Interview With Deas Vail

Deas Vail has been a band around for close to ten years, and have been constantly blowing away people with their exceptional musicianship, stunning vocals, and great songwriting. The band has just released their eponymous third album, which I enjoy greatly. Guitarist Andy from the band took some time off in the middle of travelling to the band's upcoming tour to answer a few questions from us at MuzikDizcovery, such as the reasoning for starting the record off with keyboardist Laura's vocals, the long delay in releasing the record, the band's partnership with Sony Red Music, the self titled record's more guitar based sound, an upcoming Christmas EP, and more which you can read below.

Album Review: Deas Vail - Deas Vail

Over the five years of their career, Deas Vail has developed a reputation for excellence, falsetto vocals, and the ability to bring something unique and beautiful to pop/rock music.  Listeners will expect nothing less from the band’s 3^rd and self-titled full length album.  As a longtime and avid Deas Vail fan, I have been formulating my opinion of this album for months, hoping to unearth brilliance in spite of my high expectations for this band.  In the past, Deas Vail has demonstrated an ability to write sensitive and unique melodies and dress them with the fragility of Wes Blaylock’s elfin falsetto, all the while creating a rich tapestry of piano and revving guitars.  And they’ve done it consistently—whether they are writing minor tragedies like “Atlantis,” lengthy ballads like “Shoreline,” or a raucous pop/rock song like “White Lights.”  It is this consistent excellence that makes the collection of songs on Deas Vail, which mostly range from clumsy to conventional, so puzzling and, in the end, nothing short of a disappointment.

Show Review: The Dear Hunter Headliner Featuring O'Brother and Deas Vail

Seamless transitions dominated Jammin' Java on August 14th, 2011, as The Dear Hunter and friends took over the venue. As the band's first headlining tour after releasing the nine disk The Color Spectrum, the majority of songs came from this widely varied collection of music. While it seems almost impossible to move from one style to another to even another in the course of three songs, Casey Crescenzo and the rest of The Dear Hunter did so without missing a beat, hopping from one end of the spectrum to the other side without losing momentum in either the band or the crowd. O'Brother and Deas Vail supported The Dear Hunter perfectly, launching off magnificent sets on the road to the crown performance of the night.

Album Review: Deas Vail and Farewell Flight Split EP

There are a lot of reasons to release a split EP and with both Deas Vail and Farewell Flight both releasing full-lengths this summer/fall, it isn’t hard to guess that the primary reason is to whet some appetites.  Since I have had the privilege of hearing both full albums (reviews to come closer to release dates), it is noteworthy that the EP also gives these songs, of which half are lead singles and half are b-sides, a spotlight and character of their own.  Farewell Flight’s sound is generally a light folk-influenced rock, yet “Ten Steps In” and “Out For Blood” have a lot more pop and rock sensibilities.  Mix in Deas Vail’s power ballad “Sixteen” and the head-bobbing chorus of “Gone,” and the EP is not so much a preview as a bright summer EP with plenty of feel-good melodies and “ooh la la”s.