Deer Tick is getting a little quieter. And a little friendlier.
“For these shows, it’s cool because we get to see a lot of the older fans who might be a little more turned off from the live, loud and raucous sets we do,” said Ian O’Neil, guitarist for the alternative rock band that plays an acoustic show Friday at The Egg in Albany. “We get to see them and meet them. The age range is pretty surprising, especially for this tour.”
Deer Tick
WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday
WHERE: The Egg, Empire State Plaza, Albany
HOW MUCH: $99-$31.25
MORE INFO: 473-1845, www.theegg.org
The guys from Providence, Rhode Island, tried similar turned-down gigs a few years ago, and liked the vibe. “We just kind of liked it and we kind of wanted to offer people something different since we didn’t have a record to support,” said O’Neil, speaking just before the sound check for Monday’s show in Portland, Maine. “But we wanted to go out and kind of like road test some of the quieter new songs.”
Singer John McCauley, bassist Chris Ryan, drummer Dennis Ryan and keyboard player Rob Crowell join O’Neil on stage. It’s an experienced team — Deer Tick released its first album, “War Elephant,” in 2007. Four others have followed, with “Negativity” the most recent in 2013. O’Neil said another collection is on the way.
“We’re working on new music right now,” he said. “We’ve got a bunch of demo recordings done over the past six or seven months. Then we’re going into the studio at the beginning of summer to try to get a record done.”
The band is known for its mix of punk, bar band blues and country soul. O’Neil said influences include Canadian singer Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan and rock outfit The Replacements. Deer Tick has also covered songs from artists such as Hank Williams, Warren Zevon and the Beastie Boys; as “Deervana,” the band has performed entire sets of Nirvana material.
More for your money
For the show at The Egg, the $99 “acous-tick” deal includes a bunch of extras. In addition to concert admission, people who go for the upgrade can attend the sound check, meet the musicians for photos, participate in a question-and-answer session with the band and score a screen printed concert poster signed by the musicians.
The concerts follow a format.
“We’re pretty specified,” O’Neil said. “We’ll do a request here or there, but there’s a little less improvisation. Everything’s pretty pointed and thought out.”
Plans for adventure and perfection have also been thought out.
“We’d like to go to Asia, we’d like to go to Alaska,” O’Neil said. “There are a lot of places we’d like to play that we haven’t had the opportunity to yet. I still feel like we haven’t made our perfect record, so it’s what we’re trying to do every chance we get.”
Reach Gazette reporter Jeff Wilkin at 395-3124, [email protected] or @jeffwilkin1 on Twitter.
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