Alberta & The Dead Eyes is the giant-sounding band that in reality is the majority work of one real-life carpenter, David Boone (or D. Boone as he often signs off, evoking another literal and figurative giant of musical history, D. Boon of The Minutemen.)

In fact, Boone’s songs contain that same ramshackle joy and conversational, inclusive tone that Boon’s do. It’s the sound of a natural talent letting it fly.

“I’m a carpenter by day and sometimes even by night,” Boone says. “A fine carpenter at that, but a better musician.”

You may want to leave the page now to find out more about Boone, but don’t bother. He made the right choice. The choice that none of us made and many wish we had. Boone is nowhere to be found on social media. 

He lets the songs do the sharing.

Alberta & The Dead Eyes will release its new 11-song album Give or Take on March 15, 2024. The album will be preceded by “Ghost Kitty,” a four-song EP of additional songs on Dec. 22, 2023.

The songs on Give or Take represent a man in withdrawal from a two-packs-a-day cigarette habit that went on for 15 years.

“Mama, did it fuck me up more than I expected,” Boone confesses. “I wrote the entire record pretty much curled up in a ball.”

Grieving his relationship with nicotine while composing, Boone kept company with his influences, numerous and varied. So numerous and varied that mentioning a handful isn’t going to help you any more than looking for Boone online will.

“I love Billie Holiday. And The Stooges. And The Band. And Outkast. And Duke Ellington. And Cole Porter. And David Sedaris. And Bill Watterson. And the Detroit Pistons. And John fucking Prine.”

Boone doesn’t mention The Minutemen, but likely would, if prompted.

“I mean Jesus, should I keep going?”

Get it?

The thing about Boone as musician that isn’t likely is how much Boone as carpenter makes it into his music. He doesn’t mention the Grateful Dead either, but the steadfast focus that underpins Boone’s freestyle nature is kinda Alberta & The Workingman’s Dead Eyes.

“I’m a complete ‘no one is coming to save you’ type of person,” he explains. “Keep your head down and
do your job. Musician schmoosician. Do what your supposed to fucking do. Write good songs. Play good
shows. Show up on time. Be humble and be fucking nice.”

A real-life carpenter keeping it real-life real. Refreshing.

It should be even less surprising now that musician Boone rejected Instagram squares for T-squares just like he painfully swore off smokes cold turkey for the clean lungs that arrived with the songs, or as Boone sees it, he arrived to them.

“The songs are just there, hanging out, waiting for someone,” he says.

Now that someone is you.

Alberta & The Dead Eyes will release its new 11-song album Give or Take on March 15, 2024, preceded by “Ghost Kitty,” a four-song EP of additional songs on Dec. 22, 2023.

Alberta & The Dead Eyes - So Cool

Ryan Thompson has been a visual artist, poet, husband, father, businessman, alt-rocker, and singer-songwriter. It took a lot of living to find his voice, and now Thompson is finally set to release his debut album of songs about that life (and maybe about your life, too.)

Waiting on a Ghost by Ryan Thompson & The Delicate Hounds arrives on May 24th. The album is comprised of Country-influenced songs about feelings and events that we’ve all experienced. Songs that resonate lyrically, but also melodically.

“Even the sad songs need hooks!,” Thompson jokes with the bit of truth that all good humor has. These essentials get taken home on the album by the pro-style of session players on drums, pedal steel, and keyboards. Full-of-heart female backing vocals merge beautifully with the swells, bends and layers of a Hammond B-3. Thompson named this band to represent these sounds that they made together: “We are strong, but delicate. We are wolves with a conscience. We are Delicate Hounds.”

“I did not spend my twenties on the music scene, trying to make a name for myself,” Thompson explains of his origins. “From the age of 21, I focused solely on my family and building my business career to support us. I always loved everything about making music, but it just wasn’t in the cards during these years.”

The Sacramento-based musician finally found sound in his 30’s, though he had yet to discover himself.

“I started what was basically a 90’s, alternative band with some lifelong friends,” Thompson remembers. “It’s kind of weird, but I wrote most of our songs on the bass guitar, and even though the songs were not great, and we were definitely not good, after a couple years practicing and writing, we put together some pretty catchy tunes.”

As so many bands assembled “just for fun” will do, Thompson’s went away. It was at this time that the burgeoning Americana genre began to take hold, drawing Thompson to artists such as The Avett Brothers, Drive-By Truckers, and Justin Townes Earle. Coincidentally, Thompson had just moved from playing bass to playing guitar at this time, though he had yet to start focusing on writing again.

The change happened when another friend, in need of an acoustic guitarist for his new country band, approached Thompson about joining them.

“It was fun because the crowds were always into it and could sing along and dance,” Thompson says. “I enjoy that type of energy and I also love the formula for country songs. So, I started writing songs on the side. The most popular was called ‘Poppin’ Pills and Sweatin’, which I wrote based on a discussion about how Johnny Cash must have felt when he was flying while all hopped up on pills. The crowd always loved this song, and after I started to write more and more, I decided to leave the band and focus on my own sound.”

“I reached out to Max Hart to see about recording the songs. He had just worked with The War on Drugs and was finishing up the We Are Scientists album. He is also the full time keyboard and guitar player in Melissa Etheridge’s band, so the fact that he was interested in taking on my project was flattering. I went to Los Angeles to record my tracks, and we continued to work on things remotely between LA and Sacramento. It truly was a collaboration. Both of our visions are represented, and I believe fulfilled, on this album.”

Waiting on a Ghost by Ryan Thompson & The Delicate Hounds arrives on May 24th, preceded by the singles “Stop!,” “Dreamin’ and Wishin,’” and “The Gift.”

Waiting On A Ghost

Ryan Thompson & The Delicate Hounds - Stop

Fanatic is a music marketing company established by Josh Bloom in 1997 to build fan-to-fan connections between artists and the media. For 25 years, Fanatic has continued to help launch and maintain careers through the strategic advocacy of creative talent.

Ryan Thompson & The Delicate Hounds - Stop

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