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Hear 'Em Knockin'?
We hope we’re not the first to introduce you to the Deadstring Brothers, but if we are, then what an honor it is. They might be your next favorite band. These local-guys-turned-big have charged straight out of Detroit and delivered to the world their urban-country take on Americana-blues-country-rock as they continue to spin the evolving narrative of American rock music.
The “classic rock” label dies in the Deadstring Brothers, who are a contemporary manifestation of both the style and authenticity of “classic rock,” deconstructing the barrier between rock’s good old days and 2008.
While a lot of bands shy away from comparisons, even to the greats, at the risk of being branded and therefore unoriginal, the Deadstring Brothers wear their influences on their sleeves. And that doesn’t take away from their authenticity; it enhances it. A mix of country, blues and rock — much like the Stones, the Allman Brothers, The Band and Dylan himself, the Deadstring Brothers’ music straddles genres even as its essence can easily be pinpointed. Founder, lead vocalist, guitarist and writer Kurt Marschke’s voice is frequently compared to Mick Jagger’s — really, it’s inescapable — and he doesn’t mind admitting it. “Even from the first record, in England, I got that from day one … I certainly didn’t plan to sound like Mick Jagger,” said Marschke. “I guess if I could have sounded like Greg Allman I would, but I don’t.”
As to being compared to other bands, Marschke said, “Oh, yeah, it’s fine. There’s a whole range of influences from Hank Williams through ‘70s rock 'n' roll … we’re not trying to be different.” He describes his music in terms of influence: “It’s pretty limited to traditional country and ‘70s rock … the Stones and the electric Dylan and stuff like that.”
Initially, this band spent far more time playing in London than in Detroit, but they’re back and will be headlining a show at the Stick along with some of their homegrown Detroit-country-rock brethren, for whom Marschke has professed admiration: Whitey Morgan & the 78’s, The Orbitsuns, Shotgun Wedding, Doop & the Inside Outlaws, Dirt Road Logic, John Holk & the Sequins and Horse Cave Trio. “When we started touring, the garage thing was huge. It didn’t hurt coming from Detroit … the sound was obviously not fitting into any of the genres that were currently known at the time.”
Now, he said, he’s happy to find that there’s a growing country-rock scene in the Motor City, which used to be thought of as an anomaly. “This whole thing in Detroit has been building up for years,” he said. “But I didn’t know that there was a scene building … and then I spent more time hanging out here with Whitey Morgan and guys like that. Just seeing that there is a whole lot of people that are really passionate about country music and country rock in Detroit.” Now, he said, “I have a bunch of friends that I can sit on the porch and play Buck Williams with.”
The desolation and isolation of Detroit after its peak has sparked creativity in the forms of garage rock, Iggy Pop, Motown, techno — whatever, you know our history — so it shouldn’t be surprising that good country-rock is growing out of Detroit’s concrete soil. As Marschke put it, Detroit’s desolation is not unrelated to country music itself: “The desolation theme, that just kind of runs through country music, period. Those things are kind of classic in that music, which is something that drew me to it in the first place." | RDW
Deadstring Brothers • 11/29 • Magic Stick
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