DEAD BEAT NEWS
BUY THE DBC!!!
Music lovers from exotic locations all over the world - California, Australia, Kent, have been in touch and asked if they could buy our music. Well yes, you tune-hungry bunch of free spending goons, you can. We now have a Paypal account. And if you set one up too (like you would for Ebay - but rest assured you will NEVER be outbid for a DBC CD) you can purchase our latest Butterflies EP, or our old one if you're more into that whole nostalgia trip. And the great thing is that they're a mere £3.99 each (incl p&p)
Just click here PAYPAL and once you're "logged in", enter our email address - info@thedeadbeatclub.co.uk
//30.06.08 Just got this review in today from Country Music People magazine.If only every reviewer actually listened to all the songs and read the lyrics! But any review that namechecks Johnny Cash, Ryan Adams and Craig n Charlie Reid is good enough for me.
Cheers.
AT
The Dead Beat Club is a band from Edinburgh. The accent of the main vocalist and songwriter of the band, Andy Tucker, certainly emphasises their Scottish origins but the pedal steel, acoustic arrangements and countrified vocal harmonies from Shona Brodie show the influence of Americana. They sound like The Proclaimers singing in the style of Ryan Adams. Tucker?s songs have a country flavour but also a British humour and bittersweet irony. Sometimes they are full of amusing self-deprecating phrases: IF I Cant Make You Feel has some lovely harmonies and lyrics that tell of the woes of a lover lacking in financial means and Broken Heels simultaneously has an everyday quality and poetic insight, although the spell is broken a little by the ill-advised use of the word phenomenal in the lyric. Many of the lyrics are about disintegrating or strained relationships. Sidetracked is about the everyday things that have distracted the protagonist from paying enough attention to his lover. My Drunk Girlfriend is a rare song about drunken ladette behaviour and Last Man To Fall is an amusing, bluegrass-flavoured item constructed of unusual and mostly original metaphors. When Tucker moves way from irony and humour he can write wonderfully poignant songs and the contrast with the lighter material heightens the effect. Mercy Killing is a poetic and moving composition about a dying relationship. The Pact uses some exquisitely melancholy imagery to express sadness and regret. Black Black Heart has Johnny Cash-like atmosphere of a tough man unable to reveal a softer side. Have You Always Been Around emphasises confusion by using disjointed images and Coming Up For Air is an intimate, reflective, acoustic song. Tucker?s voice has a slight roughness that suits the material and warmth that is heightened by his accent, but his intonation suffers when he attempts to sing in a higher register on Man Overboard. He writes attractive melodies and strong lyrics. Like Ryan Adams, his songwriting has a rough-hewn quality that sometimes exhibits poor scansion and rhymes, which often has the effect of giving a natural and spontaneous quality to his songs but sometimes just appear clumsy. This is an enjoyable album of strong, well-performed material. They ably demonstrate how to successfully use transatlantic influences whilst maintaining a Scottish identity and the country influences are integrated into a sound that would appeal to a more mainstream audience.
//17.06.08 I'm doing a gig this Friday at The Village on South Fort Street, Leithville, and will be joined by Kat Healy on banjo, and High Hugh Mackay on bronchitis. If that's not worth the £2.68 entry fee, then I dont know what is. Actually, it might be £3 to get in, so don't come expecting a definite 32p discount.Also appearing will be Whisky Galore and Roy Henderson. Both are men. Real men. With real stories to tell. Both have a real love of the songwriting craft. And a real love of drink. And possibly each other. I don't know. They have a lot of love to give.Kat "Kat" Healy will also be singing her own lusty, bawdy sea shanties. Playing kazoo with her is Graeme "Hans Christian" Anderson from the Kays Lavelle. Who played King Tuts last night so they must be quite good.Anyway, I can't make you come along. I have a friend in Kilsyth who could, but I'm hoping
it doesn't come to that.
Cheers.
AT
//19.01.06
Two heartwarming bits of news today from DBC Towers. First up, there's an a nice interview with the band in tonight's Edinburgh Evening News and a great pic outside the legendary Port Of Leith - which so far today has had us likened to dockers, squaddies, a paramilitary faction and erm, sauna regulars.
We are of course hardly any of those.
We've also had a very exciting development today. The band had planned to go and see the genius that is Kevin Montgomery on Monday night at The Village, but thanks to some pester power (from us, not him, obviously) we are now going to be doing a wee bit of a support slot. Details of the gig can be found on his website - http://www.kevinmontgomery.com
//04.01.06
It has been brought to our attention that Xfm’s Jim Gellatly proclaimed on the Jockrock forum today that we were one of his of his Top 5 Bands Who Should Make It This Year. Hooray for Jim. And us, obviously. Oh alright, and you too.
//04.01.06
Happy New Year an aw' that from all here at DBC HQ. We've lots of exciting things already planned for 2006, including our first festival appearance in July.
This week sees two more podcasts added to the growing list of sites and stations giving the slightly soiled DBC tracks a much needed airing. The excellent Three From Leith and the exotically named UK Unsigned Show have now fallen for our dubious charms. For a full lists of places and people who have been nice enough to play our tunes, please visit our links page.
//09.12.05
Tickets are now available from the band for our big Hogmanay gig. It's all very exciting. And for us too. It is being billed as Snow Patrol's official New Year party so there will be lots of special guests like Belle & Sebastian and U2 producer Jacknife Lee. Tickets are a mere £20 which would be nonsense to come and see us but not bad for the whole night (open til 5am). Email us at info@thedeadbeatclub.co.uk if you fancy coming along.
//09.12.05
Quite clearly, nobody can ever have too much of the DBC. Which is why we have ANOTHER website on the go - http://www.myspace.com/deadbeatclub Here you can listen to tunes, see pictures of us and leave messages. Totally different from this one then. On the plus side, one of our favourite musicians, the legendary Kevin Montgomery, has left us a nice comment. Chuffed. Fact. If you haven't succumbed to his genius, check out his website here at: http://www.kevinmontgomery.com
//29.11.05
Black Black Heart has been used by the hugely talented young Scottish film maker, Matty Ross, for his Super Shorts Film Festival entry The Time Is Now. It features Siu Hun Li, an Edinburgh based actor trying to achieve his dreams of one day hitting the big time. It looks – and sounds bloomin’ great. http://www.supershorts.org.uk/view.html?id=511
//23.11.05
The lovely people at GIG have been in touch and want us to play their Hogmanay party. It’s going to be a rather special night featuring Belle & Sebastian and Snow Patrol. Oof! More details to follow.
//22.11.05
Mr Gellatly has once again been very generous to the DBC and was kind enough to play another one of our tunes. Circa 1985 was on the Beatscene last night - especially pleasing as it comes in at a whopping, radio-unfriendly 5:55. Told you it wasn't too long, Clive.
//21.11.05
A huge thanks to everyone who came along on Friday to GIG. It was a phenomenal turnout and hugely appreciated by the DBC. The venue was great, the DJ sets from Jim Gellatly and Elbow were dancetastic (thankfully the staff prevented me from getting onto a podium for Fool's Gold) and we can't wait to do it all again in Bannermans on December 2nd. Apart from the dancing bit.
//17.11.05
The DBC were played on the mighty Jim Gellatly's Beatscene last night on Beat 106. Everything Turns To You was sandwiched in between the Happy Mondays and Bloc Party. Nice. We also got played on another great podcast show - http://tripcast.blogspot.com
//15.11.05
We've had a rum old run of miscreants entering and leaving the hallowed halls of DBC Towers over the last year. People who just don't have the special blend of madness and musicianship that we crave. History will therefore show that Derrick Turner, mandolin strummer turned bass guru, is the man who saved the DBC. Fact.