While we are on a blues kick, time for some brooding Brother Dege.
Brother Dege is a kick ass guitar player who will have you enthralled with his picking and sliding skills and it's been a while since we last visited.
If Robert Johnson were alive…he’d be stealing licks from this cat. Louisiana born and raised Brother Dege (aka Dege Legg – Louisiana born, swampland mad genius, and also frontman for the Lafayette, LA-based rock band Santeria) is one of the best kept secrets in the Deep South – a writer, musician, artist, and a one-man band, pushing the resonator and slide guitar into the 21st century like some mad lovechild of Robert Johnson and Lou Reed. Mixing the traditional slide playing of the Mississippi Delta Blues masters (Son House, Blind Willie Johnson, Bukka White) with the post-modern expressionism of Sonic Youth, along with some world-class songwriting, Brother Dege’s songs veer from haunted slide-guitar scapes to raw, Delta blues barn burners that take the listener on a trip into the south’s swampy rural past and the great unknown of the future. His previous critically-acclaimed full-length album Folk Songs of the American Longhair was voted one of the top blues and roots albums of 2010 in Europe and the U.S., and his song "Hard Row To Hoe" from this album was also used as the opening theme song for Discovery Channel's popular show After The Catch last year (click here to view). Dege is currently on a strange roll: working in a homeless shelter (file under: “Gnarly Career Moves”), recording songs for his new album How To Kill A Horse in an empty warehouse, and disappearing for days in the backwoods of his native Louisiana. Brother Dege will once again be pulled from his reclusive environs to perform at the 2012 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on May 6th [11:20am at The Blues Tent] along with other acts that day such as Foo Fighters, Bonnie Raitt, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, as well as fellow Louisiana legends like The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, The Wild Magnolias, Rebirth Brass Band, Kermit Ruffins and many others. Brother Dege will also be releasing his new song "Wehyah" digitally through iTunes, CDBaby and other online music shops on Tuesday, April 17th. [Press Release]Mad genius or blues marvel your call?
But get a load of that amazing slide guitar in this first track.
Black is the NightFrom the Album: Folk Songs of the American Long Hair
Directed by: Brian C Miller Richard
Produced by: Rachel Nederveld and Brian C Miller Richard
Cinematographer: Natalie Kingston
Edited by: Brian C Miller Richard
Now how about a preview of his next album? This is a new track from Brother Dege's forthcoming full-length album "How To Kill A Horse" [out fall of 2012]
You can stream it here or even get a free download.
Wheyah
So now how about some live music?
Then check out these great songs with amazing guitar.
Too Old to Die YoungBrother Dege playing "Too Old to Die Young" live in Holland (Nov. 2011) from the album Folk Songs of the American Longhair.
As mentioned earlier he wrote and recorded the theme tune for After The Catch. Check out the full thing without the Discovery series footage.
Hard Row to Hoe
HERE'S WHAT PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SAYING ABOUT BROTHER DEGE:
“[Four Stars] In lesser hands all this might easily sound contrived, but instead it’s genuinely powerful and compelling stuff. 'The Girl Who Wept Stones' and 'Dead & Gone' might have been ripped from the Son House songbook, though the seven-minute epic 'House of the Dying Sun' is the real keeper.” – UNCUT
“Dege Legg is the Robert Johnson of the 21st century.” - ROOTSVILLE
“Both ancient and modern, like an indie rock cover of something Lomax may have recorded a hundred years ago.” – BLOGCRITICS
“Fans of slide guitar, Southern gothic, or plain old rock & roll attitude need to run, not walk, and check out Brother Dege ASAP. Brother Dege is a case study in how one guy with a steel guitar and minimal accompaniment can out-rock a roomful of electric bombast, given the right songs, the right skills, and the right voice. Brother Dege has‘em all.” – POPMATTERS
“Brother Dege brings the ghosts of kudzu-covered swamp rats to life in your speakers. Find the darkest spot in your backyard, light some candles and turn it up.” – THE BIG TAKEOVER
“Those willing to step into the Brother Dege abyss will likely reap its rewards.” – OFFBEAT MAGAZINE
5 Bears
