Neo-folk royals

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

By Aaron Davis

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-They’re a hot item in the West Coast indie-folk world. Hometown paper Seattle Times deemed their new release Sunset/Sunrise as “Autumn Album of 2009.” Two parts countrified Let It Bleed-era Stones, one part laidback garage rock with a 60’s folk melody additive and there you have a vision of … The Dutchess and The Duke.

In fact, if you had a mix tape of psych-folk from decades past you wouldn’t flinch when hearing tracks from this duo, Kimberly Morrison and Jesse Lortz. Their vintage analog recordings shed the slickness of digital format in favor of the raw factor. Sunset/Sunrise producer and engineer Greg Ashley captured the sound they were looking for.

Much of what colors the disc’s 10 tracks is the confidence the duo acquired during extensive touring throughout 2008 in support of their debut, She’s the Dutchess, He’s the Duke. Emotional vulnerability only became more challenging when they had to learn how to deliver it on the road, without their percussionist or pickups in their guitars.

“We’d both been in bands and toured a bunch and sang a bunch, but we’d never had to do it so nakedly or honestly,” Morrison said. “At the first club we went to, our guitars fed back so badly that we just sat on the floor to play and then did 30 shows like that.”

After paying their dues the hard way, the duo found themselves on an extensive tour with fellow Northwest neo-folkies, Fleet Foxes. The comparison between the two bands is plausible, almost pointing towards a “regional” sound bordered by reverb and depth. Neither the Dutchess nor the Duke would have any of that.
“Life has influenced us more than Seattle has,” Lortz said. “We’re not apart of any scene. We’re just a band.”

Lortz and Morrison are childhood friends who have played in other bands together (The Flying Dutchman, The Sultanas), with Lortz taking the songwriting reigns.  The dark lyricism on their debut album gives way to a more hopeful collection of words on the sophomore release, much of which is attributed to the birth of Lortz’s first child.

The current 40-plus-show tour featuring D&D as a quartet, including Ashley as drummer and solo singer-songwriter opener, takes them coast to coast with points as far north as Toronto and as far south as Houston. Ashley’s recordings—more than 20 offered for sale on his Myspace page—sound much like D&D’s, with more of a psychedelic edge reminiscent of early Pink Floyd.  It will be interesting to see how the Gris Gris frontman simplifies the music down to one guy with one guitar.
Take advantage of this moderately priced, talented lineup while there is still an oasis of mid-November musica.  JHW

The Dutchess and The Duke with Greg Ashley perform 8 p.m., Friday, at Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary. $6. The show is presented by What’s Good Here? Productions. To join the mailing list, send a request to whats.good.here.productions@gmail.com. 734-0649.

Photo by ANDREW WAITS
The Dutchess and The Duke


PERMALINK:
Neo-folk royals | Planet JH News Article: Music Box

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