* En anglais uniquement
Led by vocalist
Cindy Wasserman and singer and guitarist Frank Lee Drennen,
Dead Rock West specialize in a kind of jangly west coast alt country that slides into pop and punk territory at times, a bit like a clever cross between the
Gram Parsons version of
the Byrds and L.A.'s
X. Formed in 2002, the band, which also includes multi-instrumentalist
Phil Parlapiano (mandolin, organ), drummer
Bryan Head, and bassist
David J. Carpenter, has a long pedigree drawn from the Southern California rock and roots scene, and individual members have played in a whole host of bands in various configurations, including the Hatchet Brothers, the Troubled Sleepers,
Abandoned Pools,
the Brothers Figaro, and Loam, a band that still counts Drennen as a key member.
Wasserman has toured with
Grant Lee Phillips, while
Parlapiano has performed with
Grant Lee Buffalo,
Tracy Chapman,
Lucinda Williams,
Rod Stewart, and
Social Distortion, among others. It's a lot of proven talent, and
Dead Rock West made full use of it for their debut album, Honey and Salt, which was recorded old-school to 2" tape and then mixed by Grammy-winner
Richard Dodd. Eclectic and varied but always in a sort of
the Flying Burrito Brothers-meet-
X- with-good-production kind of way, and full of gorgeous vocal harmonies from Drennen and
Wasserman, the album generated a fair amount of good press when it was released by Populuxe Records in 2007. 2011's
Bright Morning Stars saw the duo tackle a set of spiritually oriented tunes, many of which were traditional, and in 2015 they dropped the spirited It's Everly Time!, a salute to the
Everly Brothers. The duo tapped
John Doe to produce their next studio long-player, 2017's Omnivore-issued
More Love. ~ Steve Leggett