Catskills, NY · americana

The Felice Brothers

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Catskills barn-band Americana — ragged, literate, and joyful, story-songs played like a family argument in the best way.

The Felice Brothers grew up in Palenville, in New York's Catskill Mountains, before brothers Ian, James and Simone Felice moved to Brooklyn in the mid-2000s and began busking in the 42nd Street and Union Square subway stations. Their self-released 2006 debut, Through These Reins and Gone, made local radio station WDST's year-end top 25 list and helped the group build an early following.

Their music draws on folk, country and roots rock, built around accordion, fiddle and piano alongside guitars, played with a loose, communal energy that drew early comparisons to The Band. Ian Felice writes most of the lyrics, favoring narrative songs populated by drifters, criminals and small-town characters.

The band released Tonight at the Arizona in 2007 on the label Loose, while issuing further material themselves on their own imprint, New York Pro. They signed with Team Love Records in January 2008 and toured the United States extensively that spring. Celebration, Florida followed in 2011 on Fat Possum, preceded by the single 'Ponzi.'

In 2012 the band released God Bless You, Amigo, mixing unreleased originals with covers of traditional folk songs; around the same time drummer Dave Turbeville was replaced by David Estabrook. Simone Felice later left to pursue other projects, and the lineup has continued to shift while the band keeps recording and touring.

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americana