Tim Husmann, Jeff Linsenmaier, Joseph Pope III, Jeff Davenport and Anna Slade are Dust on the Breakers. Photo by Christopher Perez
You must be the luckiest reader ever! Not only have you stumbled into your weekly opportunity to download the best local music, but this week, you get to steal TWO songs. Every Tuesday, Steal This Track culls through a bunch of great local tunes for the sole purpose of giving one away. This week, we’ve tied a bow around a track from , as well as some Celtic craic from — just in time for St. Patrick’s Day.
The core trio of Dust on the Breakers — Jeff Linsenmaier, Jeff Davenport and Tim Husmann — have played together since 2006. While the three each remember the band’s beginning differently, a few facts are certain. Linsenmaier and Davenport — having tired of only playing other people’s music — decided to form Dust while Linsenmaier was drumming with and , and Davenport manned the bass for .
At the time, Husmann — who has his own impressive sideman resume, including time with the venerable — was living in Austin, Texas. The band began when Husmann relocated to Denver. Since that time, a rotating cast of collaborators have appeared as part of Dust on the Breakers, including Anna Slade (wife of ‘s Isaac Slade), Jimmy Stofer, ‘s Shawn King, the Fray’s Ben Wysocki, , Patrick and , an accomplished singer-songwriter who has also played with and .
With so many different musical obligations keep the members of Dust on the Breakers on the road, live shows and time to record together are few and far between. However, the group recently completed and released its debut EP, “American Reclamation.” It’s a lush mixture of orchestral pop, slowcore, folk and the dark Americana often associated with the so-called “Colorado sound.” The EP is available from the usual digital outlets, but is cheapest . If the pedigree of the band isn’t enough to make you want to snatch the record up, get a taste of its beauty with “Summer Rainstorms” right now.
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The Indulgers are ready for the Big Dance.
What’s that? Still hungry for fresh local music? Well, this week, you’re in luck. Damien McCarron, founder of Celt-rock outfit the Indulgers, was kind enough to send us an Irish firestarter called “Ceili Mor.” McCarron’s own words in the email he sent us provide a delightful description: “It’s in the Irish language and tells the story of going to the Big Dance. There’s a wee nod to Bo Diddley as well.”
Indeed, while drummer Pat Murphy and bassist Chris Murtaugh lay down the famous “Hand Jive” beat, Renee Fine invokes the Emerald Isle with her wailing violin. Multi-instrumentalist Mike Nile further fleshes out the track with a hard-edged guitar riff that is doubled by McCarron. Though the subject matter of the song is ostensibly celebratory, there’s a darkly sexual and vaguely sinister tone to the melody — and to McCarron’s gruff, chanted vocals — that suggest that all is not well. Of course, we have no idea what the man is saying. We just know it goes well with Guinness.
If you’re looking for traditional Irish music, however, you don’t know the Indulgers. These shamrockers have been knocking about Denver for more than a decade, and conservatism has never been their pint of whiskey. Though the group nods reverently to the traditions and heritage of Eire, simply mining the past is of no interest. The Indulgers prefer to express their own experiences by blending the sounds and instruments of various American idioms — rock, R&B, pop — with conventional Irish influences. The forthcoming album, “Whiskey Tonight,” is the band’s seventh, and “Ceili Mor” provides a first glimpse of where the Indulgers’ Mile High Irish rock is headed.
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If you’re a band or musician ready to unleash some fresh sounds on the readers of Reverb, email your tracks to Eryc Eyl for consideration.
Please note that downloads offered via Steal This Track are intended to whet your appetite, and are NOT CD-quality recordings. If you want those, please support the artists by buying their music and/or seeing them live.
Eryc Eyl is a veteran music journalist, critic and Colorado native who has been neck-deep in local music for many years. Check out every Tuesday for local music you can HEAR, and the every Friday.
