The Felice Brothers, who are currently touring in Europe, stopped by the The Radcliffe and Maconie Show for BBC Radio 2 on October 21st, 2009. They had a mini interview that included questions about Josh/Christmas, the name of the Yonder is the Clock album, and the band’s formation…among other things. The band played three songs during the broadcast. They include Katie Dear, Rise and Shine, and a newly written song called Endless Night. You can listen to the entire broadcast at the show’s website by clicking here.
If you want to hear just the parts with the Felice Brothers you can download them below in mp3 format. The recording was broken up into 3 sections - each section beginning with some questions, followed by a song. You can either play the mp3s here or download them (right click + save as).
Finally, after months of speculation, The Felice Brothers newest effort The Mixtape will be available starting October 12th. It can be ordered from the bands online store or purchased at live shows. This mini-album of 9 songs is astounding and beautiful work from one of the best live rock bands touring.
This album was recorded a little while ago when the band was on a break. They had a lot of new songs that they wanted to put on a CD and distribute at shows. Songs like White Limo and Old Song have a little more history then the other tracks. White Limo has been played at live shows for a few years now, and just hasn’t been recorded. Old Song is apparently a tune that Ian wrote when he was seventeen years old (hence the reason for the original tracklist of The Mixtape having it called 17). Supposedly he wrote this around the time of The Big Empty - the band that featured Ian, Simone, Robert “Chicken” Burke, and others.
Other songs showcase Ian’s talent for writing some of the most spiritual lyrics of any new music being released today. Forever Green is sung from the first person perspective, with Ian telling an anonymous female “May you stay forever green / Like the country between us / Far after our hands unfold“. One highlight for many fans will be the song called Marie which features each member of the band taking a turn on the mic. Ian, Christmas, Farley, and James all take turns singing a verse.
Personally, the song Indian Massacre is my current favorite. It is a dark and eerie number that features James on lead vocals. A lot of talk about the Devil in this brooding tale that has a guest appearance from a chorus of crickets in the background. Ian’s subtle back-up vocals also add another layer to this soulful song. Just an amazing track. Be sure to get your copy of the Mixtape.
It’s been a little while since we’ve had an update at Don’t Wake The Scarecrow. Sorry about that, i’ve been kind of busy with real life work. But I plan on having more posts and updates and downloads on the way soon.
Anyway I have a bunch of photos and videos from the Positive Jam one-day festival at Stewart Park in Ithaca NY on September 6th, 2009. Two of the must-see acts were Deer Tick and The Felice Brothers. They both had excellent sets and won the crowds over easily. An article in The Cornell sun said of the Felice Brothers:
The Felice Brothers came onto the stage like nothing we’d ever seen, wearing face paint, war paint, breaking out into these wild, cross-stage dances as if something was going to explode. They brought out the big guns: an accordion, strange looking guitars, a washboard, a rabid violinist. If you ever doubted that you were going to dance, The Felice Brothers left you no choice.
Anyway click the links below to head to the video pages for each band. Be sure to check the Felice Brothers page to view some of the newer, unreleased songs like Stepdad and River Jordan while also viewing some older material they’ve started to play again like Roll On Arte.
The Big Surprise Tour, a 9-date tour featuring 4 amazing bands, had it’s first show last night in New Hampshire. The tour includes sets from Old Crow Medicine Show, Dave Rawlings Machine, The Felice Brothers, and Justin Townes Earle and is sure to be a big party every night. CrowMedicine.com states:
The Big Surprise Tour featuring Old Crow Medicine Show, Dave Rawlings Machine (f/t Gillian Welch), The Felice Brothers and Justin Townes Earle kicks off in Hampton, NH on Tuesday, August 4. Born out of a deep running comradery built on countless tours and ties between a host of excellent musicians, each evening is sure to be a unique experience as they all put their many combined years of musicianship and knowledge of song-craft and American music into play for these performances.
Below are a list of articles about the tour and dates can be found at the bottom:
BONUS: Here’s a setlist of the Felice Brothers set from the opening Big Surprise show….with a few notes from our good friend Digger over at TakeThisBread.
The Big Surprise (all bands)
Marlboro Man
White limo
Loves me Tenderly
Goddamn you jim
Greatest show
Ahab
Lawrence County ( with Keith from ocms)
Farley Song
Run Chicken
Stephens End
Take this bread With all bands:
Like a hurricane
Helen Fry
I’ll fly away
Wagon wheel
Tell it to me
All out at first for Big Surprise
Then Townes Earle played. Friggin awesome. Highlights were Mamas Eyes and What do You Do When you’re Lonesome. Played about thirty minutes, Searcher on drums.
Felice Brothers next. Dave on drums, searcher dancing and harmonies. Tenderly was great. Take This Bread with all Bands , left crowd buzzing. Ian has never been better. You can see the future of the band with Ian freed up to display great Showmanship.(fingers crossed horn section)
Crowd was predominately ocms fans. Maybe a few dozen real Felice bros fans. Musta been couple thousand people there.
Dave Rawlings and Gillian Welch next. Very good. Lots of fans up there. Searcher again playing some drums
Highlights were I Hear Them All and Novocaine.
Ocms were next. Played a great set, highlights were Poor man and Caroline. Then all came out on stage for next bunch of songs until Searcher joined Dave R and Gillian and Ocms for a replacements cover to close the show.
He also got word of a new Felice Brothers album that was recorded and will be available at live shows. Not an official label release but it’s still a new album of songs available soon!
Thanks to our friend Ammuse, we now have a bunch of videos from The Felice Brothers performance at the Rosendale Cafe this past June. If you have any photos or videos from any live shows and want to contribute them to this page you can e-mail here or fill out the contact form. Click the image below to go to the video gallery.
After an amazing show at the Surf Lodge in Montauk NY, we’re proud to have a bunch of photos and videos to share with you all that couldn’t make it. Click here to view the photo gallery and click the image below for the videos page.
Thanks to the FrankiesGun.com forum members jumpingbean and DownHomeGirl for the photos and videos that have been added to the media sections. Both are from the 06/18/09 show at St. Louis MO and can be found by clicking the links below.
Quick update….I’ve been working hard on the graphics and getting all the photos/videos up. Anyway the first two video pages are up. They are from two concerts I attended. One is for The Felice Brothers in NYC and the other is The Wood Brothers in Bay Shore, NY. Be sure to check them out on the videos page by either clicking on the media link above or you can click the image below.
If you have any of your own videos that you’d like to see added to the video page you can e-mail me at dontwakethescarecrow@gmail.com or clicking Contact above.
Having seen The Felice Brothers two times before, I had an idea for what I was in for. The band that hails from the Catskills played a headlining show at Webster Hall in New York City on Friday, April 17th 2009. They are currently touring to support their new album Yonder is the Clock, the second on the Team Love record label and fourth album overall. It’s always a treat to see the energy and soul that the brothers bring to the stage when playing a live show.
As a friend and I arrived early, I was happy to see James Felice mingling with the crowd members. Just about every time I’ve seen the band, I’ve also seen James among the audience members before or after the show. That’s one reason to see this band live - their connection with the audience. Not only do they captivate with their lyrics and intensity, but they entertain with their comments and chemistry.
After getting a poster signed by James and purchasing the new album (on CD only….no vinyl release yet), we went to get a beer and secure a spot close to the stage. Webster Hall was a decent sized venue, with a lot of good bands that have swung through there. Apparently there are other floors and sections of the bar/club but we didn’t get to see them. We were planted in the main concert hall watching Willie Mason play a short acoustic set before The Felice Brothers took the stage.
The opener had some fine tunes, but it was clear that the growing audience was awaiting for the headliners. The band members began to slowly take the stage, one by one each playing a slow jam. Christmas, on bass came out and was joined by a different drummer than I was used to. Simone Felice, one of the brothers, usually filled that role but news of a solo project that he was going to focus a little more time and energy on created the opportunity for Jeremy Backofen to take over behind the drum kit. Jeremy, also known as “The Searcher”, produced the Felice Brothers albums and has worked with Simone on drums so he was more than a suitable replacement.
Christmas and the Searcher were then joined by James and Ian Felice, each tuning up and beginning to form the opening song. The crowd cheered when Simone then emerged from the back, banging on a big bass drum and theatrically walking around the stage. While he wouldn’t be on drums the whole night, he was here to support his brothers and everyone was more than glad for it.
They launched into “The Big Surprise”, the opening song from the new album. The video is included below:
The show that followed just kept getting better and better. They mixed in new tunes like “Cooperstown”, “Run Chicken Run”, and “Chicken Wire” and also played some of their older ballads like “Ballad of Lou the Welterweight” and “Goddamn you Jim”. The floor felt like it was going to fall out from under us because of the foot-stomping that was going on. The band played what felt like an endless encore set….mainly because after every song they would announce “We’ve got one more song to play” that drove the audience wild each time. The show ended with violin/washboard player Farley launching himself into the drumset and joining the band for a final bow.
If you haven’t seen the Felice Brothers live…do yourself a favor and buy a ticket to the closest show near you. They won’t disappoint.
More videos will be added…..photos are located in the shows section.
