On Dec. 30 and 31, in Kingston, The Felice Brothers, joined by special guest Merce Lemon, will perform two back-to-back shows for a New Year’s Eve celebration. These shows will mark the first-ever performances to be held at the brand-new Assembly concert venue.
The Felice Brothers return to New York after a European tour through the fall in support of their newest album, Valley of Abandoned Songs. The beloved Americana band began with Ian (guitar and lead vocals) and James (multi-instrumentalist and vocals) playing their songs for travelers at home in the Catskills. They have since expanded to include bassist Jesske Hume (Conor Oberst, Jade Bird), the inaugural female member of the Felice Brothers, and drummer Will Lawrence (also a singer/songwriter) as their rhythm section.
Merce Lemon will support the Felice Brothers at their shows in the Northeast. Following the release of her stunning 2024 album, Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild, Lemon’s pairing with the Brothers is a wonderful combination that blends her alt-country sound with the Brothers’ mellower, folky style. If you like the Felice Brothers, you’ll love Merce Lemon.
Photo by Alisha Goel
Located in Kingston’s vibrant Uptown/Stockade District, Assembly Kingston is poised to become a cornerstone of the region’s burgeoning arts and culture scene. These New Year’s Eve performances will be a special homecoming for the band, who will take the stage to ring in 2025 with their signature blend of folk, rock, and heartfelt storytelling.
“Friends and loved ones, we are doing it again! Holiday shows!” the Felice Brothers share, “Some old favorites and a NEW never before rocked venue in Kingston NY. Now you know what you’re doing to close out 2024.”
Folk Rock band, The Felice Brothers, released their single “Flowers By The Roadside” on Thursday. The track is a preview of the upcoming album Valley of Abandoned Songs set to be released on June 28.
“Flowers By The Roadside” has a classic Americana acoustic sound and is accompanied by a music video which is filmed in a film noir and new wave style. It follows a young girl on her little adventures while some of the lyrics are typed out on the screen.
Guitarist and vocalist, Ian Felice said, “this song was written one especially bleak winter day as a means to teleport to summer. Midway through the first and only take of the song James walked across the room, picked up a toy glockenspiel and plucked out a melody that had occurred to him. It was recorded in 2018 in our old cinderblock studio outside of Hudson, NY.”
The Felice Brothers are originally from Palenville, NY in the Catskill mountains and they first started to get attention in the 2000’s when they played in the New York City Subway. Their first self released album Lantown came out in 2005. Since their start they’ve toured with Old Crow Medicine Show and opened for Dave Matthews Band. They are currently signed to Conor Oberst’s new label, Million Star Records. The band is made up of Ian Felice, James Felice (piano/vocals), Jeske Hume (bass), and Will Lawrence (drums).
Along with the new single, the album is full of great pieces. Ian Felice’s melancholic voice fills each song and some tracks have a slight bluegrass sound. The album has been described by Ian Felice as a “tightrope walk between light and dark.”
NYC-based rock band The Felice Brothers have released a new single “Crime Scene Queen,” and announced their US and European headlining tour that will kick off at Bowery Ballroom on July 11.
With the tour announcement, The Felice Brothers have also announced they have signed to Conor Oberst’s new record label, Million Stars, and will release their new album, Valley of Abandoned Songs,on June 27. The 13-song collection consists of recordings primarily from sessions for the band’s 2019 album, Undress, as well as their most recent release, 2023’s Asylum On The Hill, both of which were captured live in an 1870s church with the band’s current lineup of Ian Felice on guitar and vocals, James Felice on piano and vocals , Jeske Hume on bass, and Will Lawrence drums.
When describing their new single “Crime Scene Queen,” the bands’ guitarist Ian Felice explains, “The one lyric I had when I started to write this song was ‘through the palms of pleasure island, an ominous wind began to blow.’ The rest of the story was built around that image. Humphrey Bogart’s character in The Big Sleep might also have played some role. It was recorded on the final day of our sessions for Asylum On The Hill.
“A few years ago, I started revisiting old demos that had never seen the light of day and recordings that hadn’t found a home on previous albums, and I started thinking of them as the Valley of Abandoned Songs,” explains Ian Felice. “At a certain point, I realized that I had a particular group of tunes that worked really well as an album, and so I shared it with Conor, along with my idea to post it online, but he immediately texted back that he loved it so much he wanted to start a new record label just to put it out.”
After signing the band to his new label, Conor Oberst shared, “I first encountered the Felice Brothers in 2007 after being given some of their music by a friend. I liked it a lot, but there was something I couldn’t put my finger on—singular and mysterious. An iconoclastic version of what some lazy people call “Americana”. I subsequently met them and played shows together. They became some of my best friends, family, really. I put out two of their records on the label I co-owned at the time, called Team Love.
Connor added, “then we started to perform together with them as my backing band and made a record of mine called Salutations. Needless to say, I love this band, and when I asked that horrible question, ‘Who is your favorite band?’ I always answer ‘The Felice Brothers.’ So when Ian sent me this new collection of songs and told me they just planned to put it up on the internet, I kind of flipped out, because they were so goddamn good. And then I did something I swore I would never do again: I started a new record label. This is my third. It is called Million Stars, and I am so proud to say the new Felice Brothers album is our first release. I can’t quit them. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.”
Valley of Abandoned Songs follows the bands’ surprise releaseAsylum On The Hill, which was released exclusively on Bandcamp in December, and their 2021 album From Dreams To Dust which was praised by many.
With the release of the new single, “Crime Scene Queen“, The Felice Brothers will release their new album Abandoned Songs on June 27 before they headline their US and European tour set to kick off this summer and the band perform in New York at Bowery Ballroom on July 11. For tickets and more information about the band fans can visit here.
The Felice Brothers Tour Dates
7/11 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
7/12 – Philadelphia, PA – World Cafe Live
7/13 – Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair
7/14 – Portland, ME – Space
726-28 – Nelsonville, OH – Nelsonville Music Festival
7/27 – Chicago, IL – Beat Kitchen
10/29 – Leeds, UK – Brudenell Social Club
10/30 – Manchester, UK – Band on the Wall
11/01 – Sligo, Ireland – Sligo Live
11/02 – Dublin, Ireland – Button Factory
11/04 – Glasgow, UK – St Luke’s
11/05 – Birmingham, UK – Hare & Hounds
11/06 – Cardiff, UK – The Globe
11/07 – London, UK – Electric Ballroom
11/09 – Bristol, UK – Strange Brew
11/10 – Brighton, UK – Chalk
11/12 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso Noord
11/13 – Cologne, Germany – Luxor
11/15 – Berlin, Germany – Kulturhaus Peter Edel
11/16 – Weissenhäuser Strand, Germany – Rolling Stone Beach
