THE DEAD SOUTH ANNOUNCE SUGAR & JOY, THIRD LP OUT OCTOBER 11, 2019. BULLETS IN THE HOLE: THE DEAD SOUTH ANTE UP WITH NEW VIDEO FOR FIRST SINGLE, "DIAMOND RING," BOTH OUT TODAY.
'CANADA SERVED COLD' FALL TOUR ON SALE NOW.
Watch “Diamond Ring,” directed by Two Brothers Films (Regina, SK).
A rock band without a drummer, a bluegrass band without a fiddler. To the gentlemen of The Dead South, a self-styled 4-piece string band from Regina, Saskatchewan, it’s about how, not what, you play. The Dead South’s combination of cello, mandolin, guitar and banjo has all the hallmarks of a group tuned to bygone times, but with their signature sleight of hand, The Dead South find distinctly modern bathos in this old time rigging.
Today, the band announces their third album, Sugar & Joy, coming October 11, 2019 via Six Shooter Records. In “Diamond Ring,” released today, poor William, whoever he is, done got robbed by a would-be groom trying to impress his betrothed. Money doesn’t buy love, but it does buy the ring. “Diamond Ring” comes with a new video directed by frequent collaborators, Regina’s Two Brothers Films.
In The Dead South’s world, characters do what they must, even when twisted logic leads them astray. From the opening galloping strum to the lower register cello and backing vocals, the song’s moody mania captures The Dead South’s stock-in-trade, stories of desperation and bad decisions told in fast-paced, brightly-laced bursts.
Sugar & Joy, The Dead South’s tightest, weirdest and most exciting studio work yet, is their first album written and recorded outside Regina. The album was produced by FAME Studio-trained Jimmy Nutt, a longtime member of the Muscle Shoals music scene whose recent credits include a Grammy for his work on The Steeldrivers. “They have an obvious dedication to what they are doing,” says Nutt. “They really encourage each other, which you don’t see a lot.”
A Bauhaus-via-bluegrass stomp and minor-key mandolin tremolo of “Alabama People,” which finds the universal in the hyper-regional, could not have been written anywhere else but at The Nutthouse. With equal parts empathy and fear, The Dead South have channeled their experience in the fraught, beautiful south into an outsider, observational anthem.
The ongoing question of what is, or is not, bluegrass music, occasionally froths up in The Dead South’s wake as they speed on to the next gig. Cue “Blue Trash,” a song built on a perfectly bluegrassy banjo lick about…not being a bluegrass band. “Blue Trash” is a love letter – not apologia – to the purists, for The Dead South come in peace.
Sugar & Joy will be released on October 11, 2019.
TOUR DATES:
SUMMER CRAWL 2019
EAU CLAIRE, WI: Blue Ox Music Festival, June 15
PERRANPORTH, UK: Bands in the Sands, June 21
TUNBRIDGE WELLS, UK: Black Deer Festival, June 22-23
OXFORD, UK: O2 Academy Oxford, June 25
NORTHAMPTON, UK: Roadmender, June 26
BATH, UK: Komedia Bath, June 27
GLASTONBURY, UK: Glastonbury Festival, June 29-30
CALGARY, AB: Big Rock Brewery, July 6
NORTH PLAINS, OR: Northwest String Summit, July 18- 21
JACKSONVILLE, OR: Britt Pavilion, July 21
RENO, NV: Virginia Street Brewhouse, July 22
MORRISON, CO: Red Rocks Amphitheatre, July 24 w/ Trampled By Turtles
SANTA FE, NM: Santa Fe Brewing Company, July 29
DALLAS, TX: Gas Monkey Live, July 30
TULSA, OK: Cain’s Ballroom, July 31
ST LOUIS, MO: Atomic Cowboy Pavilion, August 1
ST. CHARLES, IA: Hinterland Music Festival, August 2-4
REGINA, SK: Regina Folk Festival, Aug 9-11
CANADA SERVED COLD TOUR
VANCOUVER, BC: Commodore Ballroom, Oct 19 + 20
EDMONTON, AB: details coming soon.
CALGARY, AB: MacEwan Hall, Oct 24
SASKATOON, SK: TCU Place, Oct 25
WINNIPEG, MB: Burton Cummings Theatre, Oct 26
OTTAWA, ON: TD Place Arena, Oct 29
TORONTO, ON: The Phoenix, Oct 31
MONTREAL, QC: Telus, Nov 1
QUEBEC CITY, QC: Imperial, Nov 2
HALIFAX, NS: The Marquee, Nov 4
*NEW* USA SERVED COLD TOUR (on sale 6/28)
TEMPE, AZ: Marquee Theatre, Nov 24
LAS VEGAS, NV: House of Blues, Nov 25
SAN DIEGO, CA: House of Blues, Nov 26
LOS ANGELES, CA: The Belasco Theatre, Nov 27
SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA: The Fremont Theatre, Nov 29
SAN FRANCISCO, CA: The Fillmore, Dec 1
SACRAMENTO, CA: Ace of Spaces, Dec 2
SEATTLE, WA: Showbox Sodo, Dec 5
SPOKANE, WA: Knitting Factory, Dec 6
GARDEN CITY, ID: Revolution Concert House, Dec 7
CLEVELAND, OH: House of Blues, Jan 5
BUFFALO, NY: Asbury Hall at Babeville, Jan 6
BOSTON, MA: House of Blues, Jan 7
BROOKLYN, NY: Warsaw, Jan 9
PHILADELPHIA, PA: Theatre Of The Living Arts, Jan 10
SILVER SPRING, MD: The Fillmore Silver Spring, Jan 11
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA: Elevation 27, Jan 12
CINCINNATI, OH: Bogarts, Jan 14
LOUISVILLE, KY: Mercury Ballroom, Jan 15
ASHEVILLE, NC: The Orange Peel, Jan 16
RALEIGH, NC: The Ritz, Jan 17
CHARLOTTE, NC: The Underground at the Fillmore Charlotte, Jan 18
CHARLESTON, SC: Music Farm, Jan 20
ORLANDO, FL: House of Blues, Jan 21
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL: Revolution Live, Jan 23
TAMPA, FL: The Orpheum, Jan 24
ATLANTA, GA: Buckhead Theatre, Jan 25
IRELAND AND UK SERVED COLD TOUR
DUBLIN, IE: Vicar Street, Feb 18
BELFAST, UK: Ulster Hall, Feb 19
GLASGOW, UK: O2 Academy, Feb 21
NEWCASTLE, UK: O2 Academy, Feb 22
MANCHESTER, UK: Academy, Feb 23
BIRMINGHAM, UK: O2 Academy, Feb 25
PORTSMOUTH, UK: Guildhall, Feb 26
LONDON, UK: Brixton Academy, Feb 27
NOTTINGHAM, UK: Rock City, Feb 28
EXETER, UK: Great Hall, Feb 29