Music Box: Dead Winter Carpenters

By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com)Jackson Hole, Wyo. - Spring’s first full moon night will be buttered up by Lake Tahoe’s most revved band as of late – Dead Winter Carpenters. Fresh from completing a successful Kickstarter campaign in which they raised over $12,000 towards the making of their sophomore release, Ain’t it Strange, the quintet formed and created its home base in Tahoe in early 2010 after a chance meeting at a California festival.“A few of us were living in San Francisco and a few of us in Tahoe. We met through mutual friends and we were playing in two separate bands that were reaching their respective tenures,” explained guitarist/vocalist Jesse Dunn. “Tahoe has been absolutely amazing. The area has welcomed us with open arms and built a strong community around the band. We’ve been selling out our hometown venue, the Crystal Bay Club, and that support has been incredible.”Joining Dunn, Dead Winter Carpenters stir the pot with five parts of creative force from Jenni Charles (fiddle/vocals), Dave Lockhart (upright bass), Sean Duerr (guitar/vocals), and Ryan Davis (drums, vocals). With folk-rock at the helm, the band’s original material brings elements of country and bluegrass, and a dash of rock ‘n’ roll for the soul. Their music sits in a laidback, straightforward frame, reminiscent of a less jammy String Cheese Incident before they went techno. While slanted towards traditional via Charles’ fiddling, there are elements of Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue-type rock escapades to their live show.Ain’t it Strange is a follow up to D.W.C. (2010). The forthcoming release was completed a few weeks ago and will be released next month.“It’s leaps and bounds from our original album,” Dunn said, “as far as engineering and production goes and overall scope of the sound is bigger. The songwriting relates to being on the road constantly, being away from home, and the wanderlust and loneliness that come along with that. And there’s also a murder ballad on there.”For an independent band like Dead Winter Carpenters, being based in a mountain town has its pros and cons. The situation at the gas pump is making it harder to reach all of the markets that they have sights on.“That’s the tough part about being a Western mountain state band is that everywhere is far, and gas has gone through the roof,” Dunn said. “We just bought a diesel van in hopes of saving money and miles in the long run, and then two weeks later we read about gas prices likely breaking records this summer. In the East, you can play a different market just an hour and a half away. But that’s the price you pay for living in a cool place.”As the band hauls from town to town through the Northwest, Pacific Coast and Rocky Mountains this spring and summer, I wondered if they see any shows themselves.“I rarely get to see many shows anymore, and when I’m home I like to stay at home. My favorite performer is Neil Young, and lately – at some of the festivals – we got to see Gillian Welch, Ween, Dr. Dog, and Todd Snider … they all put on good live shows.”Dead Winter Carpenters perform at 10 p.m., Friday, at Pink Garter Theater. Tickets are $10/advance or $12/day-of-show, and available at PinkGarterTheatre.com.