“A fine blend of Beatles-esque dreamy folk” — AMERICANA HIGHWAYS
dreamer folk/campfire pop
Go see a live show with The Pinkerton Raid, and songwriter Jesse James DeConto might share stories about the history and architecture of his native New England, or forest legends from the Nordic region, or Broadway-showtunes-turned-football-fight-songs from Liverpool. It’s all quite beatnik and granola, steeped in the mysticism of STAR WARS and Celtic lore, the existentialism of Kerouac, the naturalism of THE LORD OF THE RINGS, Standing Rock and Laurel Canyon, and the liberation politics of Woody Guthrie, Karl Marx and Black Lives Matter. There is a fair number of songs about trees.
Trumpeter-keyboardist-disc golfer-culinary explorer Cameron Collier applies his jazz training to Jesse’s folk-pop songs. Chris Arnet is a zen master on percussion, a luscious bass on background vocals, a pro barista at the espresso machine and a lumberjack around the campfire. The trio has seven university degrees among them, and perhaps one of them is fiscally productive by Wall Street standards. Life is too short to live for money and too rich not to soak it all in.
Jesse grew up on the mellow gold of his mom’s car radio and his dad’s guitar: Abbey Road, Soulsville, Greenwich Village, Motown. Surrounded by a big family of siblings, niblings, parents, his partner and two kids, Jesse settled in the vibrant indie scene of Durham, N.C., spinning out songs AMERICANA-UK calls “anthemic.” “A fine blend of Beatles-esque dreamy folk,” says AMERICANA HIGHWAYS.
With their latest release of winter-themed cover songs, the band takes on those classic tones directly, bookending their sonic journey with a pop-noir version of Vince Guaraldi's "Christmas Time Is Here" and a driving, drum-circle and brass-polished rendition of folk-rock descendants Fleet Foxes' "White Winter Hymnal.” “Radiant,” says AMERICAN SONGWRITER. The band has opened for Illiterate Light, The Ballroom Thieves, TopHouse, Driftwood, The Collection and Noah Gundersen. They’ve slotted at Daytrotter and at festivals like Shakori Hills, Albino Skunk, Beacon Bonfire and AVL Fest with artists such as River Whyless, Sunny War, Watchhouse, Tall Heights, Amythyst Kiah and The Bones of JR Jones.
vocals, guitars / Jesse James DeConto
trumpet, keyboard, vocals / Cameron Collier
percussion, vocals / Chris Arnet
