Golden State stringsters deliver their brand of ‘Mericana roots-rock to Southwest Montana
Soon to celebrate ten years since its inception, California-based Dead Winter Carpenters has built a reputation for steadfast touring, heartfelt performances and authentic Americana. Reminiscent of genre-benders like Jack White, Chris Thile, and Sam Bush, the Carpenters harmoniously blend refined musical ability with a scarcely restrained tendency to let it all hang out. The result is a controlled burn, a riveting sound, and a connection with fans that sells out shows and has the band sharing stages with the likes of Jason Isbell, Greensky Bluegrass, and Hard Working Americans.
In anticipation of their Montana performances, the Rolling Zone spoke with guitarist/vocalist Jesse Dunn about the band’s original music, live show and taking up the stringed torch.
Rolling Zone: Dead Winter Carpenters will bring a string of performances to Montana toward month’s end, including for one of Bozeman’s most popular events, ‘Music on Main.’ Can you give those who haven’t had the opportunity to see this band perform a preview of the live show?
Jesse Dunn: We try to bring a high energy dance party with a bluegrass, country/rock format. Some fiery fiddle, some rippin’ Telecaster guitar and hopefully some good songs.
RZ: The outdoor setting an added bonus.
JD: The outdoor environment is the ultimate place to perform our style of music – under the sun, hopefully. Get people groovin’.
RZ: Like some of your other upcoming performances, the Pine Creek show was intended to be in support of the late Jeff Austin. May I ask you to reflect on this loss, as a musician and/or friend of his?
JD: I grew up watching him as a pillar of the scene we’re a part of today. That was really the sound everybody was looking for in the 2000s and later on, too. Yonder Mountain String Band, and Jeff Austin’s influence in particular runs extremely deep through this scene. More recently, Dead Winter Carpenters had the honor and opportunity to go on a couple runs and play with the Jeff Austin Band and got to know him as a human being, as well as his bandmates. We’ll all cherish those experiences. It hit pretty close to home once the news broke. It’s just super sad, especially for his family, but also his fans and friends. The ripple effect will go on for a while. He’s left an incredible catalog that we can all look up to.
RZ: Are there plans to pay tribute at Pine Creek and some of these other shows?
JD: Absolutely. He sat in with us at Winter WonderGrass in Tahoe just a couple months ago. Then back in the fall we did some Colorado shows and a Reno show together, so we collaborated on a few different cover tunes that we’ll probably play. He also pulls strongly from the John Hartford catalogs, so we’ll probably do at least a song or two of Hartford’s that Jeff did, and hopefully an original song or two from Yonder Mountain String Band that we really respect and like to play. We definitely have some plans to throw some tribute tunes in where we can.
RZ: Let’s talk a little bit about Dead Winter Carpenters’ originals. The latest full-length is Washoe, packed with unique arrangements and insightful lyrics. What were your initial goals for what would become your fourth studio release?
JD: Going into that recording process, we were really just trying to do something a little bit different that was closer to our sound at the time. I think we accomplished that through some different techniques in the studio; we brought in some auxiliary instrumentation, some pedal steel and some piano, and some really great musicians joined us on that record. It leans a little bit more toward alt-country and some more rock influence, which is kind of the way our sound has morphed over the years, even more so now.
RZ: Do you think your sound has evolved since making those songs to what you’re maybe working on now?
JD: It’s continued to evolve even more – we pull strongly from bluegrass and classic country, even a bit of grunge rock. We’re all kind of fans of that era and grew up during that era. Record rock n’ roll combined with classic country and bluegrass instrumentation, throw the drums in there and it opens the spectrum a little more to different genres.
RZ: “Love Amongst Thieves” and “North Wind” were a few that caught my ear on Washoe, but is there a track or two you find yourself partial to performing?
JD: I’d assume that’s similar to asking which one of your kids is your favorite [laughs]. We’re coming up on ten years as a group and generally play tunes that’ve spanned our whole career, and we have a stash we haven’t recorded. We try to make every show a little bit different and switch up the covers we’re playing. Last summer we released a single called “Roller Coaster” that our friend Jackie Greene played some organ on, that tune has been a lot of fun to play live. Some of the funkier improv stuff is what we go to, really just working on some segues and different things to switch up the setlist. To be honest, we have a lot of fun playing most of our tunes, including a lot of the ones on the Washoe record.
RZ: Dead Winter Carpenters’ records feel very live, like you could turn them up really loud at home and simulate the live show. Is there intention behind that, production-wise?
JD: That’s always a question when you’re going in to record. How do you toe that line between making it similar enough to the live show to where you get a good idea of what the band’s about and what you’re going to see, but also keeping it different enough as a studio recording where you can add some bells and whistles, some ear candy here and there. Our goal, with that said, has been to try and hold some live roots to recording. We try to track as many things as we can in a live take and then build off that. And each song ends up being a different animal, but we definitely try to hold true to the live feel as much as we can.
RZ: Dead Winter Carpenters draw inspiration by many, but genre is feeling less and less definable these days. Do you think one borrowing from another, blurring the lines is helping create string music for a new generation?
JD: Yonder Mountain String Band was one of the first acts to do that kind of stuff, along with New Grass Revival and you name it. Obviously a lot of these groups pull from the Grateful Dead and Phish, but Yonder Mountain really brought in some high energy stuff and a lot of different covers, whether it be the Talking Heads or John Hartford. That exposed audiences to new things they may not have known about, or they gave [the songs] a unique spin that made it cool and accessible. So the short of it would be yes, I do think that different takes on different styles of music, incorporating different covers opens new audiences to different music and just a different vibe. Delving into different genres does open things up for the string band revolution, as it were, which has been going on for a while now.
RZ: You’re doing your part, for sure. You did put out “Roller Coaster” last spring, but are Dead Winter Carpenters cooking up anything for a potential new album?
JD: That’s definitely the plan and it’s kind of the million-dollar question in the group right now, how to strategically approach getting out the next record. Logistics get extremely chaotic in the summertime, flying around for different shows. We’re just trying to rehearse and work on new ideas and stay focused on the gigs at hand, but also not lose sight of what we’re trying to get at down the line, as far as recording goes and getting some new material out there. That’s extremely important to us. The goal is to record sometime this fall, if not early winter. It’s just a matter of deciding the approach, but absolutely. It’s been a little while so we’re kind of chomping at the bit to get something new out.
RZ: We’re looking forward to the shows! Do you have a parting message?
JD: We’re thrilled to get back to Montana. We have a great appreciation for the people out there, the music fans, and just the area. We love Montana, I don’t know how you couldn’t. We’re just excited to get back and have a star on the calendar for the ‘Music on Main’ series, as well as Pine Creek Lodge. Just really looking forward to it.
Dead Winter Carpenters visit Pine Creek Lodge on Wednesday, July 24th. The venue is just outside Livingston with the music set to begin at 7pm. Advance tickets to this all-ages event are $10 at www.pinecreeklodgemontana.com. Day of show tickets will also be available at the door for $15, depending on availability.
Opening a new month on Thursday, August 1st, the group will front Downtown Bozeman’s ‘Music on Main’ at 7pm. The summer music series is free of admission and open to all ages. Additional details can be found at www.downtownbozeman.org. Learn more about the band at www.deadwintercarpenters.com or find them on Facebook and Instagram for updated tour details and other announcements. Their latest album, Washoe, and recent single, “Roller Coaster,” are available now. •
