Deer Tick at the Codfish Hollow Barn -- June 24.
Saturday, June 24, 8 p.m.
Codfish Hollow Barn, 5013 288th Avenue, Maquoketa IA
With the group's new Emotional Contracts lauded by Seven Days as "their strongest album yet" and "a remarkably lean, focused project," the alternative rockers of Deer Tick headline a June 24 concert at Maquoketa's Codfish Hollow Barn, the artists' June release leading Americana UK to rave, "You have to believe that Deer Tick have the energy and maturity to keep going for at least another 20 years."
Composed of singer/songwriter John J. McCauley, guitarist Ian O'Neil, bassist Christopher Ryan, and drummer Dennis Ryan, Deer Tick originated in 2004 as the duo My Other Face, a vehicle McCauley's songwriting. Having previously played in high-school bands Kadaver, El Toro, and Metro Savages, McCauley changed direction from the heavier rock music he had grown up with after discovering Hank Williams. After performing alongside a rotating series of musicians, McCauley's newly named Deer Tick released three albums – 2007's War Elephant, 2008's Born on Flag Day, and 2010's The Black Dirt Sessions – prior to its 2010 network-television debut on Late Show with David Letterman. After their performance, a deal was signed with French label Fargo Records to distribute all three albums throughout the United Kingdom and Europe, based largely on a rave from Britain's renowned music journalist Allan Jones: “Deer Tick noisily essayed the kind of rock 'n' roll you don’t hear these days as often as you’d maybe like – the sort that lights up everything around it like a burning house.”
In 2011 the band released their fourth album Divine Providence, the first to feature the current and definitive Deer Tick lineup. The recording displayed a louder and rawer sound than previous releases and led to the group being compared to the Kinks, the Rolling Stones, and the Replacements. Recorded in Portland, Oregon, with Los Lobos' Steve Berlin, 2013's Negativity became the ensemble's fifth album, and its last until until the dial release of Deer Tick Vol. 1 and 2, which inspired Consequence of Sound to rave, "Deer Tick have long been a band beloved for their ability to be masterful in their jack-of-all-trades approach to songwriting, and that’s never been more clear than on these two self-titled albums.” That same year, in the group's most recent recording until Emotional Contracts, the musicians released the compilation album Mayonnaise, which boasted alternate versions of songs from Deer Tick's self-titled albums with covers and a handful of newly written tracks.
Deer Tick headlines their Maquoketa engagement on June 24 with an opening set by Country Westerns, admission to the 8 p.m. concert is $35, and more information and tickets are available by visiting CodfishHollowBarnstormers.com.
