Album review: Big build up for Dead Winter Carpenters latest project

DWC
North Shore’s Dead Winter Carpenters will have a CD release party Saturday in the Crown Room.

The Dead Winter Carpenters celebrate its latest construction, “Dirt Nap,” with concert Saturday in its hometown venue, the Crystal Bay Casino Crown Room.

There are six original tracks on the EP, which is being offered at the show and the band’s website: DWC http://deadwintercarpenters.com/ Viewers choose how much to pay, or they can download it free.

“We’ve been playing these tunes on the road this summer so a lot of people are familiar with most of them,” said Jesse Dunn, one of the three “Dirt Nap” songwriters. “The studio versions are quite different. We’ve added some auxiliary instrumentation and some new ideas and tricks from the studio and it came out great. People are really happy with it.”

It is the first album, Dunn said, to be produced at Alexander Hawks LeLuca’s Lake Tahoe studio, Heavenly Tracks. It was recorded in two four-day sessions in July and September when the band was off the road. Dunn said DWC will have played almost 150 shows in 2013. Engineer Matt Wright also worked on “Ain’t It Strange,” a 2012 full-length album by the DWC.

The Carpenters build its music with a contemporary blend of Americana folk rock. It’s often paired with bluegrass because of its penchant for speed and the instrumentation includes Dave Lockhart’s double bass and Jenni Charles’ fiddle. The band was an instant success when it debuted at the Crystal Bay Casino as Hot Buttered Rum’s Red Room after-party band.

A year later, the Dead Winter Carpenters was playing in ticketed shows in the larger Crown Room. It’s the vanguard of ascending bands from the Tahoe and Reno area. DWC members were featured at an annual locals’ showcase, “The Last Waltz,” on Thanksgiving weekend.

“It’s really become our hometown venue and we couldn’t be more ecstatic about that,” Dunn said. “It’s a beautiful setting and a great sounding room.”

Dunn wrote three of the tunes, guitarist Bryan Daines penned two and Lockhart wrote, “Triumph,” a radio-friendly blues rocker. Brian Hutson plays drums. Each member contributed to the arrangements, Dunn said.

The highlight of the album is “Colorado Wildfire,” a multi-layered duet which opens with a sitar riff by Lockhart.

“He’s one of those guys who can play any instrument you put in front of him,” Dunn said.

The song with most resonance is a departure from the DWC’s high-energy bent. “West Shore Town” is a heart-wrenching ballad Dunn wrote about moving away. But don’t worry, Tahoe music fans. The Dead Winter Carpenters are not headed to Nashville or Austin or some other town with musical opportunities.

“We’ve definitely discussed it a lot but at this point our hearts are here in Tahoe, so we’d be hard pressed to move out of town,” Dunn said. “We see a lot of country and this is just a beautiful spot to come home to, so we’ll be around for the foreseeable future.”

 

Dead Winter Carpenters

‘Dirt Nap’ Release Party

When: 10 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14

Where: Crystal Bay Casino Crown Room

Tickets: $15

Where else: The Independent, San Francisco on Jan. 10

 

 

ABOUT Tim Parsons

Tim Parsons
Tim Parsons is the editor of Tahoe Onstage who first moved to Lake Tahoe in 1992. Before starting Tahoe Onstage in 2013, he worked for 29 years at newspapers, including the Tahoe Daily Tribune, Eureka Times-Standard and Contra Costa Times. He was the recipient of the 2011 Keeping the Blues Alive award for Journalism.

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