After being out on the road for two months, jambands.com caught up with Jesse Dunn of the Dead Winter Carpenters. Dunn sings and plays rhythm guitar for the Americana roots-rock band based in Lake Tahoe, Calif.
“We’re working on a bunch of new material, and we’re looking forward to a summer full of festivals,” said Dunn, who plays a 1970 Martin D-35 acoustic, and a 1991 Epiphone Sheraton electric.
Dead Winter Carpenters, who formed in 2010, are rounded out by co-founders Jenni Charles (fiddle, vocals) and Dave Lockhart (upright and electric bass, vocals) along with newcomers Bryan Daines (lead guitar, vocals) and Brian Huston (drums, vocals).
How were the last two months on the road?
We timed it perfectly with the weather coming across the South. The weather was 70 degrees and sunny every day. It was a break from the winter here in Tahoe. We had some great shows and it was nice to play some new markets and travel to new areas of the country.
What were some of the new places?
Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, North and South Carolina – all those areas were pretty fresh for us. I know it’s a cliche but Southern Hospitality is the real thing. They fed us well, enjoyed the music and we made new friends.
It seems like our country wants to hear Americana roots music. Would you agree that more bands are going back to the roots sound?
We’ve definitely been seeing a resurgence in bluegrass and American roots music over the past decade or so. Good examples of these bands would be The Avett Brothers, Mumford and Sons, and Old Crow Medicine Show. All of the members of our band come from varying musical backgrounds, but we all have a deep respect and appreciation for American roots music. We rely on a lot of the instrumentation and storytelling values of early Americana and the power that those songs possess.
Your summer has included appearances at the High Sierra Festival, where you played in 2011 and 2012 and also Yonder Mountain String Band’s Northwest String Summit for the second time. Can you talk about those? Is there a connection between DWC and YMSB?
[High Sierra] is a magnificent festival. And for a descent size festival, it still has an intimate feel.
We’ve done several things surrounding Yonder but never directly supported them. We played both of their festivals in previous years: The String Summit and the Harvest Festival in Arkansas. When we first started up as a band, Yonder played two shows in our hometown at the Crystal Bay Club in Lake Tahoe and we were asked to play the after-party. It actually turned into two nights of shows. The way it works is that there’s a a main room and a second side room called red room that gets all the spill over from the main room. At that point in time, we weren’t even really established as a band. We weren’t sure if we were going to do this as a band. We were just having fun. Those gigs were the turning point. We all looked around at each other on stage and said, “This is awesome.” I guess we have that connection with Yonder because those shows were a jump off point.
What made you guys decide that you could do this as a full-time gig?
All five of us had been in different bands over the years and had been touring in different capacities, so we knew it was possible. We figured, “Let’s give it a shot.” We all really enjoyed playing with each other and thought the music was sounding good. We had a batch of original tunes and we wanted to get out there. I think we hit the road in June that summer and played our first Northwest tour and have been a band ever since.
In 2011, you played 175 live shows. Are you guys still keeping that pace?
In 2013, we played around 140 shows. This year we’re looking to keep it about the same or less – to keep it more manageable. Every person is different but when you’re out on the road for two-thirds of the year, it’s hard to feel grounded back home. This is what we’re doing as a full-time job, so it’s nice to have a little bit of balance on the home front. Playing 140 shows, feels better and less chaotic.
You’re a relatively young band, but you’ve had three different drummers and two different lead guitarists.
We still have three of the original five, but it was very difficult because they had become really good friends of ours over the years. People move and go in different directions – it’s just the way the cookie crumbles. In a positive light, the musicians that have come in, have taken the music in a new direction. They have complemented the sound, added to it and added to the band. We’re all in sync right now and sound the best we’ve ever have.
How have the new guys changed the sound of the band?
They’re both very schooled musicians. Bryan Daines went to the music program at University of Nevada-Reno. He plays mostly fender telecaster so he adds that classic country twang to most of the tunes. And our drummer Brian Huston went to the Berklee School of Music in Boston. His background is world music but he’s got his heart set in this Americana scene.
Can you talk about Jenny and Dave – what do they bring to bear?
They bring a ton of energy to the stage. Both of them put out a lot of energy and get the crowd involved. Jenny grew up in a musical family and has been performing on stage since age since she was 5. You can really tell – she’s got that magnetic force up there. And Dave went to the Cal State Music program and he’s a master of all string instruments. He can play the violin, bass, and some guitar.
How does the creative process work with the five of you?
Everyone in the band contributes creatively to the songwriting process and owns their parts and so we kind of spread it around as far as songwriting goes. When each member has an idea, they try to flush out as much as they can and create a rough demo of the tune. We either email it around or get together when we’re on the bus and people brainstorm from there. On every idea that someone has, everyone is open to criticism and making it an overall better tune.
In January, the band released a 5-song EP Dirt Nap. Was the recording process different than on previous records?
We brought in a couple of guest musicians – something we hadn’t done in the past – to add some textural layers. Some of the tunes we had, called for banjo and we also had a friend that played pedal steel. The banjo player who plays on “Bootleg Jack,” is named Austin Quattlebaum, and the pedal steel player on “Easy Sleep,” is Peter Grant. The steel pedal is such a sweet instrument, especially in this genre of music. It add an alt-country thing. The recording process wasn’t that much different. We just added more ear candy in there and our bass player, David, added some auxiliary instrumentation throughout the EP, including harmonica, viola, and sitar.
Do you have any plans for a new album?
We’re hoping to hit the studio again late summer and early fall for a full length album. We have a lot of new material to put together a full length. It’s just a matter of figuring out the schedule and when we’re going to be in town to flush it all out.
So have you been debuting new songs at your recent shows?
That tends to be the way that we’ve done it in the past. When we’re working on a song, we like to hash it out in a live environment and work on the different arrangements and see how they go over with the crowd and take that feedback and rework the song if need be.
We’ve been toying around with the idea of keeping these songs from the public until the next release. We have a great group of core friends and fans that come to our shows and our familiar with a lot of the songs by the time they hit the record. So it would be nice to have a surprise waiting and receive a different reaction – good or bad.
