Unique flavour to The Dead South

With a sound built on a foundation of bluegrass The Dead South have been finding new fans around the world.

The Regina-based band, which formed in 2012, has a busy schedule of performances across Canada, the United States and into Europe in the months ahead, but Friday they were in Yorkton playing the Painted Hand Casino Main Stage at the summer fair.

Nathan Hilts, spokesperson for the group said the group formed with an idea that has since evolved.

“The idea was to play bluegrass, but we actually weren’t good enough musicians,” he joked in an interview with Yorkton This Week Friday.

So the band quickly used their love of bluegrass and created a slightly different sound.

“It actually came together very quick and easy for us, like it was meant to be,” said Hilts.

While The Dead South’s sound has a heart of bluegrass and classic folk it also has a unique energy that has been likened to punk music.

Hilts said their sound comes from varied influences from “Saturday Night Polka Party” to punk, encompassing everything the band members have listened too, and liked over the years. That process includes the music liked by not just Hilts, but Scott Pringle (mandolin, vocals), Colton Crawford (banjo) and Danny Kenyon (cello) who were the band back in 2012.

While on the road touring a lot The Dead South have recorded and released three albums. Their most recent album ‘Illusion & Doubt’ charted at number two on the Bluegrass US Billboards and won Best Saskatchewan Album of 2016.

Their debut album ‘Good Company’, first released in 2014, is still on the US Alternative Albums and Canadian All Categories Top Album charts, while their official music video to ‘Good Company’ has millions of views on YouTube, according to the band’s website.

The band signed its first record deal with Germany’s Devil Duck Records in 2014.

The touring paid off. In November 2015 The Dead South received the Canadian Independent Music Association’s Road Gold certification for ticket sales in excess of 25,000 over a 12-month period, details their website.

Hilts said being on the road is a big part of their success which he called “organic” in the sense early on they gained their fans without a great deal of radio airplay. “It was all word-of-mouth,” said, adding that has meant growing interest “playing bigger and bigger shows.”

The extensive touring has meant adapting a lifestyle suited to the schedule. Hilts said they have come to realize they need time for themselves, and time to write new music too, something not always easy to do on the road.

“One of the things we played as much as we can, we said yes to every possibility. We tried to be as many places as we could” he said, adding that is changing. “There was no time for ourselves.”

So while still staying busy on the road, Hilts said they are carving out chunks of time to relax a bit more these days in order to keep things fresh.

“We’ve got to take the time,” he said.