As we brace ourselves for another week of sunshine, up-and-coming Dead Winter Carpenters will prepare for Shine in Boulder Thursday night. Hailing from North Lake Tahoe, Calif., the quintet has been making a name for itself performing at legendary events such as California’s High Sierra Music Festival and Yonder Mountain String Band’s Harvest Festival in Arkansas.
Dead Winter Carpenters, or DWC, began lighting up Colorado on Tuesday with a five-day run starting in Aspen. Harnessing a powerful blend of all-American alternative country, the band consists of fiddler and vocalist Jenni Charles, upright bassist and vocalist Dave Lockhart, frontmen and guitarists Jesse Dunn and Sean Duerr, and drummer Ryan Davis.
Dead Winter Carpenters will be performing this Thursday night in Boulder. (Photo Courtesy of Dead Winter Carpenters)
Coming fresh off their month-long break in November, the band is excited to be back on the road and heading into high mountain country.
“We always put a mental star next to the Boulder dates, because we know it is a breeding ground for high altitude progressive bluegrass, as well many other forms of music,” Dunn said. “We have some great friends in the area, and we know we’ve got to bring our A game and our dancin’ shoes.”
Packing a wallop, DWC’s live performance has caught fire among Bay Area California bluegrass fans, effectively propelling the quintet to consistently sell out gigs.
“The Bay Area is full of talented musicians and artists, and being surrounded by that is very inspiring,” Dunn said. “We’re proud to come from the same area as some fantastic bands.”
With the recent release of their new album “Ain’t It Strange,” DWC will be showcasing new material that combines the band’s ferocious West Coast rock with fiddle-friendly country grooves. Showcasing sure hits like “Cabin Fever” and “I Shot Him,” the band portrays a Western flare that gallops with their jammy country melodies.
“Heading into the studio, we wanted to create an album that really portrayed how our sound had grown and to give a good snapshot of where we were at that point,” Dunn said. “I think the mixture of twang and rock has become our signature at this point. We wanted to showcase the new songs and still leave room for rearrangement and improvisation down the line.”
He also explained what DWC hopes to bring to its Boulder show on Thursday.
“It’s a blessing to be able to play music in a live environment,” he said. “We want to create a celebration and camaraderie of sorts at our shows. We know folks take time out of their busy schedules to come see us, so we want to show our appreciation and play the best, most interactive show that we can… We’re aiming to keep it between the ditches and heading uphill.”
You can catch Dead Winter Carpenters at Shine on Thursday night. The show starts at 9 p.m., the show is all ages with a $6 cover.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Kyle Ward at Kyle.ward-1@colorado.edu.
