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Written by Amy Burger Thursday, 28 February 2008 15:48

The Felice Brothers are a unique blend of Americana, alt-country, folk, rock and a touch of early Bob Dylan.

It's difficult to describe The Felice Brothers' music and truly do it justice, other than to say that I really, really like it a lot. A timeless sound, it seems a unique blend of Americana (think Woody Guthrie), alt-country, folk, rock and a touch of early Bob Dylan. Their self-titled debut is the kind of record that I'd expect to hear pouring out of the jukebox if I were sitting at a mountain-top bar made of knotty pine, sipping a cold Sierra Nevada and chatting with the locals. It could just as easily be from 100 years ago, or perhaps the mid-1960s as its present day. With toe-tapping classics like "Wonderful Life" and "Love Me Tenderly" to down-home drinkin' songs "Whiskey in My Whiskey" and "Tip Your Way," every second of this 15-track gem is pure delight to the ears.

These three brothers Felice—Simone (drums, guitar), Ian (guitars, piano) and James (accordion, organ, piano, strings)—carpenter's sons born in the wilds of New York's Catskills Mountains, all share vocal duties. They are joined by their "blood brother," a runaway dice-thrower named Christmas, on bass to create a tightly knit and highly talented quartet. The Felice Brothers trained on the streets and in the subways of New York City, living out of their 1987 bus. Now they'll spend the spring touring in support of their debut, opening for the Drive-by Truckers through February, making a stop at the Langerado Music & Arts Festival in South Florida, and opening for Justin Townes Earle and McCarthy Trenching through April. Check them out; you won't regret it. A+ | Amy Burger

RIYL: Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Uncle Tupelo, Drive-by Truckers