photos by Andrew St. Clair

John McCauley of Deer Tick made it clear at last night's free BV-presented Brooklyn show that they weren't there to protest with the protesters of Occupy Wall Street. Nothing against Occupy Wall Street, but the band more importantly wanted to to help bring attention to the police brutality that is happening to the protesters at Wall St., because everyone has a right to protest.

Everyone also has the right to rock! And Deer Tick rocked for two hours at Willliamsburg venue Death By Audio, a DIY space that the now-Webster Hall-headlining band last played about three years ago. The all ages capacity crowd started lining up at 8pm, the place filled quickly, and the band (no opener) was on around 9. Without the pressure of playing to a paying audience, Deer Tick had fun and played their hearts out. They debuted many new songs live, played a bunch of covers, and lots of classics too. The sound was excellent and loud.

John McCauley has never been afraid of sharing the mic with guest singers, but the past couple of years have also seen Deer Tick increasingly showcasing the singing abilities of other permanent members of the band as well. Most notably, guitarist Ian O'Neil takes center stage at times, but drummer Dennis Ryan also gets to showcase his voice, like he did on one crowd favorite they tested out for the first time last night, that will appear on the band's new album Divine Providence (out 10/25).

Covers included the Replacements, Foreigner, Nirvana (Deervana), The Shivers, Chuck Berry and Michael Hurley (who happens to play Union Pool tonight).

One of the live sort-of-debuts wasn't a Deer Tick song, but one that will appear on an album by yet another supergroup side project. The crowd thought for sure John was talking about Middle Brother when he started to intro the song, but it quickly became apparent that in fact there is now a supergroup #2. Diamond Rugs is its name (Damn I Am On Drugs), and its members include Ian from Black Lips (who also have a Webster Hall show coming up), Hardy from Dead Confederate, Bryan Dufresne from Six Finger Satellite (who was at the show), Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, and John & Robbie from Deer Tick. The Diamond Rugs song they played is a Christmas song, which I called a "sort-of-debut" because it has been played in front of people at least once before (video from the Hamptons below). Stay tuned for more about Diamond Rugs.

To the delight of many who were shouting out requests, Deer Tick played a hard-hitting full band version of "Christ Jesus" and closed the set with the fast and fun Ramones-esque "Let's All Go To the Bar", complete with John McCauley stage dive.

More tour dates HERE. A recent Deer Tick Landromatinee session was put online HERE. More pictures from the Brooklyn show, below...

Continue reading "Deer Tick played a free show @ Death by Audio (pics), played a Christmas song from new project Diamond Rugs"

photos by Jim Brueckner

Sallie Ford @ Newport Folk Fest

Partisan Records was repping hard in Newport over the weekend. Between the fest itself and a bunch of afterparties, there were all kinds of Deer Tick-related collaborations going on including Partisan's Mountain Man playing the fest and later joining Middle Brother on stage, and Partisan's Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside playing the fest (pics in this post) in addition to Sallie singing John Prine's "In Spite of Ourselves" with Deer Tick's John McCauley, twice - both at the fest and at an afterparty. Video of both times can be watched below.

Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside make their network television debut on Letterman tonight (8/3). They also open for Jolie Holland (like they did recently at Bowery Ballroom) in Philly tonight before continuing on tour. Deer Tick play a free show with Dom in NYC soon and other dates. All Sallie Ford dates and those videos and more pics from Newport too, below...

Continue reading "Sallie Ford covered John Prine w/ John McCauley in Newport (video, pics, Letterman tonight)"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

Misteur Valaire @ BV Day Party

Casiokids @ The Parish

Deer Tick @ Terrorbird Media Day Party

Catching up a bit. Here's what Dominick saw in Austin on Saturday, March 19, 2011....

Continue reading "SXSW 2011 Day 4 pics"

John & Ian & barrels of wine

After a rousing opening set by duo The Shivers, Deer Tick frontman John McCauley and Deer Tick guitarist Ian O'Neil (who also used to be in Titus Andronicus) took turns playing completely solo and with each other at their show at City Winery in NYC last night (1/19). In front of an over-packed house, they each used their voices and guitars as instruments, and sometimes John sat down at the piano. Speaking of sitting down, that's what most of the crowd was doing, at their tables where food, beer, and especially wine were flowing. Others were standing around the edges of the spacious venue because there weren't any seats left.

The setlist was heavy on Deer Tick classics that I was especially happy to hear stripped down, included brand new unrecorded songs (often the ones Ian sang), Middle Brother songs (including the song "Middle Brother" with assistance from special guest and audience member Jonny Corndawg who helped write the song), a Replacements cover, and a John Prine cover. They closed with a festive cover of Buddy Holly's "Oh Boy." The only dissapointment was that John had a piano at his disposal and he didn't use it to play "Christ Jesus."

The merch table had Jonny Corndawg-created Beavis & Butthead (John & Ian) airbrushed shirts for sale, and the venue was selling limited edition bottles of City Winery-made John McCauley 'petit shiraz' wine (pictures below).

One night earlier, as I hinted they might, both John and Ian showed up and played sets at the final night of Corndawg's Union Pool residency in Brooklyn.

Go catch John and Ian on tour with each other now, catch Corndawg out on tour with Dawes, and see Middle Brother when they tour with Deer Tick and Dawes in March (tickets are still on sale for both NYC shows). Everyone's dates are listed HERE.

More pictures and some videos from City Winery, and videos from Union Pool too, below...

Continue reading "John McCauley & Ian O'Neil (and Jonny Corndawg) played City Winery (and Union Pool) "

DOWNLOAD: Deer Tick - Christmas All Summer Long (MP3)

What better than a Deer Tick Christmas tune? How about two Deer Tick Christmas tunes? Grab "Christmas All Summer Long" from Deer Tick's new two track holiday EP "Holy Shit, It's Christmas!...", which is out digitally now, and get the whole EP for free with any Deer Tick purchase at PartisanRecords.com. There is no physical release at the moment, but they say anything's possible in the future.

The full set of dates of that previously-mentioned solo tour (City Winery included), which will actually be "Deer Tick's frontman, John McCauley, along with guitarist / vocalist Ian O'Neil [performing] songs from [The Black Dirt Sessions] in smaller rooms, as well as older Deer Tick songs, cover tunes and songs from McCauley's other project, Middle Brother (formerly MG&V)."Formerly MG&V? I missed that news until now.

Dates below...

Continue reading "a Deer Tick Christmas EP (MP3), updated John & Ian solo dates"

photos by Chris Gersbeck

Last night's Deer Tick show marks the 2nd time that a couple got engaged on stage at a Deer Tick show in Brooklyn. The first time it happened, it was frontman John McCauley who proposed to Nikki Darlin on stage in Prospect Park. This time, at Music Hall of Williamsburg, it was a fan. And she said yes! Pictures of the happy couple below.

Last night's show was also not the first time Titus Andronicus frontman Patrick Stickles joined Deer Tick, whose guitar player is ex-Titus member Ian O'Neil, on stage. This time it was for a cover of the Replacements' "Can't Hardly Wait".

Jason Anderson of K Records fame opened the show, which I thought was weird until I found out the connection. John McCauley has played drums for Jason, and they were both Tiger Saw collaborators! J Roddy Walston and the Business played 2nd, and all bands joined Deer Tick on the stage at the end of the show. Beer was spraying everywhere.

Things will probably be slightly less rowdy when John McCauley goes on a solo tour in 2011. Dates are TBA, but tickets are already on sale for a January 19th show at City Winery (not sure if he'll be playing any drums at this one).

More pictures from Music Hall of Williamsburg, below...

Continue reading "Deer Tick played MHOW, Patrick Stickles stopped by, people got engaged (pics) ++ John McCauley solo shows coming"

photos by Tim Griffin

MG& V @ the All House

MG&V, the new project of John McCauley (frontman of Deer Tick), Taylor Goldsmith (frontman of Dawes), and Matt Vasquez (frontman of Delta Spirit), made their debut (not counting a private performance they taped for IFC one day earlier) with a late-night set to a capacity crowd at Austin's Ale House on Friday, March 19th. Taylor's brother and bandmate Griffin played drums. Delta Spirit's Kelly Winrich played keys. Deer Tick family member Jonny Corndawg helped perform a song he also recorded and wrote with the group. As Duke Street Blog points out, "The set was filled with heartfelt Americana tunes, all featuring a healthy splash of CSN-like harmonies." Deer Tick actually played a set an hour earlier at Lucero's SXSW showcase at Red Eyed Fly (where they were joined by Nikki Darlin for a song). John ran right from show to show (as did Tim and I) (luckily we all saw Lucero earlier that same day). More pictures and a bunch of videos from both shows are below.

Their regular bands all made their fair share of appearances at SXSW this year too. Deer Tick (who played BV shows in 2009 and 2008) even had their own unofficial showcase this year at Threadgill's (with Cordawg, Those Darlins, Liz Isenberg, Chris Paddock and others on the bill). One of Dawes's shows was at the official BrooklynVegan showcase. Various videos from the week below.

Coming up, Deer Tick have a huge list of tour dates, which include shows with Those Darlins and run with Dr. Dog that makes a May 15th stop at Terminal 5.

Dawes's shows include opening for Josh Ritter at Town Hall on May 19th and a June tour with Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros.

Jonny Corndawg will play shows in April and June that include April 7th at Pianos, April 8th at Knitting Factory with Tim Barry, and June 11th with David Allan Coe. All dates below.

Last but not least, Delta Spirit have announced a run of tour dates set for June and July. They'll bring along Ezra Furman & the Harpoons and The Romany Rye for those. The three bands play Bowery Ballroom on June 30th and Music Hall of Williamsburg on July 1st. Tickets just went on sale.

Delta Spirit's new record, History From Below, is set to come out June 8th on Rounder Records.

"All we wanted to do is put the record together one song at a time," says Delta Spirit's singer/guitarist Matthew Vasquez about History From Below. "It's been three years of straight touring off our last record so most of the songs were written in hotel rooms and tested in front of an audience. We spent spent six months of this last year making a record that sums up three years of growing up."

Everything mentioned, pictures, videos & lots of tour dates, below...

Continue reading "MG&V debuted @ SXSW (pics & video), Delta Spirit releasing new album & touring (dates), Jonny Corndawg shows & more"

MG&V

Move over Monsters of Folk. Monsters of Fuck are here. Well, actually they're called MG&V which stands for McCauley, Goldsmith, and Vasquez aka John McCauley (frontman of Deer Tick), Taylor Goldsmith (frontman of Dawes), and Matt Vasquez (frontman of Delta Spirit) (we can still call them Monsters of Fuck unofficially though). This is their story:

Notoriously adverse to sitting still, John McCauley felt the urge to write and record during some of Deer Tick's recent downtime. Deer Tick chose Dawes to support a leg of their summer 2009 tour, during which McCauley and Goldsmith developed an affinity for each other's songwriting. McCauley decided that Nashville would be the perfect location to write some new songs, and invited Goldsmith to join him. As the project began to take shape, McCauley and Goldsmith decided Matt Vasquez was the man to complete their vision for the project. A few days after tape started rolling, Vasquez arrived in Nashville-never having met McCauley. The three songwriters immediately bonded and proceeded to make a timeless masterpiece. Dawes drummer Griffin Goldsmith also joined the group to contribute percussion.

And yes, all three of those bands will also be at SXSW on their own. Deer Tick has a bunch of shows and their own curated day party. Delta Spirit has a bunch of shows too, and Dawes plays the official BrooklynVegan showcase at Club DeVille on Wednesday March 17th. They go on at 8, and if you miss them, they play more shows too. All dates and flyers below...

Continue reading "MG&V = a Deer Tick, Dawes, Delta Spirit supergroup! their live debut happens @ SXSW (where all 3 bands are playing) "

DOWNLOAD: Deer Tick - Baltimore Blues No.1 (live) (MP3)

King Khan & BBQ @ Bowery Ballroom (more by Tim Griffin)

The rumor started spreading as early as 7 p.m. that Arish "King" Khan and Mark Sultan weren't going to show up for their nearly sold-out show Thursday night at Off Broadway in St. Louis.

The duo that comprises the King Khan & BBQ Show missed its early evening soundcheck and were M.I.A. and incommunicado throughout the night. Even as the eager crowd filed into the packed venue and witnessed a pair of impressive (though clearly stalling) opening acts, the chatter was that the headliners hadn't been heard from since they left Nashville--their previous tour date-- around 11 a.m. Thursday morning.

At approximately 11 p.m., local concert promoter Joey O'Farrell grabbed the mic and sheepishly delivered the news: The King Khan and BBQ would not be performing. No, he didn't know where they were or what had happened. Yes, Off Broadway was offering a full refund to anyone who wanted it.

Then Deer Tick singer John McCauley took the stage and delivered an impromptu set of classic rock and roll covers...

According to O'Farrell and Off Broadway owner Steve Pohlman, Khan and Sultan were arrested somewhere between Nashville and St. Louis. The charge is rumored to be drug possession, but neither party could offer any specifics. [St Louis Riverfront Times]

Those Darlins & BBQ & King Khan running (from the law)

King Khan & BBQ were last in NYC for two end-of-October shows. From there they hit the road and played shows along the way to Austin where they were scheduled to play Fun Fun Fun Fest on Sunday. That show didn't go as planned either. The rain that plagued the 2nd day of the outdoor festival caused the stage they were supposed to play on to get super wet (The Strange Boys who played before them mentioned the possibility of getting electrocuted while they were playing). King Khan didn't want to play on the wet stage, so the festival staff quickly dried it, but not in enough time. Instead the duo played a free show that night at the venue Red 7. I went to that, partly because they played right before forgetters (who were awesome) at the same venue (though in a different room). King Khan and BBQ was fun though I could barely hear them because I was deaf from just having seen Danzig.

@ Red 7 on 11/8: seconds earlier KK asked someone to stick their fist in this girl....

No word on whether King Khan & BBQ are actually in jail or whether they'll be at their show in Lawrence, KS tonight (11/13). Hopefully they're OK. Stay tuned. All dates below.

UPDATE (12:30pm): King Khan & BBQ definitely were in jail. They have been released, but their tour manager is still behind bars. The KS show is cancelled.

UPDATE (1:00pm): the KS show isn't completely cancelled! King Khan & BBQ just won't be there. Jessi Darlin says "we're still planning on playin' the craziest fuckin' show in hopes of lifting any KKBBQ fans spirits and keepin' this badass tour on the move. We are so proud to be playing with this band and just want to keep the tour rollin'."

UPDATE (7:00pm): Tour manager Kristin Klein has been released from jail and charged with driving with a suspended license and possession of a controlled substance, possibly mushrooms.

In related news, Deer Tick is releasing an iTunes Exclusive, four-song EP called "More Fuel For The Fire" on December 1st. The above free MP3 (which was also just released by the band) is not on it. The track list, cover art, and all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "King Khan & BBQ in jail - Deer Tick replaced them @ Those Darlins show in St Louis last night ++ releasing EP, MP3"

photos by Ryan Muir

"John Mcauley of Deer Tick just proposed to Nikki Darlin of Those Darlins on stage in Prospect Park. She said yes!" - BrooklynVegan @ 8:41 PM Aug 7th

Deer Tick played after Jones Street Station and before Grace Potter & the Nocturnals at the free Celebrate Brooklyn show in Prospect Park on Friday night (8/7).

After an attention-grabbing, intro-drum-solo by drummer Dennis Michael Ryan (complete with white Blueblockers on), the band came on stage and continued to play what can only be called a historic show, for Deer Tick anyway. Not only were we treated to a guest spot by Deer Tick regular Liz Isenberg, but out of nowhere, six songs into the set, Arkansas' Christopher Denny appeared on stage to also help sing a song. We haven't heard from Chris in a while - he's in town to record a new album, and his stand-out voice caused even the zillion people talking in the back to look up for at least a second.

Another Deer Tick highlight was the set-closing cover of "La Bamba", but that's not what made the show historic. That was the toe ring (that came along with a proposal) (that confirmed that John McCauley and Those Darlins' Nikki Darlin are officially off the market). Overall not only a great show, but lots of variety to help introduce the band to a Park Slope crowd full of distracted people who probably never heard of them before. More pictures below...

Continue reading "John McCauley & Nikki Darlin engaged + Christopher Denny & Liz Isenberg (Deer Tick's show in Prospect Park) - pics "