On the road with d: Delta Spirit

Delta Spirit really caught my attention when I first heard them with their brand of high-energy blues-rock. Four of the band's members used to be drummers, so it shouldn't be a surprise that they have such high-energy rhythmically driven music. When Delta Spirit formed, they wanted to sound thoroughly American, so they anchored their music in the soul of American roots music.

Their song Trashcan is actually about how singer Matt Vasquez was found by the other members of the band. Drummer Brandon Young was in downtown San Diego when he heard Vasquez playing guitar in the trolley station. Then when the band Young and bassist Jonathan Jameson were in broke up, they got in touch with Vasquez.

Regarding how the band writes music, Young's said "We don’t sit down and write, it all comes from jam sessions. It starts with a cool lick or a couple chords, and then the lyrics of the song come from Matt or Kelly."


Delta Spirit - Trashcan

The band makes an effort to give their recordings the sound of being played live; they're excited by how The Libertines sound like their recordings were done in one take and the band wants to retain that sort of feel in their own music. You can definitely hear that in songs like Gimme Some Motivation off their EP I Think I've Found It!

Children is off their album Ode to Sunshine, their first full-length. They recorded the songs for this CD up in a cabin in Jullian, California and released it in 2007; it's going to be re-released later this year under Rounder Records. Delta Spirit is currently on tour with Matt Costa; you can find details of locations on their MySpace.

Below is one more song from I Think I've Found It! and one from Ode to Sunshine.


Delta Spirit - Streetwalker


Delta Spirit - People C'mon

Delta Spirit's MySpace

2 comments:

AnnieB said...

They also did a set on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic early last month if you want to check it out.

http://www.kcrw.com/music/programs/mb/mb080509delta_spirit

AnnieB said...

that link totally didn't work, but you can do a search for it.