The Felice Brothers

History

Originally from Palenville in the Catskill Mountains, the Felice Brothers started playing in the New York City's 42nd Street and Union Square subway stations while living in Brooklyn.

Their 2006 self-released debut album Through These Reins and Gone made Radio Woodstock WDST's top 25 albums of the year. They released 2007's Tonight at the Arizona on Loose then self-released Adventures of the Felice Brothers Vol. 1. James Felice said, "We put one record out on an English label [Loose], and we've released all the other stuff ourselves [on their label New York Pro]." In 2007, the Felice Brothers played at Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble in Woodstock, New York and toured with Bright Eyes.

2008

On January 7, it was announced that The Felice Brothers had signed a record deal with Team Love Records in the US.{{cite web

In August, the band performed at the legendary Newport Folk Festival. Due to torrential rains, high winds, and lightning storms, power was cut to the entire Newport, Rhode Island area. As the stage the band was performing on had no generators, the band played unplugged. They performed for over an hour with such songs as "Frankie's Gun!" and a sing-a-long to "This Land Is Your Land".

2009

The Felice Brothers joined Old Crow Medicine Show, Justin Townes Earle and the Dave Rawlings Machine for a nine-city package tour called The Big Surprise Tour, after the lead track from the Yonder Is the Clock album. Kicking off on August 4, 2009 at the Casino Ballroom in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, the tour travelled around the eastern United States before wrapping up at the World's Fair Park in Knoxville, Tennessee, on August 14, 2009.

2010

The Felice Brothers opened for the Dave Matthews Band at four concerts in Canada and the US, starting at the Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto on June 1, 2010. They also appeared at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco on October 3. In late September and early October the band reunited for four shows with Conor Oberst. All the shows were in California. They appeared at the End of the Road Festival, Larmer Tree Gardens, Dorset, England in September.

2011

The Felice Brothers released the single "Ponzi" on March 29. It was the first single from their newest album "Celebration, Florida" which released on May 10 on Fat Possum (USA) and May 23 on Loose in Europe.

2012

The Felice Brothers released a collection of songs on July 18 entitled "God Bless You, Amigo". It is a mixture of previously unreleased original songs and covers of classic folk songs. Shortly thereafter drummer Dave Turbeville was replaced by drummer David Estabrook.

2013

On December 30, 2013, Dell launched their commercial called "Beginnings". It was made by Y&R, New York advertising agency, and features a cover of The Drifters' hit "This Magic Moment" performed by The Felice Brothers.

Personnel

The band has two main members, Ian and James Felice. Former members include their brother Simone Felice, their friend Josh "Christmas Clapton" Rawson, frequently described as a traveling dice player, fiddle player Greg Farley, and drummer David Estabrook. At other times, they have featured a horn section in the band, composed of local Hudson Valley musicians. Ian is the main vocalist and plays the guitar and piano. James contributes vocals and plays the accordion, organ, and piano. Christmas plays the bass guitar. Dave Turbeville played the drums from 2009 to 2012, performing on Celebration, Florida, Poughkeepsie Princess, Mixtape, and God Bless You, Amigo. Simone Felice was the drummer as well as a vocalist and a guitarist. Simone is also an author, having released books entitled Goodbye Amelia, Hail Mary, Full of Holes and Black Jesus. Simone Felice left the Felice Brothers in 2009. He now leads his own band - The Duke & the King (named after the duo of con-artists in Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) with Robert "Chicken" Burke. They released their debut album - Nothing Gold Can Stay on Loose / Ramseur Records August 4, 2009, followed by Long Live the Duke & King in 2010. Simone released a self-titled album in 2012, followed that up with an album titled Strangers in 2014, and then released his third album titled The Projector in 2018.

Discography

Cultural references

• The song "Whiskey In My Whiskey" is playing on the jukebox in Merlotte's bar in episode 7 of the first season of True Blood on HBO in 2008
• The end of the song "Frankie's Gun!" is featured in the British sitcom ''Outnumbered'''s 2009 Christmas Special, where all the family are seen singing along to it in the closing sequence.
• The song "Penn Station" was featured in the weather section on the Welcome to Night Vale podcast in 2014
• The band is briefly featured playing their song "Cumberland Gap" in the film Song One, 2014
• The song "Radio Song" plays on the jukebox in the bar where people are playing pool in the 2017 film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
• The song "Radio Song" also plays over the final scene in episode 15 Best enemies of the second season of Resident Alien on Syfy in 2022
• The song “Nail It on the First Try” plays over the final scene in the pilot episode of St. Denis Medical on NBC in 2024

References

References

1. Bumgardner, Ed, 8 November 2007, [http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_RelishArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173353398155&path=!entertainment!general!&s=1037645508970 'Music Notes: Felice Brothers are earthy, their music visceral'] ''Relish Now!''.
2. Fleming, Amy, 2007-11-26, [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/nov/26/folk 'We don't care if we suck'], ''The Guardian''.
3. Lisle, Andria, 2 November 2007, [http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2007/nov/02/roots-revivalist-wind-propels-earthy-band/ 'Roots-revivalist wind propels earthy band'], ''Commercialappeal''.
4. Barry, John W., 22 November 2007, [http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071122/ENT04/711230301 'Felice Brothers: Band enjoying living its music'], ''Poughkeepsie Journal''.
5. Chinen, Nate. (August 7, 2009). "A Friendly Stage for Roots Music". [[The New York Times]].
6. Lowensohn, Josh. (2013-12-31). "Dell touts its humble startup soul in new 'Beginnings' ad spot". The Verge.
7. Winship, Ian. (2012-04-18). "Christmas Clapton from 'The Felice Brothers' talks about the band and their music". masslive.com.
8. "Simone Felice".
9. "True Blood Music & Sound Score / True-Blood.tv - HBO True Blood TV Series FanSite".
10. "Three Billboards Outsite Ebbing, Missouri - Soundtrack via IMDB".