Delta Spirit’s new album, Into The Wide (Dualtone), is full of anti-war and pro-working-class songs, steeped in literary and biblical images that will make them resonate with almost any listener. The music is deep and moody, playing off the sound of chiming rock guitars, driving rhythms and anthemic vocals against a thick wall of dark, almost industrial noise. The songs paint pictures of the disenfranchised, disillusioned and downcast citizens of our country, folks struggling to get by, but still maintaining their faith in the promises of the American dream. Delta Spirit will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new feature on the band.
Jon Jameson: Beer and coffee have always played an important part in my life as a traveling musician. One of the best parts of playing music professionally, other than the simple fact that you get to play music with your friends for a living, is the fact that you get to do that while traveling, meeting new people, visiting old friends and eating and drinking our way across the map.
Beer is easy as a musician, especially these days. There are so many incredible craft breweries in the states, and we usually play venues equipped with a bar. On our rider we ask for local beer, and people are always very excited to share their favorite local brews with us. There are some particular hot spots, though! This tour began in Asheville, N.C., and I had to make it over to one of my favorite beer bars in the country, the Thirsty Monk! It has an incredible Belgian selection and was one of the first great beer bars that we found on tour almost nine years ago! We have always made albums fueled by great beer, too! The most obviously exciting was our second album, History From Below, that was made in Cotati, Cali., right in between two of our favorite U.S. breweries: Lagunitas and Russian River! Even the Albertsons in town had Pliny! This time around in Atlanta, we had a fridge stocked by the kindness of our friends at Sierra Nevada, Lagunitas and ATL’s own Three Taverns!
Good coffee, on the other hand, can be hard to find when you’re on tour. Finding a place that knows how to make a good cup in every town takes a lot of research, so now that we are in a bus we have taken it into our own hands. We’re rolling deep with a grinder, scale, slow pour kettle, a variety of brew methods and a lot of velcro! My go to is the Chemex, Will swears by the Aero Press, and even on the coldest day of the year you will seeing Matt drinking cold brew iced coffee (loving supplied for this tour by Seaworth Coffee Co.). Stumptown and Greenway were sweet enough to stock us with beans. There might be a few spots that we play on this tour where the best coffee in town is on our bus. We always joke about me trying to explain to a border agent that the scale on our bus is for coffee 🙂
Video after the jump.
