The Felice Brothers by Joel Peterson

Ian, James and Simone Felice were in the midst of a Wild Turkey sluggin’ live set recently at the Showbox. Greg Farley, with a washboard slung tightly under his arm blew fiercely into a harmonica before finally—in a stroke of improvisational percussion genius—pocketing the mouth harp and slamming the leg of the washboard into the crash cymbal of Simone’s drum kit. As the sound reverberated through the crowded space of the Showbox, I smiled. American music is back.

If it sounds like The Felice Brothers resemble just the sort of thing you might find at a backwoods barbeque tucked away in some shady hollow of the Catskill Mountains, it’s because that’s exactly what they are. The three carpenter’s sons honed their craft at their father’s Sunday afternoon gatherings before leaving in 2006 to busk their way through the New York subway system. They convinced their friend Christmas to come along and play bass. Shortly thereafter, Farley joined the group, and the five of them hit the road. Last year found them touring in England and alongside indie superstar Bright Eyes.

The egalitarian spirit lives strong with the Felice Brothers. Simone’s drum kit is positioned forward stage left, a move that produces striking cohesion during the Brothers’ Appalachian harmonies; it allows them to switch easily from Ian’s ballads to Simone’s rockers and James’ bourbon swilling growls. The band is occasionally sloppy, but it works for them—it creates an intimacy that makes you feel as if you’re sipping moonshine on a back porch someplace sunny. I asked James if sibling rivalry was ever an issue, to which he replied, “No, never. I love traveling with my brothers.” I imagine they all share the sort of loving brotherhood that allows for an occasional late night fistfight, followed by a heartfelt embrace, each blow only serving to strengthen the bonds of brotherhood. I’d heard that the band originally traveled in Bluebird Short Bus, so I asked James if this was still the case. “No, we’ve got a Winnebago now,” he responded. “Living the dream,” I joked. “Yeah,” he smiled.

The band’s first widely available studio album is set to hit stores March 4th on Team Love Records. It contains five tracks from the band’s last D.I.Y. album, The Adventures of the Felice Brothers, Vol. 1, fittingly recorded in a chicken coop somewhere in upstate New York. The Brother’s first album, Tonight at the Arizona, is currently only available directly from the band. The new album is full of character-driven songs and the classic rock-country themes of camaraderie, hard livin’ and drinking. Songs like “Take this Bread” and “Frankie’s Gun!” are toe-tapping, bluesy numbers that sound, in the band’s own words, “like a barn smells.” Ian’s voice ranges from the full gospel of Cat Stevens on “Don’t Wake the Scarecrow” to the nasal drawl of early Dylan on tracks like “Saint Stephen’s End.” The brothers have joined the likes of fellow revivalists The Avett Brothers and Old Crow Medicine Show in marrying a spirit of punk rock to classic American music for a sound that is distinctive, fresh, and yet undeniably old.