Carter Family meets Addams Family in Easy Listening for Jerks, two new covers EPs by gold-certified prairie pickers The Dead South. 

Part II, detailed today, is inspired by the band’s own pre-show playlist, and includes songs by System of a Down, The Doors, Cold War Kids and Ween. The Dead South dust off “People Are Strange,” with an entertaining video that puts an intergalactic spin on the song’s theme of alienation. On “Chop Suey,” not a no-brainer for an acoustic band without a drummer, the band transcends the song’s metal origins and doubles up on Scott Pringle’s vocals for a sound as big as the first. Part II also sees the vocal debut of banjoist Colton “Crawdaddy” Crawford, who offers a deadpan rendition of Ween’s “Help Me Scrape The Mucus Off My Brain.” Easy Listening for Jerks are the first releases that see all four members taking lead vocal turns.

Rich with quality finger picking and replete with harmonies, Easy Listening for Jerks offers many new moods of songs we think we know so well. Under a title that recalls the songwriting humour of Roger Miller and Steve Martin’s comedy stylings alike, the EPs offer a surprising and compelling mix of gravity and levity. From Earl Scruggs to Serj Tankian, the two parts of Easy Listening for Jerks find surprising common ground between traditional bluegrass and hard rock in the selection of songs of estrangement, misanthropy and adversity. Foggy Mountain Boys, but make it Beetlejuice.

Easy Listening for Jerks, Parts I & II arrive in full on March 4, 2022. 

Easy Listening for Jerks Part I Track Listing: 

1.     Keep On The Sunny Side

2.     Pallet On The Floor

3.     Will The Circle Be Unbroken

4.     Flint Hill Special

5.     You Are My Sunshine

6.     Matterhorn

Easy Listening for Jerks Part II Track Listing:

1.     Yahoos and Triangles (Intro)

2.     People Are Strange

3.     Chop Suey

4.     We Used To Vacation

5.     Help Me Scrape The Mucus Off My Brain

6.     Saturday Night

7.     96 Quite Bitter Beings

Germany (2021)

Nov 2 - Wiesbaden, DE - Schlachthof

Nov 3 - Amsterdam, NL - Mlekweg Max

Nov 4 - Dusseldorf, DE - Zakk

Nov 5 - Weissenhauser Strand, DE - Rolling Stone Beach Festival

Nov 7 - Hamburg, DE - Docks

Nov 8 - Stuttgart, DE - Longhorn

Nov 9 - Nuremberg, DE - Lowensaal

Nov 10 - Berlin, DE - Columniahalle

Nov 15 - Dresden, DE - Alter Schlachthof

US (2022)

FARGO, ND: Sanctuary, Jan 14 & 15

OMAHA, NE: Slowdown, Jan 16 & 17

IOWA CITY, IA: Englert Theatre, Jan 19 & 21

BLOOMINGTON, IL: Castle Theatre, Jan 22 & 23

NASHVILLE, TN: Exit/In: Jan 24 & 25

KEY WEST, FL: Mile 0 Fest, Jan 27 & 28

PENSACOLA, FL: Vinyl Music Hall, Jan 30 & 31

SAVANNAH, GA: Victory North, Feb 2 & 3

UK 2022

London, UK: Shepherds Bush Empire, Mar 18

Manchester, UK: Albert Hall, Mar 19

Tunbridge Wells, UK: Black Deer Festival, June 19

Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Junction, June 21

Coventry, UK: Empire Coventry, June 22

Cardiff, UK: Tramshed, June 23

France

Paris, FR: La Cigale, Apr 11

Strasbourg, FR: La Laiterie, Apr 12

Lyon, FR: Ninkasi Kao, Apr 15

Toulouse, FR: Le Metronum, Apr 19