Deer Tick and The Hold Steady on the road in April
“Few parties in indie rock do ragged insight more naturally than Deer Tick, and on Negativity the band hits a winning stride” -New York Times
“The group’s most ambitious and carefully crafted release yet” -Wall Street Journal
“If [John McCauley] gets personal, he’s not self-indulgent. He’s just a bruised craftsman, impressively plying his trade” -Rolling Stone
Deer Tick are excited to announce that they have joined forces with The Hold Steady to bring a serious dose of sweaty rock ‘n roll to fans across the country throughout April, supporting their 2013 album, Negativity. Kicking off in Boston, MA on April 17th, the tour will make stops throughout the East Coast and Midwest, culminating on April 30th in Dallas. The full list of dates is below.
John McCauley and Deer Tick have long walked a tightwire between total despair and fractured resilience, but Negativity represents a heroic leap forward on virtually all fronts for the Providence, Rhode Island-based band. Recorded earlier this year in Portland, Oregon with legendary producer/musician Steve Berlin (The Blasters, Los Lobos, and last year’s McCauley side project, Diamond Rugs), the album – Deer Tick’s fifth full-length studio release, and follow-up to 2011’s acclaimed Divine Providence – is McCauley’s most personal work thus far as well as the band’s most undeniable and universal, their famously freewheeling musical approach refined here into a gloriously cohesive whole.
Negativity was penned over the course of a genuinely eventful 2012, an annus horribilus in which McCauley’s father pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiracy and tax fraud, ultimately leading to a prison sentence. As if that weren’t enough, McCauley’s wedding engagement collapsed under the weight of his own excessive behavior and impossible lifestyle. Like any true artist, McCauley channeled his anger, sadness, and regret into his work, resulting in what can be safely declared his finest collection of songs to date, impassioned and interior and increasingly mature, both as expression of emotion as well as pure unadulterated songcraft.
Deer Tick – sounding as sure-footed as one would expect from a band known for spending a couple of hundred nights each year on stage – more than match the strength of the material by taking a more detailed approach than on some of the breakneck recordings of their past. From the sparkling baroque pop of “The Dream’s In The Ditch” to the full-blown Memphis showstopper, “Trash,” Negativity sees the Tick bridging boozy punk, AM gold, bar band blues, country soul, and whatever else catches their fancy into their own profoundly American rock ‘n’ roll. Additional sonic color comes courtesy of magnificently arranged brass accompaniment by Austin, Texas’s GRAMMY®-winning Latin fusion collective, Grupo Fantasma.
While Deer Tick have been rightfully hailed for their raucous rave-ups and substance-fueled fervor, Negativity places considerable focus on the band’s nuanced and tender side, with notable highlights including the wrenching breakup ballad, “Hey Doll,” and “In Our Time,” a timeless country tearjerker featuring duet vocals from McCauley’s good friend, singer/songwriter Vanessa Carlton. At once heartbreaking, fist-pumping, and indeed, life-affirming, Negativity stands as a genuine high water mark for Deer Tick – a defining collection from a band driven by an undying faith in rock ‘n’ roll’s evergreen power of redemption and transcendence.
“I guess I’ll catch you on the other side,” McCauley sings in the album’s final moment, a promise that, despite the pain and fatalism and yes, negativity, he’s here for the long haul.
Tour Dates:
Thu-Apr-17 – Boston, MA – House of Blues
Fri-Apr-18 – New Haven, CT – Toad’s Place
Mon-Apr-21 – Rochester, NY – Water Street Music Hall
Tue-Apr-22 – Cincinnati, OH – Bogart’s
Wed-Apr-23 – Pontiac, MI – Crofoot Ballroom
Fri-Apr-25 – Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue
Sat-Apr-26 – Columbia, MO – The Blue Note
Mon-Apr-28 – Lawrence, KS – Granada Theatre
Tue-Apr-29 – Tulsa, OK – Cain’s Ballroom
Wed-Apr-30 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater
Sat-May-03 – Austin, TX – Austin Derby Fest
Sun-May-11 – Atlanta, GA – Shaky Knees Music Fest
Sat-Aug-16 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amplitheatre
