DEADSTRING BROTHERS
''SILVER MOUNTAIN''
OCTOBER 8 2007
44:33
1/Ain't No Hidin' Love
Kurt Marschke/4:10
2/Meet Me Down at Heavy Load
Spencer Cullum / Kurt Marschke/3:29
3/If You Want Me To
Kurt Marschke/4:33
4/Queen of the Seene
Kurt Marschke/4:13
5/Tennessee Sure Enough
Spencer Cullum / Kurt Marschke/3:24
6/Silver Mountain
Kurt Marschke/5:09
7/Some Kind of User
Kurt Marschke/4:18
8/You Look Like the Devil
Leon Russell/3:32
9/Slow Down
Kurt Marschke/4:22
10/Rollin' Blues
Kurt Marschke/3:43
11/The Light Shines Within
Spencer Cullum / Kurt Marschke/3:40
Jason Charboneau /Cello, String Arrangements
Jeff Cullum /Bass, Harmonica
Spencer Cullum /Bass, Dobro, Guitar, Guitar (12 String), Guitar (Electric), Lap Steel Guitar, Pedal Steel, Slide Guitar, Soloist
E. Travis Harrett /Drums
Eric Hoegemeyer /Percussion
Kurt Marschke /Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Mandolin, Producer, Slide Guitar, String Instrument, Vocals
Mickey Raphael /Harmonica
James Simonson /Bass
Philip Skarich /Bass
Ross Westerbur /Organ (Hammond), Piano, Wurlitzer
REVIEW
by William Ruhlmann
It wouldn't be a surprise to discover that Detroit singer/songwriter and guitarist Kurt Marschke's band the Deadstring Brothers had started out as a Rolling Stones tribute group with a name like "the Tumbling Dice" or "the Exiles on Main Street" to suggest their affection for a specific era of the Stones' career, roughly from 1968 to 1973. That's the sound that's evoked out of the box on "Ain't No Hidin' Love," the opening track of the Deadstring Brothers' third album, Silver Mountain. It's a rock sound that has been emulated by others, notably Aerosmith and the Black Crowes, but the Deadstring Brothers take things a step further. Even their ballads, such as "If You Want Me To," are Stones-like; you can practically sing "Moonlight Mile" to the arrangement. Clearly, the group was in transition during the making of Silver Mountain. The current credited lineup includes Marschke, harmony singer Masha (aka Masha Marjieh), and drummer E. Travis Harrett, joined by a trio of new recruits from Great Britain, brothers Spencer Cullum (various guitars and string instruments) and Jeff Cullum (bass), plus keyboardist Patrick Kenneally. But the players on the individual tracks of the record include such stalwarts as keyboardist Ross Westerbur, bass player Phil Skarich, and percussionist Eric Hoegemeyer, among others. Whatever the lineup, Marschke keeps to his game plan, although, as the disc goes on, it becomes apparent that his sense of country music is not the same as that of the Stones, i.e., he doesn't have his tongue in his cheek the way Mick Jagger and company do so often. In fact, about halfway through, the turning point being the title song, Silver Mountain starts morphing into a legitimate country-rock album with the emphasis on country. Willie Nelson's harmonica player Mickey Raphael even signs on for a couple of the later tracks. It's curious to sequence an album this way. By the end, the band's Stones fixation seems to have given way not only to a Gram Parsons feel but even to the kind of country Parsons himself emulated.
BIOGRAPHY
by Mark Deming
Born and bred in a city hardly known for its country music heritage, Detroit's Deadstring Brothers play alternative country-rock with no small amount of rock & roll swagger and a deep bluesy undertow that often suggests Exile on Main St.-era Rolling Stones more than Uncle Tupelo or their followers. The Deadstring Brothers formed in late 2001, when singer and songwriter Kurt Marschke, who had been playing shows as a solo acoustic act, began working up material with a handful of likeminded friends. The band wasted no time earning a reputation for its tough but soulful sound, and on September 9, 2003, the group released its self-titled debut through Detroit's Times Beach Records. On the disc, Marschke was joined by Peter Ballard (Dobro, pedal steel), Phil Durr (guitar), Eric Hoegemeyer (tambourine), Aric Karpinski (organ, piano), William King (percussion, drums), Philip Skarich (bass, guitar, percussion), and Ross Westerbur (strings, chamberlin), with background vocals by Skarich, Robert Burrows, Masha Marjieh, Mimi Marjieh, and Loura Rock. Plenty of touring followed, with The Deadstring Brothers sharing stages with Cat Power, the Sadies, the Drive-By Truckers, and My Morning Jacket. In 2005, the band signed with Chicago's premier alt-country label, Bloodshot Records. Bloodshot licensed their second long-player, Starving Winter Report, to Evangeline Records for release in England, where it actually appeared prior to its domestic release, on October 3, 2005, the American issue coming on February 21, 2006. The musicians performing on the album were Marschke, Hoegemeyer, Skarich, Westerbur, Masha Marjieh, Rayse Biggs (trumpet), Edward Gooch (trombone), and David Mosher (fiddle). More touring followed, and the band's personnel continued to evolve, in particular with the infusion of several British members. As of the release of The Deadstring Brothers' third album, Silver Mountain, on October 9, 2007, the group was a sextet consisting of Marschke, Masha Marjieh, drummer E. Travis Harrett, and U.K. recruits Spencer Cullum on guitar, pedal steel, and lap steel, his older brother Jeff Cullum on bass, and Pat Kenneally on keyboards. São Paulo followed three years later in 2010.
''SILVER MOUNTAIN''
OCTOBER 8 2007
44:33
1/Ain't No Hidin' Love
Kurt Marschke/4:10
2/Meet Me Down at Heavy Load
Spencer Cullum / Kurt Marschke/3:29
3/If You Want Me To
Kurt Marschke/4:33
4/Queen of the Seene
Kurt Marschke/4:13
5/Tennessee Sure Enough
Spencer Cullum / Kurt Marschke/3:24
6/Silver Mountain
Kurt Marschke/5:09
7/Some Kind of User
Kurt Marschke/4:18
8/You Look Like the Devil
Leon Russell/3:32
9/Slow Down
Kurt Marschke/4:22
10/Rollin' Blues
Kurt Marschke/3:43
11/The Light Shines Within
Spencer Cullum / Kurt Marschke/3:40
Jason Charboneau /Cello, String Arrangements
Jeff Cullum /Bass, Harmonica
Spencer Cullum /Bass, Dobro, Guitar, Guitar (12 String), Guitar (Electric), Lap Steel Guitar, Pedal Steel, Slide Guitar, Soloist
E. Travis Harrett /Drums
Eric Hoegemeyer /Percussion
Kurt Marschke /Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Mandolin, Producer, Slide Guitar, String Instrument, Vocals
Mickey Raphael /Harmonica
James Simonson /Bass
Philip Skarich /Bass
Ross Westerbur /Organ (Hammond), Piano, Wurlitzer
REVIEW
by William Ruhlmann
It wouldn't be a surprise to discover that Detroit singer/songwriter and guitarist Kurt Marschke's band the Deadstring Brothers had started out as a Rolling Stones tribute group with a name like "the Tumbling Dice" or "the Exiles on Main Street" to suggest their affection for a specific era of the Stones' career, roughly from 1968 to 1973. That's the sound that's evoked out of the box on "Ain't No Hidin' Love," the opening track of the Deadstring Brothers' third album, Silver Mountain. It's a rock sound that has been emulated by others, notably Aerosmith and the Black Crowes, but the Deadstring Brothers take things a step further. Even their ballads, such as "If You Want Me To," are Stones-like; you can practically sing "Moonlight Mile" to the arrangement. Clearly, the group was in transition during the making of Silver Mountain. The current credited lineup includes Marschke, harmony singer Masha (aka Masha Marjieh), and drummer E. Travis Harrett, joined by a trio of new recruits from Great Britain, brothers Spencer Cullum (various guitars and string instruments) and Jeff Cullum (bass), plus keyboardist Patrick Kenneally. But the players on the individual tracks of the record include such stalwarts as keyboardist Ross Westerbur, bass player Phil Skarich, and percussionist Eric Hoegemeyer, among others. Whatever the lineup, Marschke keeps to his game plan, although, as the disc goes on, it becomes apparent that his sense of country music is not the same as that of the Stones, i.e., he doesn't have his tongue in his cheek the way Mick Jagger and company do so often. In fact, about halfway through, the turning point being the title song, Silver Mountain starts morphing into a legitimate country-rock album with the emphasis on country. Willie Nelson's harmonica player Mickey Raphael even signs on for a couple of the later tracks. It's curious to sequence an album this way. By the end, the band's Stones fixation seems to have given way not only to a Gram Parsons feel but even to the kind of country Parsons himself emulated.
BIOGRAPHY
by Mark Deming
Born and bred in a city hardly known for its country music heritage, Detroit's Deadstring Brothers play alternative country-rock with no small amount of rock & roll swagger and a deep bluesy undertow that often suggests Exile on Main St.-era Rolling Stones more than Uncle Tupelo or their followers. The Deadstring Brothers formed in late 2001, when singer and songwriter Kurt Marschke, who had been playing shows as a solo acoustic act, began working up material with a handful of likeminded friends. The band wasted no time earning a reputation for its tough but soulful sound, and on September 9, 2003, the group released its self-titled debut through Detroit's Times Beach Records. On the disc, Marschke was joined by Peter Ballard (Dobro, pedal steel), Phil Durr (guitar), Eric Hoegemeyer (tambourine), Aric Karpinski (organ, piano), William King (percussion, drums), Philip Skarich (bass, guitar, percussion), and Ross Westerbur (strings, chamberlin), with background vocals by Skarich, Robert Burrows, Masha Marjieh, Mimi Marjieh, and Loura Rock. Plenty of touring followed, with The Deadstring Brothers sharing stages with Cat Power, the Sadies, the Drive-By Truckers, and My Morning Jacket. In 2005, the band signed with Chicago's premier alt-country label, Bloodshot Records. Bloodshot licensed their second long-player, Starving Winter Report, to Evangeline Records for release in England, where it actually appeared prior to its domestic release, on October 3, 2005, the American issue coming on February 21, 2006. The musicians performing on the album were Marschke, Hoegemeyer, Skarich, Westerbur, Masha Marjieh, Rayse Biggs (trumpet), Edward Gooch (trombone), and David Mosher (fiddle). More touring followed, and the band's personnel continued to evolve, in particular with the infusion of several British members. As of the release of The Deadstring Brothers' third album, Silver Mountain, on October 9, 2007, the group was a sextet consisting of Marschke, Masha Marjieh, drummer E. Travis Harrett, and U.K. recruits Spencer Cullum on guitar, pedal steel, and lap steel, his older brother Jeff Cullum on bass, and Pat Kenneally on keyboards. São Paulo followed three years later in 2010.
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