INTERVIEW: John McCauley from DEER TICK

Local countrified upstarts DEER TICK will be at Jake’s Bar & Grille [373 Richmond St, Providence] on Saturday, February 9. The show starts at 9 pm; DRAG THE RIVER will play too.

In honor of the show, I wrote a little piece on DEER TICK. It goes a little something like this:

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REELIN’ & ROCKIN’

Deer Tick singer John McCauley’s lived-in, whiskey-rough rasp and weather-beaten, hard-luck anthems harken back to the old-school traditions of Nashville, a boozy world of dim lights, thick smoke, and loud, loud music. But McCauley, whose world-weary demeanor can make him seem startlingly older than his 21 years, is too smart a songwriter to settle in comfortably to the care-worn clichés of the honky-tonk: you’ll find no tears-in-beers melodrama or last-call revelations here.

Borrowing a phrase from the late, great Gram Parsons, McCauley prefers to characterize his work as “cosmic American music — a mixture of rock, country, bluegrass, blues and folk that doesn’t suck.” Echoing throughout are the influential sounds of Texan outlaws like Gram, Townes van Zandt, and Roky Erickson — storytellers and nomadic troubadours all. Acknowledging their significance, he adds, “I’m pretty crazy about Townes, Gram, and John Prine. I also love the Beatles, Roy Orbison, Paul Simon, and Buddy Holly. They were all so much themselves [that] it’s kind of weird.” Continues here…

Deer Tick Myspace | Deer Tick web | Feow! Records Bio

Deer Tick, “These Old Shoes” (written by Chris Paddock)

Deer Tick, “Baltimore Blues No. 1”

PHOTO BY AMATEUR6