The Deslondes

Please Please You presents the Deslondes
Brudenell Social Club, Leeds. Tuesday 21st June, 7.30pm. £10adv/£12otd

The Deslondes are a New Orleans-based band, whose raw, stripped-down sound springs to mind a country-meets Southern-R&B hybrid rooted partly in the Texas singer/songwriter tradition, partly on the weathered floor of a Louisiana dance hall. Born from the same vibrant New Orleans scene as Hurray for the Riff Raff, the Deslondes put a distinctly Big Easy spin on country music on their self-titled album.

Last year was a great year for The Deslondes: they released their debut through New West Records, did a first extensive European tour, toured with the likes of The Devil Makes Three, Pokey LaFarge and Old Crow Medicine Show and were in session with BBC’s Robert Elms. We're really excited to be bringing them to Leeds for the first time.

The Deslondes’ eponymous debut full length, produced by Andrija Tokic (Albama Shakes, Benjamin Booker, Hurray for the Riff Raff), was released to rave reviews. The New York Times hailed them as “burgeoning stars.” Pitchfork awarded it a 7.9/10 and said, “Their debut introduces a band that sounds confident and fully formed. … They take nothing about country or R&B or New Orleans for granted, but consider everything anew.” Uncut gave it an 8/10 and called it “a rich, nuanced, fantastically enjoyable album that understands great music is often the product of a historical continuum rather than radical innovation.”

Comprised of five songwriters — Sam Doores (vocals/guitar), Riley Downing (vocals/guitar), Dan Cutler (vocals/stand-up bass), Cameron Snyder (vocals/percussion) and John James Tourville (pedal steel/fiddle) — The Deslondes are a unique democratic collective where each musician contributes writing and arrangements and members take the lead at different times. The band endeavors to carry on the traveling troubadour tradition of their heroes Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams, Townes Van Zandt, Blaze Foley and John Prine and their music production and vocal arrangements are inspired by the rhythmic, high energy, and harmony-driven sounds of their other heroes, The Band and Allen Toussaint.