felice Brothers Roll On Arte
6 Railroad Earth Hard Livin'
7 Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings 100 Days, 100 Nights
8 Willie Nile Cell Phones Ringing
9 Gov't Mule Woodstock
10 Gomez Revolutionary Kind
11 Big Head Todd & The Monsters Bittersweet
12 Guster Barrel of a Gun
13 Sonia Dada Old Bones
14 Martin Sexton Diner
15 Robert Randolph & The Family Band I Need More Love
16 The English Beat Save It For Later

Disc 2:
Track # Artist Title Preview
1 Michael Franti & Spearhead Yell Fire!
2 North Mississippi Allstars Moonshine
3 The Hold Steady Sequestered In Memphis
4 Ben Folds Late
5 The Duke & The King If You Ever Get Famous
6 Bell X1 The Great Defector
7 Ray LaMontagne Trouble
8 Jackie Greene Farewell, So Long, Goodbye
9 G. Love & Special Sauce Baby's Got Sauce
10 Rusted Root Ecstasy
11 Citizen Cope Brother Lee
12 Ollabelle Riverside
13 Harper Simon Shooting Star
14 Brett Dennen Make You Crazy
15 Ozomatli Saturday Night
16 Natalie Merchant (ft. Susan McKeown and Katell Keineg) Will The Circle Be Unbroken

LINK to BUY

From Loose Music:the Duke and the King Honored

2010-11-30T06:03:00.000-08:00

DUKE AND THE KING IN UNCUT’S ALBUM OF THE YEAR LIST
29TH NOVEMBER, 2010
in THE DUKE & THE KING
Long Live The Duke & The King has been placed at No. 32 in Uncut’s 50 Best Albums of 2010 list and No.4 in their 20 Best Americana Albums of the year! The new issue of the magazine also features single, Shaky on the free CD.

“If the Felice Brothers initially seemed to be Woodstock-dwelling Band acolytes, subsequent releases have revealed a much wider-ranging bunch. Hence Simone Felice’s second album with The D&K, which evolved their sound from Laurel Canyon reveries to this invocation of cosmic country soul.”

However, if the magazine’s editor, Allan Jones, had full say on the list, it would have been much nearer the top of the list. He mentions the album as being in his personal top 10!

Not heard it? Really?? Well it is, of course, in the Loose shop, here. Also on beautiful vinyl, with free album download.

Link

Live Review: Pittsburgh

2010-11-28T06:46:00.000-08:00

If you’re a twenty-something and grew up anything like I did, then you can sympathize with me in my musical misfortune. Central Pennsylvania isn’t exactly the most sought-after venue for concerts of any type aside from Contemporary Christian. And without the Internet until my college years, the only music of the day at the end of my fingertips amounted to “Magic Stick” by Lil’ Kim and 50 Cent or “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy” by Kenny Chesney. None of which were exactly what I was looking for. You see, the music that I wanted more of was the music like “Crimson and Clover” by Tommy James and the Shondells that my Mom would gasp at when she heard on the radio. She was so excited because she (like me) couldn’t relate to anything else that was playing on the radio. So maybe I’m an old soul. I continued to listen to more Americana like Peter, Paul and Mary and Woody Guthrie. But after all of the time and emotion that I invested into others like Nina Simone, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Burl Ives, Bob Dylan, The Band and Malvina Reynolds, I began to miss out on being an actual part of that music.
Link
Finally, more than just the radio was at my fingertips, now the Internet was available and that meant I could find other people my own age who were making music not quite like Dylan and Guthrie but in response to and influenced by them. Hallelujah! I’m not the only old soul! I’m not a total stiff! There are other people who don’t like rap and country back to back on the radio! This throw-back movement of barn-burning, floor-stomping and skilled string-playing music is exactly what I needed. It gave me a chance to participate at least a little in this day in age with the music that I loved as a child but never had the chance to do more than sing along to in the car with my Mom. It’s bands like The Felice Brothers that are my Dylan, my Band, my Joplin.

After reading about all of the amazing performances that the Brothers have put on (i.e., the acoustic show at Newport in the rain), I was ready for a night of letting the band take me away to their musical wonderland. A band can only take their audience to that special live, musical place if they are fully engaged. Aside from James Felice, I wasn’t sure if the rest of the band could even see us standing right in front of them. James, who is as burly as a bear but as graceful as a swan, was fully engaged with the audience, or maybe it just seemed like it because he was the only one making an effort.

Everyone has their off nights and hopefully this was theirs. It won’t keep me from checking out another one of their shows because even though they had no audience chemistry, they still displayed that they are talented beyond their years and their voices are just spot on with their studio recording. That’s respectable. I didn’t love their show but I’m thankful for having music today that is reminiscent of the greats, has heart and soul and that connects me in some way to the story of the music. Thanks, Felice Brothers because you’ve got all of that going on.

The Felice Brothers from Castaways in Ithaca NY

2010-11-28T02:11:00.001-08:00

"Terrible Dream" is a new song that may appear on the upcoming album in 2011.

setlist:

Fire On The Mountain
Ponzi
Frankie's Gun
Dance Hall
Whiskey
White Limosine
Got What I Need
Stepdad
River Jordan/Fuck The News>
Chicken Wire
Liquor
Ballad of Lou
Farley's Song
Terrible Dream (Ian solo)
Take This Bread
Let Me Come Home
Marie
Greatest Show On Earth
Run Chicken Run

Encore:
St. Steven
Helen Fry
Two Hands (with everyone on stage).

Cornell Sun Review

2010-11-22T05:28:00.000-08:00

TOPICS: live music, Concert Review, concert
NOVEMBER 22, 2010
BY JAMES RAINIS
There’s a danger to judging a band by only its records. It seems silly to say, but sometimes songs are a lot more about the scene and mood then the chords and notes. That being said, experiencing a band first hand can make you appreciate an otherwise maligned genre. Take hardcore punk for instance: Recordings can be grating and are often p oorly produced. But when you go to the shows, many bands’ charisma can be surprising and crowds’ willingness to sacrifice life and limb (seriously) for the music they love becomes infectious. By the end of the night, you often find yourself throwing elbows and shouting along to supremely vulgar breakdowns, swept away by the immediacy of the experience.

I experienced something similar Saturday night. The Felice Brothers, on record, were not the most impressive group. They had some good country rock songs and did a pretty good job at evoking comparisons to The Band or Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, but they weren’t something I’d find myself listening to on a consistent basis. They also didn’t help themselves with their timing: slated to go on at nine, they didn’t take the stage until nearly an hour later. The deck, it seems, was stacked against them.

Link to story

Their eyes were bleary, and they were hardly well-coifed, but damn could these guys play. Launching with aplomb into songs called “Whiskey in My Whiskey,” “Frankie’s Gun” and “Where’d You Get The Liquor?” these guys were your ideal country bar band. Ian Felice’s guitar-playing, while skillful, felt drunkenly shambolic; the rhythm section kept things simple, but propelled things at just the right speed and volume to make the full band ballads come to cathartic climaxes; James Felice’s accordion fleshed songs out beautifully, making the five-piece sound bigger than they were; and multi-instrumentalist Farley was exceptional, playing trumpet, fiddle and hype-man, keeping the crowd (ever the willing group of participants) involved with sing-alongs and hand-claps. And, of course, one can’t omit his skills on the washboard. Farley played it with reckless abandon, tossing it across stage and scraping joyously along to the more rollicking tunes.

Comparisons to The Band are particularly apt; like the folk rock legends, The Felice Brothers’ songs are mostly about people (drunks) and places (bars), with new characters being introduced in each song and details fleshed out in a very casual, conversational tone. The Brothers also switch lead vocal and instrumental duties quite freely. Everyone in the band, save the drummer, got opportunities to sing lead, giving the unit a very democratic, laid back appearance, as if their performance was just something they were doing for kicks and the crowd was an accident.

The Brothers’ charisma did not stem from any sort of Ezra Koenig-esque wit (they only spoke to the audience to thank them for their attendance and to emphasize how much better ending their tour in Ithaca was than ending it in Columbus, Ohio) or drunken joking; they just seemed to be really, really into their music, rocking back and forth to every song and closing their eyes during their solos. Ian Felice’s guitar playing, also, was fantastic. Since he doesn’t use a pick, he doesn’t pluck strings with equal pressure, resulting in his guitar sounding as if it’s being hit rather than strummed. While his playing sounded somewhat sloppy, it also sounded brilliant. Felice played everything very tastefully, rarely resorting to fretboard-wanking and thereby staying perfectly within the slightly buzzed bar band aesthetic the band had created for themselves.

But what made the night for me, personally, was the exuberant crowd. Almost everyone constantly had a drink in hand and everybody was entirely enveloped in the music, singing along to every song and dancing (which is a nice thing to see in a time where the hipster default of “standing still and nodding” is growing more popular every day). The highlight of the night came during the final song of the night, when the crowd rushed the stage to dance and sing with the band, who played the song perfectly nonchalantly, as if the stage had been the right place for the audience to be all along. And therein lies the allure of the Felice Brothers as a live band: They’re crowd pleasers, and the instant familiarity of the songs brings young and old, hipsters and good ole country boys together to drink, dance and, in general, have a kick-ass show.

Still working on new site and forum

2010-11-21T06:13:00.001-08:00

We have run into a snag with the forum and the domain that has gone on since Thursday.
It will hopefully be fixed as soon as possible.

I will pick up the pace on reporting news by next week, this week is a busy work week
At my paying job, and the Take This Bread food truck will be in Boston Wednesday night and Thanksgiving morning.

I know there has been exciting news of late including "Billie Jean" back in the encore, and I will be back in full force soon with more news, the new forum URL, the new news site and more.

Digger

Forum URL change!!!!

2010-11-19T00:05:00.000-08:00

Alert.
Frankiesgun.com

Has become
Forum.frankiesgun.com

This may take a day or two before the changeover is complete

Right now the forum can be accessed @ atforum.frankiesgun.com

Nightmares for a Week talk in James Felice playing on their record

2010-11-17T09:23:00.000-08:00

Bill: It was very humbling and makes us feel very fortunate. This is huge for us. Big ups to Walter. Thanks a lot. In addition to Walter we had James Felice from the Felice Brothers lay down some accordion on two or three songs. He almost ripped the accordion in half!

Sean-Paul: If you listen to the title track “Don’t Die” and let it fade there comes a part where James was feeling it. He’s a big guy and he pulled the accordion so far you can hear the reeds ripping. He’s ripped accordions before and the guy who repairs them has never seen that but he goes to the guy and says, “I ripped another one.”

Bill: The Felice Brothers are a big influence and you have James Felice and Walter and Frank from By Land Or Sea. All these people coming from different sides of the spectrum being on our record, which is awesome.

Link

The Austinist weighs in on show in.. Austin

2010-11-17T05:21:00.000-08:00

Link
On a night full of options across town for folk-rock fans, Adam Haworth Stephens and The Felice Brothers spun jangly alt-country tales riddled with misadventure for an enthusiastic, sold out crowd inside Emo’s on Friday. Stephens is one half of the minimalist production that is/was Two Gallants. He recently released a solo album, We Live On Cliffs, and hit the road with a three-piece backing band, which consists of Jen Grady (bass and cello), Matt Montgomery (keys), and Omar Cuellar (drums).

Stephens’ appears as a traditional folk artist as he comes to stage with a harmonica brace and acoustic guitar in hand. He begins the set with “The Cities That You’ve Burned,” a track recently praised by NPR and featured on their Song Of The Day. The San Francisco based singer/songwriter consistently proves himself as a prolific lyricist and talented guitarist.

Stephens' introspective tales of turbulence and torment continue with, “Your Witness,” and “Lead in Our Lungs.” It’s clear that this solo project highlights his country-tinged comfort zone. His tone is poignant as words tremble upon the accompanying instrumentals. The addition of his backing band softens and balances his bittersweet, earnest lyrical content. For their final song the band switches gears into a waltzy cover of Wilson Pickett’s “I Found A Love,” with Stephens adjusting his vocals to a wailing falsetto.

The Felice Brothers are up next. The enthusiastic five-piece ensemble hail from upstate New York and carry with them rustic folklore that come to life through their gritty brand of Americana. They plunge into their ramshackle, alt-country set with “The Greatest Show on Earth.” Ian Felice’s voice quivers as big brother James Felice rocks the jangling keys and Greg Farley jumps around playing the fiddle. Christmas Clapton and David Turbeville keep the beat on bass and drums, respectively.

The boys continue with “Marlboro Man” and “White Limousine” before testing out some new material including “Royal Hawaiian Hotel.” The troop of brothers (a couple genetic, all fraternal) take turns on the mic, join together for harmonious singalongs, swap instruments, stomp and dance around the stage with contagious energy. Their multi-instrumental, animated production has a winning, home-style feel. Their songs skip along from the stripped-down, heart-wrenching ballad “Goddamn You, Jim,” to a crowd singalong of “It’s A Wonderful Life,” the boot-stomping, clap-along “Take This Bread,” and the washboard-heavy, fan favorite “Frankie’s Gun!” The crowd is damn near giddy as the band reduces to Ian and Christmas for “Saint Stephen’s End” before regrouping to bang out all the energy they can muster for their final song, “Whiskey In My Whiskey.”

The Felice Brothers’ latest release, last year’s Yonder The Clock demonstrates their heavy lyrical content laced with tales of hard women, drunkenness, incarceration, brothels and barroom bets. Their spirit may sound battered, but never broken. In a mere five years The Felice Brothers have come up from backyards and NYC subway performances to world tours. Their hustling has served them well. They’ve released seven albums, appeared at The Newport Folk Festival and toured with Conor Oberst, The Drive-By Truckers, Deer Tick and now, Adam Haworth Stephens.

Little Rock Setlist

2010-11-16T05:58:00.001-08:00

Fire On The Mountain
Marlboro Man
White Limo
Dance Hall
Let Me Come Home
Ponzi
Step Dad
Got What I Need
Marie
Run Chicken Run
St. Stephens End
Greatest Show on Earth
Better Be
Frankies Gun
- encore break -
Whiskey

The Felice Brothers "Shock and Awe" in Dallas

2010-11-15T08:16:00.000-08:00

Link
For the second consecutive night at The Loft in Dallas, a band showed up and gave the crowd not only more than it bargained for, but almost a different product than what was expected, altogether.

On Friday night, Freelance Whales managed to beef up and bolster their cute tunes into something substantial and rather dramatic.

On Saturday night, The Felice Brothers provided the crowd of what seemed to be around 250 an hour and a half of shock and awe. Featuring an accordion, fiddle -- and, get this, a washboard -- a night of rootsy porch-stomping seemed to be imminent. Of course, anyone who would expect such a vibe completely from this band hasn't truly been paying attention. Sure, the New York outfit's recent releases lean heavily towards the indie-country and folk ends of the musical spectrum, but not without several notable detours in terrain that rocks a goodly amount.

After the first few tunes -- including the opening number, "Murder by Mistletoe" -- were complete, one thing was apparent and would prove to be theme for the night: A sonic unpredictability and generally loose vibe would reign supreme, regardless of how a song may sound on record. And, truth be told, early on in the set, it wasn't clear as to whether such recklessness would be a positive or negative.

The set list surely satisfied any who have followed them for the last few years. Even with a newer album out, the set focused on the two albums previous to their Mix Tape, released this past spring. Perhaps the familiarity of the songs was key, as the Brothers Felice weren't exactly worried about executing finely honed and exact replicas of the various album cuts. At times, especially with the songs that featured a greater focus on electric instrumentation, the ramshackle feel wore thin and some of the song-ending cacophonies simply distracted from the performance, and, on occasion, resembled little more than plain noise. At other times, however, the inventive nuances that certain songs were given helped them become far more dynamic than they are on record.

Guitarist and lead singer Ian Felice isn't what most would deem a great singer, but man, the dude sounds great when he sings. His seemingly one-dimensional tones were the perfect counterpoint to the times when accordion and piano player, James Felice and fiddle and washboard player, Greg Farley, would boisterously join in on harmonies, as they enthusiastically did in "Run, Chicken, Run," and "Frankie's Gun!"

It was the fun, rambunctious moments that lifted the evening out of any possible let-down. While "St. Stephens End" and "Wonderful Life," surely provided the evening with a calming few minutes; "Love Me Tenderly" steered the ship back into the bouncing, rootsy hayride that many have come to expect from this band.

But, the unpredictable fun wasn't over. For the encore closing, fan-favorite "Whiskey in My Whiskey," the band stepped up the tempo of the historically plodding number -- which is about a man who is planning on doing some bad things to a bad girl named Eleanor -- and presented it as an all-out Gospel-flavored sing-along that satisfyingly celebrated the dark events of the tune, instead of lamenting them, as is the case in the studio version.

With each player changing positions and switching instruments throughout the set, a certain chaos could've been detected, but the madness that carried over into the tunes actually seemed to help it all make sense in the end.

Personal Bias: I really think that "Frankie's Gun!", even as popular as it is in certain circles, isn't near as famous of a song as it should be. It's pretty genius.

By The Way: Greg Farley, the fiddle player, dances and moves like a hype man for a hip-hop act. As a friend of mine mentioned to me during the set, it was tough to reconcile the image of a wranglers-wearing fiddle player bopping and weaving while wagging his chain during the set. Regardless, his energy and passion were as undeniable as they were appreciated.

Random Note: I'm tired of the traditional encore routine. This antiquated method is especially awkward at a place like The Loft, where a band basically has to either stand directly next to the stage, in plain sight of the crowd, or walk all the way to the back of the room, only to walk back immediately. Enough already. Bands: Play your set -- every song you intend on playing -- and then leave the stage for good. Thanks.

HearSoundsWrite: the review from Greenville is in

2010-11-12T08:26:00.000-08:00

The Felice Brothers
w/Adam Stephens
The Handlebar (Greenville, SC)
November 5, 2010
Link
Upon our arrival at the Handlebar, my friend and I were greeted by a chipper girl working the door.

"Have you guys been to The Handlebar before?"

We told her no, that we were from Charleston. Her look was one of surprise. "You came all the way from Charleston?"

Perhaps her reaction should have served as a clue as to Greenville's perception of the Felice Brothers. Judging by the turnout--or lack thereof--the Felice Brothers' drawing power in the upstate was minimal. But the same band had filled a similarly sized venue a year ago in Charleston. It's not like they're some unknown band, either. They've got credentials: Opening stints for Dave Matthews Band, Bright Eyes and Old Crow Medicine Show; steady festival billing; and a handful of well-received LPs. Why shouldn't the folk rockers be able to draw a few hundred folks a show--some who are willing to make a 3.5 hour trip?

Who knows. The fact remains that, by my estimation, less than a hundred warm bodies were in attendance for the Felice Brothers' stop in Greenville. Never a beerline, no problem pushing up close. These are good things. But it reflected poorly on the town, and might dissuade the band from returning--or the venue from having them back. This is a bad thing.

The opener, Adam Stephens of Two Gallants, played a particularly mundane set that didn't warrant much interest from those unfamiliar with his stuff (like me, for example.) The band didn't take long to come out, but when they did it was immediately apparent that Ian was not well. He spent most of the set gazing at his guitar. He looked tired, or distant, or strung out from the road, or something. Perhaps he was reacting to the lackluster audience. Who knows. He stepped off for a song, handing his guitar to fiddler/washboardist Greg Farley. Ian maintained his look of disinterest as slunk offstage. I wasn't entirely certain we'd see him back. He never once acknowledged the crowd--not a wave, not a thank you, not a nod. Admittedly, he sounded fine singing the likes of "Ruby Mae", "Take This Bread", and set closer "Frankie's Gun"--he even got a little fiery when roaring out "Run Chicken Run". But overall, Ian was unengaged and vacant, and it was almost a little hard to watch.

Thankfully, James Felice--the burly, bearded keys player and singer--refused to let the crowd leave disappointed. He helped the band maintain a nice pace, liberally injecting mid-song banter and exuding that down-home charisma for which the band has become known. Farley was also his usual ebullient self, wandering around the stage and gesturing in a vaguely hip-hoppish fashion. On a few songs, the band employed a drum machine--sort of an odd twist, but it's refreshing in the sense that they're not afraid to step out of their old-timey niche a bit. I don't like it when artists run in place, and while the Felice Brothers should ease into new territory for fear of scaring off their core audience, I'm glad they're doing it at all.

The song of the night was "Whiskey In My Whiskey", the James-led barroom romp that's distinguished itself as a fan favorite. It was nice to hear a charged version of "I Got What I Need", featuring just James on vocals and Ian on guitar. The song, as it appears on Tonight At the Arizona, is delicate and barebones, James offering wounded lyrics in a hushed quiver over a fingerpicked acoustic. But at the Handlebar, it took the form of an anthem, James belting lines and pounding his chest during the chorus of "I got what I need." We heard a few unreleased tunes, which were summarily well-received. James confirmed that their next album is currently in the mixing process. Hopefully it will see the light of day in early 2011 (that's just a guess on my part). Live staples "Helen Fry", "White Limousine", and "Lou the Welterweight" were also nice to hear.

"Katie Dear" was my favorite song from last year's Yonder Is the Clock (and one of this blog's top 20 songs of the year), but I thought it suffered a bit from Ian's lack of interest. A number of its drawn-out vocal notes came out a bit wobbly, or died prematurely. Oddly enough, the ballad stemmed out of a strange rap cover or something, featuring bassist Christmas on lead vocals. Look, I thought "Buried In Ice" was one of the best songs on Yonder, but Christmas doesn't really belong behind the main mic.

The set was short--sixteen songs in all. The show paled in comparison to their Charleston performance in 2009, but it's never a chore to watch a talented band play good songs. I just hope Ian has snapped out of whatever funk he was in, for the sake of future audiences.

As per usual, here's the setlist and some blurry iPhone pics:

Marlboro Man
Let Me Come Home
Ruby Mae
White Limousine
Helen Fry
Ponzi
Got What I Need
Fire At the Pageant
Lou the Welterweight
Whiskey In My Whiskey
Dance Hall (Christmas on vocals?)
Katie Dear
Take this Bread
Better Be (Farley on vocals)
Run Chicken Run

E:
Frankie's Gun

Visit the blog for pictures and more.

Marlboro Man from Greenville SC

2010-11-12T02:53:00.001-08:00

LINK

The Felice Brothers make Dig City Music's top Concerts of 2010

2010-11-12T02:49:00.000-08:00

DigCity Music's (LINK)
Top 11 Concerts of 2010
1. Jay-Z - Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival - June 12, 2010 - Manchester, TN
2. Janelle Monae - Voodoo Experience - October 31, 2010 - New Orleans, LA
3. My Morning Jacket - Voodoo Experience - October 31, 2010 - New Orleans, LA
4. Yeasayer - House of Blues - October 9, 2010 - New Orleans, LA
5. Galactic - Tipitina's Uptown - October 29, 2010 - New Orleans, LA
6. LCD Soundsystem - Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival - June 11, 2010 - Manchester, TN
7. The Flaming Lips performing Dark Side of the Moon - Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival - June 11, 2010 - Manchester, TN
8. Futurebirds - Gnat's Landing - July 4, 2010 - St. Simons Island, GA
9. Muse - Voodoo Experience - October 29, 2010 - New Orleans, LA
T-10. Galactic - Tipitina's Uptown - February 13, 2010 - New Orleans, LA
T-10. Felice Brothers - One Eyed Jack's - November 10, 2010 - New Orleans, LA

James Felice Interview from Mountain Stage

2010-11-11T15:02:00.000-08:00

link

Dallas Observer Praises The Felice Brothers compare Ian Felice to Edgar Allen Poe

2010-11-10T15:15:00.000-08:00

At once vaudevillian and also contemporarily raw, New York's Felice Brothers have been perhaps the key cog in the recent surge of indie roots rock. Their varied sound, featuring horns, ragtime piano and fiddle (among other distinctive noisemakers), lends the group a sincere diversity that even folk-intensive indie acts, such as early Avett Brothers or even Old Crow Medicine Show, have lacked. Listen to the band's proficient output of albums, specifically 2008's Felice Brothers and 2009's Yonder Is the Clock, and it's clear that "indie" isn't only for keyboard-toting husband-and-wife duos any longer.

While their signature song "Frankie's Gun" lit up bloggers' keyboards and many a television show soundtrack, the buzz surrounding this band was already quite loud. And it had to be: The accordion- and washboard-employing collective began playing not in coffeehouses and pubs, but in the trashy, noisy subway stations of New York City.

Plus, the gothic moan of lead singer Ian Felice couldn't be more appropriate for the band's Appalachian-style romps. Actually, Felice's voice would be suitable for the reader of an audio version of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado," given how his ragged tone envelops tales of murder and love gone psycho in an alarmingly fitting fashion.
Link

Stepdad Lyrics

2010-11-09T10:14:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Johnny!

oh somewhere below
these hollywood hills
past the lawyers,the chauffeurs, the tycoons will

somewhere beyond
the mason dixon line
past southern belles, mr. mctell, that old cherry wine

i know he's
somewhere out there
tonight
oh this reverend ain't right
mama put your foot on the gas
stepdad's in a black ski mask
oh my god we've been had
your stepdad
is
bad

oh down in grand central
i can here 'em croon
saddle up the grey and all those old fiddle tunes

down in graceland
i can hear his feet pound
like locusts, a plague, or god comin' down

i know he's
somewhere out there
tonight
oh you reverend ain't right
mama put your hands on the gas
stepdad's in a black ski mask
oh my god we've been had
stepdad
is
bad

Culture Rover takes a look at "Frankie's Gun"

2010-11-09T07:34:00.000-08:00

nostalgia twice-removed makes something new? the felice brothers, “frankie’s gun.”

The Felice Brothers.

Culture Rover

The Felice Brothers make music of twice-removed nostalgia, sounding like The Band of the 1970s singing about the vanishing America of the 1920s and 30s.

The group channels the best of The Band at every turn: the accordion flourish that starts “Frankie’s Gun”; the thudding drum sound; Ian Felice’s Dankoesque herky-jerky vocal stylings; the wondrous harmony singing; the barroom chug, somewhere between a lilt and a stomp. The group is even from the Catskills, for godsakes! It’s as if the Felice Brothers just wandered out of a Big Pink Basement Tapes session.

But don’t let the obvious comparisons fool you. Nostalgia twice-displaced is, in its way, something brand new.

Sounding something like The Band on Cahoots, the 1971 album that most found Robbie Robertson getting his Martin Scorsese retro-cinema stylings on, “Frankie’s Gun” is the story of a gangster accidentally shot by his buddy’s bullets after making a pickup in Chicago (“I could have sworn the box said Hollywood blanks”). One thinks of the budding buddy-movie relationship between Al Capone (Stephen Graham) and Jimmy Darmody (Michael Pitt) on the new HBO retro-gangster series Boardwalk Empire (see upcoming CR post)—though the Felice Brothers song preceded that show.

There’s a kind of absurdist joy in “Frankie’s Gun,” punctuated by Ian Felice’s final yodel to end the track. The song celebrates stupidity and violence coupled together in the service of a simultaneous loyalty to traditional family ties (“I saw a man hit my mom one time, really / I hurt him so damn bad I had to hide in Jersey”) and a shout of individual liberation from the constraints of society. Gangsta roots-rock.

It’s easy, of course, to compare the Felice Brothers to The Band, but this masks something else about the similarities between the groups. Like the best songs written by The Band, “Frankie’s Gun” is an extraordinary work of storytelling in song-lyric form. It is literary without wearing its sophistication on its sleeve. In fact, the sophistication is to be found precisely in the group’s hellbent pursuit of a rickety kind of road-worn beauty.

There’s great songwriting here, as on many compositions by the Felice Brothers. “Frankie’s Gun” is chock full of strange details that thicken the story. To wit: “I think I know the bloody way by now, Frankie / Turn the goddamn radio down, thank you / Pull over / Count the money / but don’t count the thirty in the glove box, buddy / That’s for to buy Lucille some clothes.” Or: “Work zones / Double fines / Don’t pass the double lines / Trail of McDonald’s, rest stop, trailer double wide.” Or: “Slip make a fender shine / Frankie you’re a friend of mine / Got me off a bender after long legged Brenda died.”

A kind of short-story quality develops in the tale of “Frankie’s Gun”: think modernist noir in the Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett mode.

And something else happens too. Full of Basement Tapes-worthy characters such as gangsters, prostitutes, washed-up boxers, and other misfits from some black-and-white movie screen or 1920s Paramount Records blues recording (themselves often nostalgia tracks already, recapitulating previous lost histories of America), the songs of the Felice Brothers keep leaping into the present. Stories become allegorical, half remote details and figures of speech from the past, and half contemporary references.

A gangster whose “car goes / Chicago / for to pick up some cargo” could be a character from some old picture show, or, in the blink of an eye, a protagonist from Cahoots, or, blink once more, a figure in a Scorsese film from the 70s, or, blink one last time, a band on a hardscrabble tour from one joint to the next, like the Felice Brothers following The Band following the Rabbit’s Foot Minstrels down some lost highway that you want to follow even though you feel like you’re lost.

Worst Song Evah?

2010-11-09T01:47:00.000-08:00

It seems nearly impossible that a band can put out such a clearly kickass song like "Eye of the Tiger" for Rocky 3 and then put out this steaming pile of gay shit. The lyrics are precious, each line a cornier cliche than the next. And yes Eye of the Tiger was a kick ass song (despite being in the gayest Rocky movie, evidence is at the below training scene when Rocky finally defeats Apollo Creed in a race on the beach ensuing in the gayest moment in cinematic history not involving Nathan Lane.) The really funny part in the water starts at about the 3:00 mark

High On You lyrics

There you stood, that'll teach ya
To look so good and feel so right
Let me tell you 'bout the girl I met last night
It's understood, I had to reach ya
I let the wheel of fortune spin
I touched your hand before the crowd
Started crushin' in
Now I'm higher than a kite
I know I'm gettin' hooked on your love
Talkin' to myself, runnin' in the heat
Beggin' for your touch in the middle
Of the street and I --
*I can't stop thinking 'bout you girl
I must be living in a fantasy world
I've searched the whole world over
To find a heart so true
Such complete intoxication
I'm high on you*
Smart and coy, a little crazy
The kinda face that starts a fight
Let me tell you 'bout the girl I had last night
Piercin' eyes, like a raven
You seemed to share my secret sin
We were high before the night
Started kickin' in
Now I'm screamin' in the night
I know I'm gettin' hooked on your love
Talkin' to myself, runnin' in the heat
Beggin' for your touch in the middle
Of the street and I -

Atlanta (The Earl) setlist

2010-11-07T01:27:00.000-07:00

Greatest Show
Marlboro Man
White Limo
DanceHall
PONZI
God Damn You Jim
Run Chicken
StepDad
Wonderful Life
Fire At The Paegant
Take This Bread
Lou
Frankies Gun
Farley:Better Be
Got What I Need
Two Hands
Saint Stephens End
Whiskey

"Stepdad" from Milford CT

2010-11-06T13:20:00.001-07:00

Reader contributes setlist from Raleigh, blog and a song.

2010-11-06T06:20:00.000-07:00

Ballad of Lou,
Fire Mountain,
White Limo,
Marlboro Man,
Let me come home,
Royal Hawaiian Hotel,
Dance Hall,
Run Chicken,
Her eyes dart round
Stepdad,
river jordan,
Ruby Mae,
Got what I need,
Farley song,
St. Stephens end,
Encore:
Frankie Gun
He has a blog check it out below
Link

And has contributed a nice cover version of "Wonderful Life"

"Got What I Need" from Boston

2010-11-05T13:10:00.000-07:00

"Got What I Need" Lyrics

drink some coloured drink
fall in love and run
lost my shoes i think
so my runnings done
y'say the world i see
will get the best of me
but I got what i need

had a girl one time
but she upped and left me
sometimes i wonder why
guess she didn't like me
y'say the world of love
will get the best of us
but I got what i need

against an old oak tree
a river by my side
ain't got no money
sleep in my car at night
but i don't mind
no it don't bother me
cause i got what i need

The Felice Brothers to be featured on HBO's "Eastbound and Down" Sunday night

2010-11-05T12:33:00.000-07:00

Frankie's Gun to be included in the Season Finale episode of the hilarious HBO series based on the life of ex Major League pitcher, Kenny Powers. For a sample of the fine show, executive produced by comedic giants Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, I have included a youtube clip from season one.

Duke and the King from Electric Ballroom

2010-11-05T12:25:00.000-07:00

LINK

Concert Review from Brooklyn Glutton 10-31-10

2010-11-05T12:19:00.001-07:00

TAKE THIS BREAD!

Halloween 2010 with THE FELICE BROTHERS…

New York area fans of roots-rock music had a few serious options for live shows this Halloween. The Black Crowes kicked off a 5-night residency in Times Square, playing one acoustic and one electric set each night at the awkwardly monikered “Best Buy Theater,” a designation that makes its prior corporate sponsored incarnation, “The Nokia Theater,” almost seem quaint. Notorious Halloween mischief makers, Phish, played their third and final night at Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, surprising fans with an interpretive performance of Little Feat’s 1978 double live album, “Waiting For Columbus” in its entirety. I kept it simple after a long day of extreme trick-or-treating, and opted to spend my night close to home with The Felice Brothers at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Hailing from the Catskill Mountains of Upstate, NY these rural rockers play southern flavored Yankee anthems that tell tales of drunkenness, drug dealing, incarceration, desperation, and brotherly love. Lead singer and guitarist, Ian Felice leads the charge with a vocal quality that is uncannily reminiscent of Bob Dylan and a stage presence that conveys pain and discomfort at the root of his soulful delivery. Collectively, The Felice Brothers churn out true and honest Americana in the spirit of The Band, their sets often reaching the level of an all out jamboree, complete with accordion, fiddle, washboard and a full complement of horns.

Halloween brought oddity to the ordinarily motley appearance of the group, with Ian performing the entire set in an unzipped, fitted red dress, his face painted white and dark tracks painted up and down his left arm like a transvestite junkie zombie. The traveling dice thrower turned bass player known as Christmas Clapton donned a tutu for the occasion, and fiddle player and multi-instrumentalist, Greg Farley showed up as the Gorton’s Fisherman in a hooded yellow rain slicker and a Santa Claus beard. Big bearded brother, James Felice, on keys and accordion, looked particularly clean cut and in control, as he seems to have emerged as the the grownup of the bunch since last year’s departure of their drumming and singing third brother, Simone Felice, who went on to tour and record with the Avett Brothers and start the self described glam-soul-folk quartet, “The Duke and the King.”

In the video above, Ian spills his cross-dressed soul for the highly inspired “Take This Bread,” a hillbilly spiritual of sorts that speaks to the generosity of the impoverished spirit. Despite the fact that only two of the Felice’s in the current lineup are actually brothers, the show has the feeling of a family band, which is only helped by the intimacy and friendliness of the venue, a welcome relief after struggling to get comfortable in the much colder and more sprawling Terminal 5 last week.

P.S. — POST-CONCERT SNACK — CUBANA SOCIAL

A noteworthy sidebar mention should be made of the newly opened Cubana Social (70 N. 6th Street btwn. Wythe Ave & Kent Ave, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 718-782-3334) with a takeout window immediately to your right upon exiting the Music Hall. I had a perfect Cortadito (made from Intelligentsia espresso! —see earlier post, ‘Coffee Hugs’) while waiting for a sizeable savory chicken empanada to accompany me on the walk home. It was just a small taste that left me intrigued enough want to re-visit it in a more thorough capacity in the near future, and it further reinforced my strong preference for exiting a concert venue in the heart of Williamsburg rather than in the barren Westside wasteland of Terminal 5, or worse yet, Times Square or Atlantic City.

WGBT Georgetown Radio video Interview with The Felice Brothers

2010-11-02T12:37:00.000-07:00

New Video interview with the Felice Brothers! http://georgetownradio.com/video-the-felice-brothers

The Felice Brothers Interview from WGTB Georgetown Radio on Vimeo.

The "Reason YouTube was Invented"

2010-11-01T16:11:00.000-07:00

From the Pacific Gazette:

.
ForTheFirstTimeVille

....Is so that you can be listening to some disaffected, middle-aged anti-cracker's playlist of Avett Brothers and Reverend Peyton's Big Band tunes and then, bang!, outta nowhere stumble across a red hot plate of jambalysian rabble-rousing, crash-the-house-down, aural explosion that you had no idea even existed before.

Stuff like the following, from The Felice Brothers...

King Hell, I tell you....Even if Frankie won't....

'Turn the goddamn radio down!'

****

happy halloween! from Brooklyn

2010-11-01T02:13:00.000-07:00

The Duke and The King review 10-28-10 (Simon Chamberlain)

2010-10-31T14:17:00.000-07:00

Simone Felice never fails to deliver. Erstwhile drummer in the eponymous band he formed with his brothers, he now leads his own band, the Duke and the King. “Leads” is perhaps the wrong word though – I’ve seen few bands that are more democratic than D&TK. Where else would you see the singer take over on the drumkit so the bass player and drummer can sing? Or see the singer and drummer dance together while the violinist and bass player take centre stage?

D&TK, too, have taken a step beyond the kicking country sounds of the Felice Brothers. The country roots are still there, but the band incorporates soul and funk as well – most obviously when drummer Nowell Haskins takes lead on a cover of Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change is Gonna Come’.

While their records are good, it’s live that the D&TK shine. Their joy at playing together, indeed just at being alive, is obvious (earlier this year Simone came through surgery for a life-threatening heart condition, something which adds a poignant intensity to lyrics like ‘If You Ever Get Famous’ (“I say a prayer for your heart”) and the cover of the Felice Brothers’ ‘Radio Song’ (“please don’t you ever die/ever die/ever die”).

It’s a joy that the audience shares: the first time I saw D&TK was at a festival: I’d decided to check them out for a few minutes before seeing Shearwater, who were one of my ‘must-see’ artists of the festival. Five minutes into the Duke and the King’s set, my girlfriend and I turned to each other: “we’re staying here”, “yep”. This time around, the highlight is the audience participation on the traditional set-closer: Neil Young’s ‘Helpless’. As the song winds down, the audience begin singing the chorus, quietly at first, but gradually louder and louder, and Haskins improvises a call-and-response “let me hear you know”, “sing from deep down in your soul now” in reply. Truly magical.

Four people: black and white, male and female, playing soul and rock and roll and country and psychedelica with love and joy. It really doesn’t get much better than this. Every time I’ve seen The Duke and the King (this is the 4th) they’ve been magical, and every time they’ve played to a bigger crowd. Word of mouth is clearly paying off – take my advice and go see them, you won’t regret it.

Love Me Tenderly,Dance Hall and Lady Day from Pawtucket RI

2010-10-31T11:48:00.000-07:00

link

Thoughts on recent shows, new material

2010-10-30T05:09:00.000-07:00

When you see the same band so many times over a period of 4 years, the songs, the shows start to blend together, your ability to spot the exceptional, is muted, and I suppose you can lose your connection to the songs. I feared this might happen, as The Felice Brothers rolled into my area this month. The band is presenting new material for an upcoming unnamed album, for a yet to be named record label.

Sure, the band is playing a lot of older songs as well, including slightly altered versions of "Greatest Show on Earth", and "Marie".
The best part of these shows are the new songs, specifically "Fire on the Mountain", with it's catchy chorus, and great harmonies, "River Jordan" which begs to head "back to the sand", and is chopped in half by Ian's punkish wail to "Fuck the News, fuck the House of Blues, fuck my whole career",
"Ponzi" is replete with rhythmic changes, Greg Farley, bouncing all over the stage playing virtually any instrument in sight, finishing by pounding the floor Tom. "Stepdad" is a reminder of how far (Christmas) has come as a songwriter and more impressively, as a performer. "Better Be", the Greg Farley ode to his Gramps, with it's beautiful reminiscence of his last days with his elder, sounds like a hit record.
"Dance Hall" is another fantastic piece sung by Christmas, with it's catchy "ain't it good to be back again" and featuring Greg Farley and Brendan Sheehan on trumpet.
The kids in the audience are really responding to the new stuff, bouncing all about, during "Fire on the Mountain", "Ponzi" and "River Jordan"

Perhaps the finest moment of these recent shows was the return of the older song "Got What I Need", to the setlist. James Felice is a gifted performer and a very soulful singer who emotes so beautifully the lyrics of this number. Probably written at the outset of the idea of "The Felice Brothers", the song, probably semi autobiographically details the pain, dissapointment and trancendence of the burly keyboard player with a big heart. When singing this line, I felt he was in that moment years ago, living in his car, knowing there was more, but appreciating the blessings around him;

against an old oak tree
a river by my side
ain't got no money
sleep in my car at night
but i don't mind
no it don't bother me
cause i got what i need

The one disappointment I might have is that there isn't new material featuring James Felice's writing and singing present. You can't have it all.

Judging by what I hear, and how the songs have progressed over the past several months and the messianic delivery of the new material, I think The Felice Brothers best work is ahead.

New Merchandise on the way?

2010-10-30T04:31:00.001-07:00

Looks like a tote bag

Pawtucket RI 10/29 Setlist

2010-10-29T20:25:00.000-07:00

Lou the welterweight
Fire mountain
Rise and shine
RunChix
Limo
Wonderful
Whered you get the lLiquor
Got what I need
Stepdad
River Jordan
Love me tenderly
Lady day
Ponzi
Let me come ohm
Marie
Stephen's End
Dancehall
Frankie

We should have pics, video soon.

Mountain Stage Review

2010-10-29T11:53:00.000-07:00

From Muruch Music Blog link

Mountain Stage’s October 17th concert featured Adam Haworth Stephens of Two Gallants, Lost in the Trees, Mollie O’Brien and Rich Moore, Alejandro Escovedo, and The Felice Brothers. I reviewed the show for a local newspaper, so I initially didn’t intend to write about it here. But I do enjoy rambling about good music, so here’s an expanded review with more details that pesky newspaper word count wouldn’t allow me to include…
A small but very enthusiastic crowd greeted Sunday night’s Mountain Stage performers.
During the standard pre-show announcements and applause rehearsal, host Larry Groce jokingly blamed the controversial John Raese ad for his casual attire.
For the first time in the show’s history, Mountain Stage engineer Francis Fisher didn’t condemn the audience’s first attempt at cued “spontaneous applause.” He actually said it was “ok.” Groce look visibly disturbed and I know I was! Thankfully, Fisher still requested the usual second practice session and all was well with the world again.
Two Gallants singer Adam Haworth Stephens gave the show a solid start with chiming, harmonica-accented songs from his folk-rock solo debut, We Live on Cliffs. The album features members of My Morning Jacket, Blood Brothers and Vetiver.
Stephens’ voice is similar to labelmate Bright Eyes and to be honest, he sometimes sounded like he was being strangled. But that didn’t matter, because his songs and particularly his Sufjanesque arrangements were grand. He promised at the beginning of his set that he was “gonna get gradually louder as the night proceeds” and he stayed true to his word. For a lil blonde indie guy, Adam Haworth Stephens sure put on a good rock concert.
Wheeling native Mollie O’Brien dueted with Mountain Stage singer Julie Adams on a Robert Randolph tune, and Adams later joined O’Brien and her guitarist husband Rich Moore on stage for their set.
Mollie O’Brien and Rich Moore were a big hit with the locals. After twenty-seven years of marriage, the folk duo has finally released their debut studio recording, Saints & Sinners. The album includes a wide range of genres, instrumentation, and musical styles. Whether singing their own original songs or covering classics by Tom Waits, Jesse Winchester, Harry Nilsson, and George Harrison, the supercouple liven things up with splashes of jazz, blues, gospel, and cabaret.
However, it was North Carolina folk orchestra Lost in the Trees that dazzled the crowd during the first hour with their enchanting, multi-instrumental circus. Their latest release All Alone in An Empty Houseblends folk and acoustic pop melodies with lush orchestral arrangements.
Larry Groce called the band “a cast of thousands” and not since The Low Anthem have I seen so many instruments on one stage. Horns, strings, an accordion…Lost in the Trees had it all.
Singer and accordion player Emma Nadeau’s haunting wail melted beautifully with the band’s string section and drove the quiet melody of their first song up to chill-producing heights. Other songs made fuller, more rhythmic use of the entire orchestra.
Composer Ari Picker charmed the audience by temporarily abandoning the radio microphone to “connect” with them before leading them in a pretty sing-a-long. Theirs was probably my favorite set of the night, which was quiet a feat considering the rest of the lineup. I urge everyone to see Lost in the Trees live if you have the opportunity.
Texan singer-songwriter Alejandro Escovedo and his band, The Sensitive Boys, kicked off the second hour. Alejandro Escovedo is a favorite in my household and I’ve reviewed several of his albums over the years.
A legend in the folk community, he was named “Artist of the Decade” by No Depression magazine and deemed “his own genre” by Rolling Stone. He counts among his more famous fans Ryan Adams, Lucinda Williams, Willie Nelson, Calexico, director Jonathan Demme and, to Escovedo’s consternation, former president George W. Bush.
Escovedo began his musical career as a punk-rock guitarist in the 1970s and his band The Nuns once opened for The Sex Pistols. He gradually moved through rock and country during the decades that followed before experimenting with a mixture of Americana, folk, and rock in the 1990s. Embellishing thunderous rock arrangements with delicate classical instrumentation, poignantly personal lyricism, and a heartfelt vocal style, Escovedo created his own beautifully distinctive sound.
Escovedo’s magnificent set was heavy on the noise, centering on songs from his recently released tenth solo album, Street Songs of Love. “Anchor” depicts love as a weight that may hold a person down, but also prevents them from drifting away. The instrumental “Fort Worth Blue” is a tribute to musician Stephen Bruton — a longtime collaborator of Kris Kristofferson and former Mountain Stage guest. Escovedo also played two songs co-written with Chuck Prophet: “Down in the Bowery,” which was affectionately inspired by Escovedo’s angry, punk-lovin’ teenage son, and “Always a Friend” from his previous release, Real Animal.
As the unofficial headliners of the evening, The Felice Brothers provided a fantastic finale. As I said in my review of their 2008 self-titled album, their music is “full of haunting beauty, wild tales, and eerie anachronism.” Their last two albums spanned American history from The Wild West to The Great Depression.
The band played several songs from The Felice Brothers album, including “Wonderful Life,” “Saint Stephen’s End,” “Love Me Tenderly,” and “Goddamn You, Jim” – during which James Felice played the hell out of his accordion.
They also played “Run Chicken Run” from 2009’s less impressive effort Yonder Is The Clock.
The Felice Brothers’ skilled musicianship, on-stage chemistry, and lead singer Ian Felice’s gritty, Dylanesque vocals made even the most somber of their songs an enthralling live experience.

Setlist: Boston

2010-10-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

Setlist 10-28
Lou the welterweight
Fire mountain (off the hook version)
Tenderly
Rise and shine
Mistletoe
Whiskey
Limo
Chicken run
Step dad
River Jordan
Fuck the news
Take this bread
Got what I need
Ponzi
St Stephen
Goddamn u Jim
White limo
Greatest show
Her eyes dart around

Dance hall
Helen fry

Long Live the Duke and the King: Review from Bock The Robber

2010-10-28T12:06:00.000-07:00

Link
The second album by The Duke and the King arrives with the swagger of a band that is comfortable in its shoes and with a clear view of the road ahead. For those of us who had been following the progress of The Felice Brothers, the first album of Simone Felice’s breakaway project, “Nothing Gold can Stay”, reaffirmed the quality of Simone’s voice and his songwriting. It offered a restrained and “laid back” musical vision in striking contrast with The Brothers ramshackle country punk.

Although presented as a group venture it felt very much like a solo album. Here, on this glorious, uplifting work, The Duke and The King is a band and a truly great one. While the brothers have hitched their wagon onto the music and mythology of rural Americana, TDATK tap into the deep well of gospel and soul. Much of this influence can be attributed to the drafting into the band of Nowell Haskins and Simi Stone. Their voices and musical influences mix the country/folk of CSNY, James Taylor and Donovan(for God’s sake!) with the funky soul of The Isley Brothers and (dare I say it) The Jackson Five.

The aforementioned brothers (the Jacksons, that is) even get a name check on the Iraq war song “Shaky”. Here Simone laments the fact that the J 5 “grew up so fast” while his character is trying to escape the effects of that war through any pills or grooves that can be found. There is, as usual, a dark edge to the lyrics and at times we hear the world weary voice of a man who has recently had a close brush with death – Simone this year underwent open heart surgery. Yet, as in all Gospel music, there is hope and joy. As they sing in Right Now, “Pull back the curtains and open the blinds, And let the sun shine..”
Do yourself a big favour and treat yourself to this album, you will feel all the better for it!

Neil McCormick of Telegraph interviews Simone Felice

2010-10-27T08:36:00.000-07:00

LINK

“It was scary, man, real scary,” says Simone Felice, unbuttoning his shirt to reveal a long thin scar down the front of his chest, slicing through a faded tattoo. “I’m like the crocodile who swallowed the clock. When I’m by myself, and everything’s quiet, I can hear it ticking. My mechanical heart.” His name is pronounced Simon, by the way. The stray “e” in Simone was gifted by a grandparent, who thought it made the spelling more Italian. It’s the kind of odd detail that might pepper one of Felice’s own lyrical narratives.

One of the most striking talents in contemporary American music, Felice is a critically acclaimed 31-year-old singer-songwriter and novelist. The former drummer with roots Americana stars The Felice Brothers, he has been garnering recognition in his own right as the eloquent voice behind The Duke And The King. But he almost died on the eve of completing their latest album, Long Live (out now on Loose records).

“I had been losing energy, getting pains in my heart, trouble breathing,” says Felice, soft spoken with the hypnotic rhythm of a charismatic preacher.

“I had no insurance, but I have a cousin who’s a nurse and she spirited me into the cardiology unit. I just thought they were just going to say 'you need to eat more peas’ or something. They were listening to my heart and the doctor’s face went white. It was really bizarre. I was taken to a room where there were five doctors looking at a gigantic screen with a live picture of my heart, a sonogram, and one of them said 'there is no medical explanation why you are still alive.’”

The problem was brought on by a birth defect, which had been gradually worsening. “I was living off twelve per cent of my blood flow, that’s what they told me. I’ll never forget the moment they drugged me up and I was in the stretcher and I had to say goodbye to my mom and my dad and my lady, and they wheeled me away, and I watched the people who have been with me my whole life, the people who love me the most, and knew I might never see them again. Oh” Felice stops, and visibly shudders. “It’s really crazy. I feel different. I feel like I’ve been to the other side. I’m alive, breathing deep, taking every day like a miracle.”

Gaunt and handsome, Felice writes with a rich poeticism, recounting strange tales of hard American lives set to a musical tableau that merges the sweetness of acoustic singer-songwriting with more unlikely genres including glam, psychedelia and funk. In common with his sibling band, The Felice Brothers, there’s a strange but compelling mix of high and low culture in his work, a blend of the folky and the literary that has led to comparison with Basement Tapes era Dylan, itself recorded in the Catskills where Felice grew up. “Its the sound of those old mountains, the wind blowing, the scarecrows. We were close enough to the city that there was drugs and rock and roll, and ten minutes from Woodstock so we were in the shadow of all that wild stuff. I could ride my bicycle to the Big Pink (where The Band recorded with Dylan).”

Having published two haunting novellas, Goodbye, Amelia and Hail Mary Full Of Holes, Felice has completed his first novel, Black Jesus, to be published in the UK by To Hell Press next Spring. It is set in a fictionalised version of Palenville, the town where he grew up, the eldest of seven. “It’s a weird place, outstanding beauty and jaw dropping poverty, white trash and a public library, a trailer park next to a waterfall where Ralph Waldo Emerson used to hang out. When we were kids it was before the internet, thank God, and living in the mountains there was only a few things to do, listen to your boom box by the creek, smoke weed and read books.

There was a lot of reading, cause there was a lot of time. Long, long winters.” The Felice Brothers started out busking and slowly rose to become one of America’s leading roots bands. Simone left after four albums, because, he says, “I had all these songs in my head.” The brothers still contribute to each others recordings and live shows. The Duke And The King, however, rapidly took on another flavour, with an all-singing, multi-racial line up that has grown to include two former George Clinton collaborators and a female violinist. “I kind of get to be a bit of playwright and hear these great voices singing what’s in my head. We joke around and call it Fleetwood Black.” The band was named after characters in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. “It’s a travelling floor show, river rats setting up Shakespeare with their pants splitting open. It’s theatre. I don’t just want a bunch of dudes backing me up, I want people right beside me, inspiring me, keeping me sharp as a singer and writer. I wanna be involved in stuff that feels supernatural.” The new album is more upbeat than last year’s debut, Nothing Gold Can Stay. “I guess I felt in a better place, it’s a little more jubilant.” When Felice’s principle musical collaborator, Robert “Chicken” Burke turned up to see him at the hospital, Felice urged him back to the studio to finish work.

“This could have been my last record. I was damn sure I wanted to make it a good one.”

Pic of Pittsburgh Setlist from The Felice Brothers

2010-10-27T08:24:00.001-07:00

"Shaky" two times from Ireland for The Duke and The King

2010-10-27T08:16:00.000-07:00

with pots and pans

and Lean on Me (Bill Withers cover)

frankie's gun and take this bread from Philly

2010-10-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

link

Winning Essay for Free Golden Ticket for DC Show

2010-10-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

Below is an airtight case for why I am deserving of your ticket. But since the Felice Brothers are fairly awesome, and the accompanying demand undoubtedly pretty high, you’ve probably gotten a lot of these, so I’ll do you the favor of a condensed version, in case you don’t have time to read the whole thing. Basically, if you don’t want me to suffer a fate of extreme envy, coitus interruptus, boredom, blind masturbation, and general dejectedness, you’d be doing the right thing by hooking me up with that ticket.

Read on for more details and answers to your specific questions…

About me: I was born a poor black child…

No, not really. I’m a boring Caucasian, though I’ve passed for Peruvian, Egyptian, and even, somehow, Cambodian. I live in DC, edit a newspaper, and sometimes draw archetypal sketches while on drugs. I enjoy playing music, listening to music, feeling music, and moving to music, but I hate tasting music. (See below for more on my culinary preferences.)

I used to get a lot of free tickets to shows when I lived with the arts editor of the City Paper. Now I get my tickets through essay contests, mostly.

Why I like the Felice Brothers: Cause they enhance sexual performance

It was a dark and stormy night — dark because all nights are, and stormy because I was in Berlin, where it rained nearly every day during my two-month visit. I was in my bedroom with a girl I’d been seeing. We’d introduced each other to a fair amount of music: I’d shared a lot of alt-country with her, since the genre hasn’t really made inroads into Germany yet; she shared some crappy Europop with me, as well as the Dylan album “Planet Waves.” But I’d made the mistake of telling her that I’d recorded some songs with a few friends in their basement, and so of course she wanted to hear them. At this point, we were partially undressed, and I had some sense of the impending danger, but I went ahead and double-clicked the track at the top of the iTunes playlist with a few of our songs.

After about three seconds of listening, the disrobing resumed, and then the lovemaking commenced. It was the first time, to the best of my recollection, that I’d boned to the sound of my own voice/guitar-playing/harp-blowing/drumming. And it was very, very distracting. I tried hard to keep my mind on the task at hand, but I kept noticing mistakes we’d made and nice little guitar fills by my friend…. I could feel that I was overcompensating by wearing a look of intense (probably comical) concentration on my face. Eventually, when the music got around to Wilco’s “Via Chicago,” and everyone starting pounding his instrument at random during that weird entropy section, I lost it completely and had to give up.

BUT: I recall very clearly that the track during which I performed best was “Frankie’s Gun!” It’s attached for your listening pleasure. Please note that the recording quality is poor, and that I’m playing drums, which I do not actually play.

Why I deserve the ticket: Cause all the cool kids have ‘em

So, that track I gave you? All the other guys playing on it are going to the show. Seriously. I don’t know how I missed out. But don’t make me sit at home alone on Friday night, listening to “Adventures of the Felice Brothers Vol. 1,” masturbating in the dark, and waiting for the tears to come.

My favorite food: Spaghetti-Eis

My dad’s from Munich, and when I was a kid, we went there most summers to visit my grandparents. There was this cafe called Cafe Venezia (now closed) where my brother and I loved to hang out. Every time, we’d order Spaghetti-Eis, which translates roughly to spaghetti ice cream. They’d squeeze vanilla ice cream through a spaghetti maker and then top it with red fruit sauce and white chocolate shavings. I’d probably find it disgusting now, but back then it seemed pretty awesome.

If I could meet anyone in the world, it would be: YOU

On Friday night, ticket in hand. Pretty please with some red fruit sauce and white chocolate shavings on top?

(Taken from Washington City Paper)

Last night's setlist (Philly)

2010-10-25T13:44:00.000-07:00

Last night's show was really great. Here's the set list.

Philly Set List:

Ballad of lou
Chicken wire
White limo
Fire Mountain
Katie Dear
Marlboro Man
Where'd you get the liquor?
Run Chicken Run
Ponzi
Goddamn you Jim
Marie
Farley's Song
St. Stephens
Roll on Arte
Take this Bread
Eyes dart round
Encore:
Dance Hall
Frankie's Gun

The Duke and The King "Helpless" and Pink Floyd

2010-10-24T18:42:00.000-07:00

Since i haven't been able to score any good video out of the UK shows, (partly due to the restrictive Marxian BBC) i had to pull out this video from last month that i never posted. Yes, that's Brian Goss playing guitar, one time member of the Duke and the King band and very long time Simone Felice collaborator. Good to see him out there again. Great video again by Bruce (thanks buddy)

Beaver County Times (PA) concert review

2010-10-24T07:07:00.000-07:00

Felice Brothers win me over
By: Scott Tady, Times Entertainment Editor Beaver County Times
Sunday October 24, 2010 12:01 AM

I will preface this review by noting that a few fans told me this was one of the worst shows the band ever played -digger

Before his lecture five months ago in Midland, I asked London music critic Neil McCormick to pick his five favorite concerts ever.

McCormick, of The Daily Telegraph, chose a couple of U2 shows, a 1978 concert by Elvis Costello & the Attractions, and a 1996 outdoor gig by Oasis that turned into a 200,000-person sing-along.

No surprises there.

But I was caught off guard by McCormick’s fifth pick, the Felice Brothers.

Really, the Felice Brothers?

You mean that 4-year-old alt-country band from upstate New York that began its career busking in the New York subway?

I own the Felice Brothers’ 2009 album, “Yonder is the Clock,” and deem it good but not spectacular. Though, I trust McCormick, so I motored to Millvale last Monday to check out the Felice Brothers live at Mr. Small’s Theatre.

At first I wasn’t getting it. The Felice Brothers seemed like any number of mildly twangy bands providing a good-intentioned mix of old-timey music with an alternative-rock edge. But then about three songs in, the Felice Brothers hit their stride, or at least won me over, with a series of songs where shifting dynamics built to a tumultuous and tantalizing climax of fiddle, drums, accordion, bass and guitar.

The results were foot-tapping and almost breathtaking. Singer-guitarist Ian Felice displayed a vintage Dylan-esque charm, while his mates, including brother James Felice on accordion and organ, must have listened to every record by The Band.

The two Felice siblings, along with fiddle player Greg Farley and singularly named bassist Christmas, stood four abreast on stage, evenly flanked with drummer David Turbeville. I liked that look, with the drummer seated sideways at a front corner of the stage eye-level with his bandmates, rather than behind them on a riser.

The Felice Brothers didn’t gab much, though they picked a few choice moments for interactive dialogue with fans, notably when a beer-guzzling wag in the back of the crowd shouted out that the band’s hometown team, the New York Yankees, were losing.

“How are the Pirates doing?” fired back James Felice with impeccable timing and a trace of a smile to soften the blow.

One of my top-five concerts ever?

Not even close.

But the Felice Brothers might sneak into the top half of my Top-10 concerts of 2010.

I’ve got them penciled in at No. 5, in a tie with the Low Anthem.

Link

The Guardian interview with Simone Felice

2010-10-24T05:54:00.000-07:00

Simone Felice: 'Soul music is something you put your heart into'
Link
Phil Hogan
The Observer Features Sun 24 Oct 2010 00:05 BST
The frontman for the Duke and the King tells Phil Hogan about kidnapped violinists, Indian spirits – and heart surgery

Simone Felice – former drummer with rough-assed mountain men the Felice Brothers and now fronting his own four-piece, the Duke and the King – has a lot to be thankful for. Last summer he had the critics drooling over the group's debut album, Nothing Gold Can Stay, a collection of soul-tinged folky anthems thrumming with heartfelt angst. Now, he's pushing on with a second, Long Live the Duke and the King, which has repeated the process.
We meet at the Observer's local, sitting out on the breezy canal bank in deference to Felice's love for the great outdoors, though King's Cross is hardly the Catskills, where he was raised – a bike ride, he says from "Big Pink", the house near Woodstock, where Bob Dylan and the Band made The Basement Tapes.
"So do you like the new record?" he asks. I tell him I like it more than the first and in fact have just been humming one of the songs in the lift – "Hudson River", a lovely bit of loping r'n'b that reminds me of Sam Cooke. "That's one of my favourites," he says.
Felice is rockstar skinny with a bandanna and the sort of gravelly voice one associates with nights on the razz. He tells me about the band – drummer and singer Nowell Haskins, who used to play with Funkadelic/Parliament, as his father did before him; then there's fiddler and singer Simi Stone, an old friend whom the pair tracked down working as a waitress in New York City. "We just heard her play the violin and said, 'Get in the van!' We went and told the restaurant boss: 'She's not coming back – just give us the money you owe her.' It was about 75 bucks."
The fourth member is Felice's co-writer and longtime buddy Robert Burke, also known as Bobby Bird. "Everybody calls him Bird," says Felice. "Or Chicken. He's got a whole bunch of names. Like the devil has." Bird works out the quartet's honeyed harmonies and rootsy vocal interpolations. "He's the tsar of that – I'm more of a tsar of the poetry."
I suggest the new album is more adventurous than the first – the same kind of songs about love, death and ruined promise, but with a broader sound palette. It seems more opened up. "Yes, well the first record – that was just Bird and I. We didn't know anyone would even hear it let alone give it such praise. We didn't expect to be touring with it. So we had to put a band together, find the right people. This new album is a celebration of that."
And how would he describe this music? "I think of it as soul. The people in this group have a love affair with soul music and 60s and 70s radio. We grew up listening to Sly and the Family Stone. I know I'm never going to sing like Otis Redding, but when I think of soul music I think of something you put your whole heart into. You have to believe in it, no matter what. I was born the year after the Vietnam war ended and my music was my father's music. We all loved that Vietnam music – Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Jackson Browne, Jimi Hendrix."
I ask why he made the break with his band of brothers (they're still going strong without him). Had he been frustrated, sitting behind a drum kit? Did he want to try his luck at crowd-surfing?
"I was writing a lot of songs and I wanted to do something new. It's such a treat with this group because I get to be part of a singing band, a sort of travelling carnival." He loves the theatre of it. He says the group is named after the two con artists in Huckleberry Finn, drifting down the Mississippi, setting up stage shows and getting run out of town.
Musically, it's a far cry from the raggedy glee of the Felice Brothers (sample track: "Whiskey in My Whiskey"). Is he perhaps mellowing? "I'm getting a little older – I'm the oldest brother and oldest of seven kids! But we're two different groups. You don't want to make the same thing again."
It's all going remarkably well, though it might have turned out less so. Three months ago Felice was taken into hospital complaining of breathing difficulties. "The doctors were flabbergasted," he says. "They looked at my heart on a big screen, and said: 'There's no medical explanation why you're still alive. If you don't have surgery tomorrow, you're going to die.' They cut me all the way down the middle and put a new valve in."
He unbuttons his shirt (he has an alarming scar) and has me put my ear to his chest. Sure enough it's like a clock ticking away in there. Like the crocodile in Peter Pan, I say.
I ask whether he feels lucky or cursed. "Well I feel better," he grins. "It was my main valve that wasn't working and I was living off only 12% of my blood flow. So now I feel alive. But I also feel blessed. Everybody should have a near-death experience."
I ask to what extent open-heart surgery interferes with a man's rock'n'roll lifestyle. "For me, not at all. I was a drug dealer from the age of 15 to 23. When I stopped that I stopped drinking as well. I don't smoke. I drink carrot juice and ginger tea. I wake up at 6.30 and walk in the woods. I eat roots and berries in the forest. I pray to the great spirit – like the Comanches." He raises his cup in salute. "I'm the squarest rock'n'roller you'll ever meet."
Maybe he has that to be thankful for too, I say. "For sure," he says.

Two New Live Tracks available for Good Cause

2010-10-23T17:33:00.001-07:00

LINK TO WDST RADIO WOODSTOCK'S PINK OCTOBER CD

PONZI and FIRE MOUNTAIN from York

2010-10-23T17:11:00.000-07:00

Great Video of The Duke and The King in studio performance of O' Gloria

2010-10-23T17:09:00.001-07:00

The Guardian has posted

A stunning performance, in Hi-def, and is from the Guardian's "How we wrote this song" series.

The Duke and the King From Dublin

2010-10-23T17:00:00.000-07:00

Low lit but still good LINK

Cypress Grove from Pittsburgh

2010-10-23T16:44:00.000-07:00

Cypress Grove is a Skip James song they have been playing for a little over a year.

Pics and video by LaraLaurent post over at Frankiesgun hopefully she sends me her Flickr link so we can see her pics

Washington DC Rock and Roll Hotel 10-22-10

2010-10-23T07:42:00.000-07:00

DC Set List

Murder By Mistletoe
Fire Mountain
Let Me Come Home
Stepdad
River Jordan
Greatest Show
Ruby Mae
Whiskey
Ponzi
Take This Bread
Run Chicken Run
Wonderful Life
Frankie's Gun
St. Stephen's End
Marie
Goddamn You Jim
Encore:
Dance Hall
Helen Fry

Dance Hall (New Song)

2010-10-22T10:45:00.000-07:00

Better Be: on next album?

2010-10-22T10:39:00.000-07:00

New Song: The Best I Ever Had

2010-10-22T10:31:00.000-07:00

Morgantown WV

2010-10-22T10:03:00.001-07:00

Morgantown WV 10-19-2010

Fire mountain
Marlboro man
Let me come home
Greatest show
Stepdad
River Jordan
Whiskey
Bread
White limo
Ballad of lou
Farley's song
Ponzi
Best I Ever Had
Run chicken run
Frankie's gun
Helen fry

York PA 10/21

2010-10-22T09:21:00.000-07:00

Setlist: 10/21
Check out Sue's photo's

Blue eyed Jane
Fire on Mountain
Let Come home
Ruby Mae
Stepdad
Ponzi
Whiskey
Limo
Run
Best I Ever Had
Wonderful Life
Frankie
Greatest Show
Marie
Farley Better Be
Take This Bread
Eyes Dart Around
Dance hall
Cypress grove

Shame on a Nigga-The Felice Brothers (Archive)

2010-10-20T14:11:00.001-07:00

one of my favorites from the past was the old "Glory Glory" version they would play.

it takes off when Simone starts into Shame on a Nigga (Wu Tang Clan) a little more than halfway in.

The Felice Brothers from Mountain Stage

2010-10-20T05:37:00.000-07:00

Link to photo gallery at No Depresssion

2010-10-19T15:10:00.000-07:00

. . "The worst thing is when a band acts like they're doing the crowd a favor. It's a community thing. It's not just a band it's the people in the audience that are enjoying it. It's give and take. If we're playing in front of a dull audience, we're not going to play as well." James Felice

"Wonderful Life" with Conor Oberst on vocals

2010-10-19T14:31:00.001-07:00

Check it out

No Easy Way Out (The Duke and The King) from BBC "Loose Ends"

2010-10-19T11:49:00.000-07:00

Live in Studio. They come on at about the 31 minute mark.

link

Nightmares for a Week

2010-10-19T10:33:00.000-07:00

If you like The Gaslight Anthem, The Replacements, Springsteen, ect then you might like this trio from the same Hudson River Valley as the Felice Brothers. Im pretty sure James Felice is playing on their first full length album due out in December on Academy Fight Song Records

check them out on myspace music

Devil is Real from Freehold, NJ

2010-10-18T12:16:00.000-07:00

LINK

The Duke and The King kick off Tour!

2010-10-18T01:31:00.000-07:00

Link

They didn't play Milwaukee but they got a great piece in The Express

2010-10-16T10:38:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, October 13,2010
The Felice Brothers: Restless Spirits and Rustic Stories
By Joshua Miller

With a sound steeped in tradition, songwriting that’s earned them comparisons to Woody Guthrie and a young Bruce Springsteen, and a combination of perseverance and gutsy determination, New York’s tightknit back-porch Americana/folk rock troubadours The Felice Brothers have gone from playing family barbecues in their Catskill Mountains-based hometown to headlining their own tours and playing major music festivals around the world.

Formed in 2006, the band is made up of brothers Ian and James Felice (and until last year their brother Simone), their friend Christmas Clapton (previously a traveling dice player), fiddle player Greg Farley and drummer Dave Turbeville. The music they create is an extension of the rugged and adventurous lives they’ve traveled.

Many of their adventures have taken place on the road. Driving one night between shows, for instance, the pin that secured the trailer they were pulling behind their Winnebago RV popped off, causing the trailer to fly wildly around. It was raining as the band addressed the problem, and water began to leak through the roof of the RV. With no spare pin for the trailer and rain puddling around them, the band improvised.

“The pin on the trailer came off, so we didn’t have a way of keeping the trailer on,” James Felice recalls. “So we dug into the drum stuff and broke in half one of the pins and duct-taped it. We drove all night, the rest of the way to the show, and then we rocked.”

The band faced a similar dilemma at the 2008 Newport Folk Festival when a downpour cut the power to their stage. Instead of calling it quits, the band jumped off the stage into the mud to play more than an hour of acoustic, mud-stomping versions of their songs.

“No matter what the odds are, we’re going to find a way to overcome it and do what we want to do,” Felice says. “Even being the underdogs hasn’t held us back.”

While not all related by blood, their bond as a band is tight from years of playing together and countless hours of hanging out and making friendly bets on dice.

“We’re like a real family because we all grew up together and are all friends,” Felice says. “It’s for real; we’re like the only friends we’ve got. We really love each other.”

The band is almost always writing songs, drawing on a wide range of musical influences like classical music, American folk, blues and rock ’n’ roll. Felice says that his brother Ian, the band’s primary songwriter, has an iron determination.

“He’ll sit in a room for like three months and fucking write like 50 songs,” Felice says. “He’s extremely dedicated. The amount of hard work and hours he puts into those songs is incredible.”

There’s no plan for a layoff, with the band wrapping up their next album and looking for a label to release it. Similar to 2008, when they chose to record an album in a studio built from the remains of an abandoned chicken coop, the band picked a rustic recording location in tune with their sound: an auditorium in an abandoned high school in New York.

In the meantime, the band is enjoying being on the road, where every destination contains potential fodder for songs.

“We’re blessed to be able to take advantage of traveling all over the country and see all the beauty that America has to offer,” Felice says. “A typical day is us taking advantage of wherever we are and having a good time.”

The Felice Brothers play the Turner Hall Ballroom at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 14, with opener Adam Haworth Stephens (of Two Gallants).

The Duke and The King (sans the Duke) playing acoustic Hudson River

2010-10-16T10:01:00.001-07:00

Today at Rough Trade East in London.

LINK

Telegraph's Neil McCormack on "Long Live The Duke and The King"

2010-10-15T13:38:00.000-07:00

The Duke & The King: Long Live: Simone Felice is my favourite contemporary songwriter. On a more upbeat follow up to last year’s classic Nothing Gold Can Stay, he sets strange tales of hard American lives set to a musical tableau that merges the sweetness of acoustic singer-songwriting with more unlikely genres including glam, psychedelia and funk.

Link

Burton Mail on The Duke and The King

2010-10-15T13:14:00.000-07:00

Published: 15/10/2010 08:00
Beating adversity brings new lease of musical life
by JAMES BRINDLE
FEW people are feeling as lucky to be walking the planet right now as The Duke and The King frontman Simone Felice.
The Duke and the KingIn the last days of mixing their new album, the fittingly titled Long Live The Duke and The King, Felice (The Duke in the name) discovered he must undergo emergency heart surgery to correct the slow degeneration of his aorta brought on by a mystery childhood illness.
Unbeknown to Felice, the problem had meant that his body had been fuelled by just an eighth of the blood and oxygen supply needed to survive.
Having opted for an examination on little more than a hunch that something was wrong, Felice was told that without immediate treatment it was unlikely he’d have survived another year.
When the Mail spoke to the exuberant frontman and his bandmates as they rehearsed in their own studio/shack in the woods of Bearsville, New York, ahead of their forthcoming UK tour, I asked if he had changed his outlook on life as a result.
“Oh my God, absolutely so much”, he said. “I feel that every day is a gift and I’m just trying to dance a jig every day and seize the day — Carpe Diem.”
Happily, Felice is now on the road to recovery, his creativity freshly inspired by his improving health.
“I feel amazing right now — I feel 10 years younger. Music is my life and my medicine”, he said.
Felice’s health scare has not been the only drama to hit the group in recent times, with fellow band member Nowell ‘The Deacon’ Haskins escaping a road smash unscathed.
“It seems the forces of darkness are always around”, he said.
This autumn sees the band embark on a sizable UK and European tour and after all the trials and tribulations of making the new album the band clearly can’t wait to get out and play the tracks to a live audience.
“I’m really looking forward to it”, Felice said. “It’s going to be amazing to come and sing these new songs as we’ve not had chance to do them live yet.
“We are now rehearsing the songs up here in our shack in the mountains and can’t wait to come over there.
“The UK is honestly one of my favourite places. I love the landscape and I love driving round the countryside. And people love the music and some of my favourite music comes from there, like The Beatles and Pink Floyd.”
Simi Stone, who adds sultry female vocals and virtuoso violin skills to The Duke and The King mix, agreed that the UK was a favourite destination to tour.
“I love touring the UK — I absolutely adore it”, she said. “I think it’s a combination of everything. London is an amazing old city and I think the audiences are particularly open and we feel we really connect with the audiences there. It is a real shared experience.
“The live versions of these new songsare like their own entities and we have really taken our time over rehearsing and getting it right. They are songs that really want to be played live.”
Haskins added: “I’m super-excited about getting to the UK. We’ve always been welcomed with open arms there which makes it so much easier.”
The Duke and The King’s debut album Nothing Gold Can Stay was one of 2009’s most acclaimed albums, with its heady mix of rootsy folk-rock and vintage soul earning comparisons with artists ranging from Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young to Sly and The Family Stone.
They were quickly back into the studio to record the similarly well-received follow-up Long Live The Duke and The King.
“The songs were there and the energy was there to do it. It made sense to get it out there”, Stone said, explaining why they decided to quickly launch into album number two.
“We wanted a record that put the whole band on it. It all happened naturally. The recording process was amazing. Bobbie (Bobbie Bird Burke, ‘The King’) was doing his magic in the cabin and was really hard at work. He is like a little wizard.
“I’m really proud of the new album. With what happened to Simone everything on the album is taking on a new meaning.”
Haskins said: “I’m ecstatic about the record from a personal note. It has been so inspiring. You have a lot of music inside you and when you hear it come back so beautiful it’s incredible. It gives you a real high.
“Just to be on the radar and having people calling us good is just monumental for me.”
With such critical acclaim for their debut album it would be easy for The Duke and The King to feel the pressure for the follow-up, but with such a quick turnover between albums that wasn’t a problem.
Stone said: “I don’t think that was an issue. It did not seem like there was pressure. We did justice to all the ideas we had and put our best foot forward. It was a natural evolution.”
The sound of The Duke and The King is clearly influenced by the soul and funk musical icons of the sixties and seventies and critics are quick to point out the similarities to those greats.
Sam Cooke’s influence is particularly present on one of the highlights on the new album, Hudson River, and Stone said the band didn’t shy away from their influences.
She said: “I think we are all pretty much influenced by all the greats still. I listen to Zeppelin, Neil Young and artists like that.
“It’s pretty mindblowing to be spoken about in the same breath with people like that to tell the truth. We are just doing what we know how to do.
“To be put in the same category as our heroes is amazing. But it is no surprise as Simone and Bird are so talented — I have learned so much and I am in awe of them.”
Long Live The Duke and The King is out now. The band perform at the new Nottingham Glee Club on Sunday
Music news and local gig reviews, brought to you by Burton Mail. Find out about the latest music industry news and what is happening in the UK music scene today.

BBC Radio 4's Loose Ends will Feature The Duke and The King tommorrow

2010-10-15T09:44:00.000-07:00

Clive Anderson and guests with an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy.
Clive is joined by the Man Booker Winner Howard Jacobson, who fresh from winning the prize with his novel The Finkler Question, delves into our own prudery in art for Channel 4's Genius of Art series on Sunday night.
BBC Radio 2 Breakfast and One Show host Chris Evans talks about being a 'Fruitcake' in the second part of his memoirs.
The man who has been described as the greatest stage actor of his generation, Simon Russell Beale, talks to Clive about the death trap he's in at the moment.
Tim Willis gossips to Jo Bunting about Fleet Street's legendary diarist, Nigel Dempster and the comedian Adam Hills Messes Around in the studio.
Amit Chaudhuri is another award winning novelist but has a parallel career as a classical singer of traditional Hindustani music blending raga, jazz, rock and blues. He performs with his band from his new album.
And New Yorker's The Duke & The King bring some rock, folk and vintage soul to the Loose Ends studio.
Producer: Cathie Mahoney.

The Duke and The King tour starts tommorrow!

2010-10-15T06:32:00.001-07:00

The tour begins tommorrow with the show at Rough Trade East (which is free!)

to warm up we give you some "Summer Morning Rain from their last tour of the UK

link

Videos from the Waiting Room in Omaha

2010-10-15T03:05:00.000-07:00

link to YOUTUBE

Tonight's Show Cancelled!!

2010-10-14T10:51:00.000-07:00

The Felice Brothers show in Milwaukee this evening has been cancelled due to illness. Recent reports indicated that at least Ian Felice had been feeling ill recently.

Live Review From the Larimer Lounge in Denver

2010-10-14T09:33:00.000-07:00

Live review: The Felice Brothers @ the Larimer Lounge
By allen klosowski | October 12th, 2010 | View Comments

Link to story on Heyreverb.com

The Felice Brothers kicked off their Sunday night set with a mix of accordion, guitar, and fiddle-infused sound, which really must be heard to be understood completely. It’s a mixture of instruments that in any other hands would be light and cheerful, but under the band’s direction comes off delightfully driving and dark. They are the sort of band that you can envision playing on the front porch, drinking moonshine, and celebrating a friend’s release from the nearest lockup. It all comes together for great effect, the sound is intimate and familiar, immediately approachable, and immensely enjoyable in a small venue like the Larimer Lounge.

Standout songs included rousing versions of “Murder By Mistletoe” and “Let Me Come Home” that had the crowd bouncing around and sloppily spilling their PBRs. If there was a drawback to the night, it appeared Ian Felice was suffering from a cold, and Greg Farley’s fiddle went haywire in the fourth song and ultimately never quite got the showing it deserved.

Pittsburgh City Paper Spotlights The Felice Brothers

2010-10-14T05:03:00.000-07:00

The Band had Big Pink. The Felice Brothers had ... well, the Felice household, where the three future bandleaders grew up. Both homes sit in upstate New York. Coincidence? Of course. But forget the similar region of origin -- the real similarities lie in the feel of the music.
Over the last few years, The Felice Brothers have proved themselves rightful heirs of The Band's musical tradition: roots rock that begs to be enjoyed with loud friends and clinking glasses always half-full.

Brothers Ian, James and Simone Felice grew up poor in the Hudson River Valley, the sons of a carpenter. After playing at family cookouts for years, the brothers began busking in New York City subway stations. Adding longtime friend Christmas (who has since adopted the Felice surname), they recorded Through These Reins and Gone in 2006, and soon landed tours with like-minded acts such as Bright Eyes and Deer Tick.

Though the band's been called roots-rock revivalists, Felice Brothers songs don't actively reach back for influence. Barroom sing-alongs never go out of style, and theirs sound timeless, resisting trends and any real genre boundaries.

"Most people would probably disagree, but I actually feel better on the road than I do at home," says Christmas Felice, via phone from San Francisco. "I could be working, you know?" The band had just played San Francisco's Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival; the 11 a.m. set was "like part of a dream," says Christmas. "I was pretty much still asleep." Maybe, but the crowd was probably wide awake.

Felice Brothers shows are notoriously riotous. And one would be hard-pressed to find a more fitting drunken chorus to shout than "I put some whiskey in my whiskey, I put some heartache in my heart. I put my boots on that ol' dance floor, I put three rounds, lord, in my .44."

For the band, that party is nearly never-ending -- in October alone, there are only eight nights it won't play a show. At home, life isn't too different. Christmas lives with Ian and fiddle player Greg Farley; drummer Dave Turberville and James live nearby.

"I see all of them every day when I'm home, and every day on tour," says Christmas. "We're all each other's got. It's just one big, gigantic family."

But one Felice has gone missing from the band's musical family. Simone, the original drummer and sometime singer, split in 2009. He has since formed The Duke and the King, a band that takes the same no-bull folk-rock approach but leaves behind the grime and grit so present in The Felice Brothers' darker tunes; his music is more Crosby, Stills and Nash than The Band. Christmas says the split was almost a non-issue. "He just had to do his own thing; it wasn't that hard [to move forward]."

Just before Simone's departure, the band had created its finest work: 2009's Yonder Is the Clock. The Brothers always thrived on scrappy, lo-fi production (one album was recorded in a chicken coop), and Yonder maintained its dirty, rustic sound while sharpening the ever-present pangs of struggle, hardship and eventual redemption. The band's best qualities -- slow, beautiful, waltzing whiskey rock balanced with shit-kicking brawlers, all sung with Ian Felice's sandpaper yowl -- had come to a wonderful head.

The next Felice release, however, is "really going to surprise some people," says Christmas. "It sounds totally different."

Created over the last six months, the still-untitled album should reach fans by next year. ("We talk about the name of the record every day and fight about it," says Christmas.) For the most part, the band wrote the material in the studio instead of recording road-worn songs; the new tunes "basically came together right before our eyes," says Christmas.

"It's a totally different vibe, and not so much based on acoustic guitar. But I wouldn't call it 'rocking.'"

Christmas pauses.

"Well, sometimes it rocks. There you go. There's your headline."

Simone explains his time with The Felice Brothers

2010-10-13T07:08:00.000-07:00

From Uncut magazine:

With my brothers, I sang a handful of leads and co-wrote the lyrics with Ian on almost every song, but the proudest part of me being in that band was putting it together as a traveling circus or a traveling tent revival floor show. Being in the Felice Brothers was like being part of a circus or the crew of a pirate ship, but in the end I had to jump ship. I needed to be in a place where I could do something that was just me, and I wouldn't have to be the keeper of the pirate log, navigator of a pirate ship.

This Week's Big Events!

2010-10-12T06:18:00.000-07:00

Tonight:
The Felice Brothers @ The Waiting Room, Omaha NE
Wednesday:
The Felice Brothers @ Triple Rock Social, Minneapolis MN
Thursday:
The Felice Brothers @ Turner Hall, Milwaukee WI
Friday:
The Felice Brothers @ Empty Bottle, Chicago IL
Saturday
The Felice Brothers @ Magic Stick, Detroit MI
The Duke and The King @ Rough Trade East (Acoustic Set) free in store @ 1:30pm
London
Sunday:
The Felice Brothers @ Mountain Stage, Charleston, WV
The Duke and The King @ Cambridge UK

The Felice Brothers supported by Adam Haworth

Info @ TheFeliceBrothers.com

Or TheDukeandtheKing.tv.uk