The Devil Makes Three’s music is garage-y ragtime, punkified blues, old n’ new timey without settling upon a particular era, and inspired as much by mountain music as by Preservation Hall jazz. Here’s your chance to win free tickets to a TDM3 show in your town. Update: Scroll down to hear the new, acoustic version of Hand Back Down. I love this stripped-down rendition. It’s as if you’re in the room with the trio and maybe, just maybe, you’ll get to do whiskey shots together after the song.
The Devil Makes Three draws from the storytelling traditions and acoustic string-band sound of old-time music and injects sardonic lyrics and an exuberant intensity that propels crowds to their feet to clap, stomp, and dance along. Their style cannot be cabined in a single genre and their lightning energy can hardly be contained within the bounds of a record. You really have to see them live to appreciate their magic — the finger-picked strings and surging harmonies wrapped around the drive of acoustic guitar and bass.
The trio is composed of guitarist/singer Pete Berhard, upright bassist Lucia Turino, and guitarist/banjo-player Cooper McBean. They’ve toured with Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, and Trampled By Turtles and appeared at Newport Folk and Austin City Limits Festivals, Bonnaroo, and Lollapalooza. And they’ve got plenty of dates lined up over the next few months, lighting fires to warm all you wintering souls.
To win two tickets to an upcoming show (dates here), leave a comment below on which of your favorite TDM3 song out of “Worse or Better”, “Hand Back Down” and “Old Number 7” you want to hear recorded as an acoustic performance.
Update: Voting is over, but check back for more giveaways!
If you’re like me and have a billion questions you’d love to ask your favorite musicians, the lovely folks at Ones to Watch have made that possible through a partnership with Skype. All you have to do is add CloserWithSkype as a contact and message bands your questions. The Q&A with The Devil Makes Three is finished, but be sure to navigate over to Ones to Watch in the coming weeks — they will be posting interviews and videos from bands ranging from Echosmith (pop-rock spins on all-too-familiar feelings of alienation) to Until The Ribbon Breaks (try A Taste of Silver — a deliciously dark tune with a slinky beat — yes, you lucky people who saw London Grammar last week at the 9:30 Club would have seen this band open). Excellent stuff all around.
But I digress. Here’s what you’ve been waiting for — the Devil Makes Three’s new acoustic performance of Hand Back Down — not yet released on the band’s or Skype’s website. That’s right, you heard it here first. Enjoy!!
District Consonance 
No contest: Hand Back Down! Aces and Twos is my favorite DM3 song though…
Hi Nick! The majority of TDM3 fans agreed with you and voted for Hand Back Down. The content isn’t widely-available yet but Ones to Watch has given me and some other lucky bloggers a first listen — check it out (video is in the post)! 🙂
Sweeeeet!
Old Number 7. . . Any song that features whiskey gets bonus point in my book.
nickd has it right – hand back down. nicely different.
Old No 7. Thanks for introducing them to me.
Hand Back Down!
And the winner is … Courtney! Please message me (district.consonance [at] gmail.com) with the show that you’d like to attend.
Thanks to everyone who voted — I’ll be holding more giveaways in the future, so stay tuned. (:
Hands Back Down, is awesome….