Artist Spotlight: The Duke & The King
Simone Felice, one of the most animated stage presences i’ve ever seen, is set to release some new music in his new band The Duke and the King. There will be a limited edition four song 7″ EP out in the UK in May, one week before their London Debut. Then the full length album is set to hit shelves in July for the UK and in August for the US. The debut album, Nothing Gold can Stay is sure to be a must-have for music fans. The group’s Myspace page states the following:
These bitter-sweet songs speak of a time just out of arm’s reach. Days when kids rocked to We Are The World on a new thing called the Walkman, shooting BB guns into the sky only to see The Challenger come crashing down, tweaking bunny-ears cause boy do I want my MTV. A time when pop wasn’t a dirty word, when the golden era of 60′s and 70′s radio still sailed from the boom-box, still echoed in people’s heart.
You can read the whole text here. I’ve been a fan of the Felice brothers for close to two years now, and I will forever follow the works of Simone Felice after watching the man perform “The Devil is Real” at the 2008 Bonnaroo Music festival. The spectacle of seeing the band take 5 while Simone and brother Ian captivated a tent full of audience members for the chillingly beautiful tune was too much for me to handle. I was hooked and will support anything the man (and his brothers) do in the future.
So far the information about this new group has begun leaking out here and there. Simone, taking a break from The Felice Brothers to pursue a group where he has more of a leadership role, is baring his soul with these songs. Thankfully, his participation in the Felice Brothers band isn’t completely over, as he will join the band here and there for shows. Soon after the announcement of Simone’s partial departure, songs appeared online from the band. Simone released the news that the Duke & the King is made up of himself and friend Robert ‘Chicken’ Burke.
The band set a few tour dates (one in New York that has already sold out) to introduce the new outfit and songs, so be sure to go see them if possible. Recently they appeared on 100.1 FM WDST -- Radio Woodstock to promote the tour dates and their upcoming album. While there they talked about where the album name came from and played the first track off the record. You can watch the full video below and download an mp3 of the performance underneath that.
The Duke and the King -- Live at WDST
Download this performance in mp3 format by clicking
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Tour dates and other news can be found on their Myspace
