Deer Tick

Deer Tick is an American alternative rock-folk band from Providence, Rhode Island, composed of singer-songwriter John J. McCauley, guitarist Ian O'Neil, bassist Christopher Ryan and drummer Dennis Ryan. The band's music has been described as rock with folk, blues and country influences, although the band actively rebels against the country tag, stating "We're proud not to sing with a twang". The band regularly performs cover versions in their live sets, including songs by the likes of The Replacements, Nirvana, John Prine, Hank Williams, the Beastie Boys, Warren Zevon and Sonny West. They have also performed entire sets as Deervana, a Nirvana tribute band, including a show in September 2013 to mark the 20th anniversary of the band's third album In Utero. McCauley explained that inspiration for the name "Deer Tick" came while hiking in summer 2005 in the Morgan–Monroe State Forest near Bloomington, Indiana, where he found a deer tick on his scalp one evening, having never come into contact with one before despite having frequently gone camping and fishing as a child.[failed verification] Deer Tick began in December 2004 as a duo called My Other Face, a vehicle for John McCauley's songwriting. Having previously played in high school bands Kadaver, El Toro and Metro Savages, McCauley changed direction from the heavier rock music he had grown up with after discovering Hank Williams. Playing their first gig at The Growroom in Providence, the duo regularly gigged across Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York with the likes of Chris Paddock, Jana Hunter and Diego Perez. Having parted ways with drummer Paul Marandola, McCauley dropped the My Other Face name and toured across the US in May 2005 with Viking Moses. While holding down menial jobs including as a movie projectionist and a waiter at a Chinese restaurant, McCauley continued touring the country with Miranda Stokes, Mandarin Dynasty and Nat Baldwin. After a year of touring and selling his music on handmade CD-Rs, he returned to Providence with a newfound confidence and songs including "Dirty Dishes", "Art Isn't Real (City Of Sin)" and "Ashamed". Up until mid-2007 McCauley was the only official member of the band, instead opting to play with a revolving cast of musicians including Marandola and keyboard player James Falzone. With the desire to make Deer Tick a real band, in April 2007 he asked GRSHN Lifestyle and 14 Foot 1 drummer Dennis Ryan from neighbouring Pawtucket to join; he instantly agreed. McCauley had previously tried to get Dennis' half brother Chris Ryan, an old high school friend and local bass player who had played with Stefan Couture And The Campfire Orchestra, to join the band full-time, but he had been unable to join due to finishing off a music degree at Providence College. Following a nationwide tour and having finished his degree, Chris Ryan finally joined. The band released their debut album War Elephant on September 4, 2007, via Jana Hunter's Houston-based Feow! Records. Recorded prior to the arrival of Dennis and Chris Ryan, neither appear on the album, with McCauley playing most of the instruments with help from Brian McOmber from Dirty Projectors, Nat Baldwin and James Falzone. The album featured "These Old Shoes," a cover of a song by Chris Paddock. After the initial CD run sold out by January 2008 and a dispute over royalty payments arose, the album was left out of print, leaving the band touring with no proper copies of the album to sell. McCauley would sometimes burn copies of the album on CD-R to sell at gigs. In August 2008, the three piece expanded their lineup with lead guitarist Andrew Tobiassen, from Florida. In September 2008, the band recorded their second album Born on Flag Day at Yellow House Studios in Baltimore, Maryland and signed to Partisan Records after the label's owner Tim Putnam saw the band play at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn and offered them a record deal a few weeks later at a gig in Providence. Partisan first re-released War Elephant on November 11, 2008, with Born on Flag Day released on June 23, 2009. The album received wide critical acclaim, with Rolling Stone proclaiming it the "Country-Rock break-through of the Year". The band continued to tour the US extensively, and eventually toured Europe. McCauley felt that while listeners didn't have to listen to his "hack drumming and bass playing" as on War Elephant, the band were underrehearsed and that the album was rushed. In January 2009, the band entered Black Dirt Studios in upstate New York with producer Jason Meagher to record every song they had left that was unrecorded for the band to "see what we could make out of it". The first release from the sessions was the More Fuel for the Fire EP and included the Andrew Tobiassen written and sung song "Dance Of Love." The second release from the sessions was the band's third album The Black Dirt Sessions, released on June 8, 2010. Springfield, Massachusetts native and former Titus Andronicus and La Guillotine guitarist Ian O'Neil joined the band in June 2009, expanding the lineup to five, and added rhythm guitar to several songs during the later recording sessions. Lead guitarist Andrew Tobiassen amicably left the band to pursue his own music prior to the end of the sessions. Chris Ryan revealed that he believed the album "gels more than Born on Flag Day. I think we all mean it more. We're all a lot more comfortable with what we're doing". McCauley added that he had "kind of grown to hate War Elephant and Flag Day knowing how much ass this new one kicks". On June 16, 2010, Deer Tick made their network television debut on the Late Show with David Letterman. Although the appearance came only a week after the new album was released, Deer Tick did not perform anything from The Black Dirt Sessions, and instead chose to play a song from their debut album, "Baltimore Blues No. 1." Renowned British music journalist and editor Allan Jones wrote in Uncut magazine that "Deer Tick noisily essayed the kind of rock 'n' roll you don't hear these days as often as you'd maybe like, the sort that lights up everything around it like a burning house, and feel inclined therefore to cheer until you're hoarse when you do". The band signed a deal with French label Fargo Records to distribute all three albums throughout the United Kingdom and Europe. In July 2010, keyboard player Rob Crowell joined the band after becoming a fan of the band and supporting the band on tour while playing in Arkansas-born singer-songwriter Christopher Denny's backing band. A multi-instrumentalist from Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, Crowell had previously worked with musicians from various genres including the likes of Willie Nile, Matt Mays and Doug Riley and produced an album by Gloryhound. McCauley commented when Crowell joined "he was talented in a schooled kind of way". Having previously debuted the project at the previous year's South By Southwest festival, McCauley released his collaboration with Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit and Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes in the form of the self-titled Middle Brother album in March 2011. Middle Brother performed together at the 2011 Newport Folk Festival. On October 24, 2011, the band released their fourth album Divine Providence. Produced by Cosmic Thug production duo Adam Landry and Justin Collins, the album was the first to feature the current and definitive lineup of the band and displayed a louder and rawer sound than previous releases, with the band aiming to capture "the raw and spontaneous kerosene blaze" of their live show, admitting that they "just kind of got sick of hearing the words indie-folk and shit like that." The album saw the band compared to The Kinks, The Rolling Stones and The Replacements. A secret track was included in the form of "Mr Cigarette" written by The Replacements' Paul Westerberg. Although the band were told by his manager that Westerberg had written the song especially for the band, it had previously been