John McCauley at the Raccoon Motel -- March 25.
Monday, March 25, 7 p.m.
Raccoon Motel, 315 East Second Street, Davenport IA
Performing a special solo concert at the Raccoon Motel, singer/songwriter and guitarist John McCauley brings his talents to Davenport on March 25, the alternative rocker best known for his longtime membership in the indie ensemble Deer Tick whose most recent release Emotional Contracts was lauded by Seven Days as "their strongest album yet" and "a remarkably lean, focused project."
Also composed of guitarist Ian Patrick O'Neil, bassist Christopher Dale Ryan, and drummer Dennis Michael Ryan, Deer Tick originated in 2004 as the duo My Other Face, a vehicle for frontman John Joseph McCauley's songwriting. Having previously played in high-school bands Kadaver, El Toro, and Metro Savages, McCauley changed direction from the heavier rock music he had grown up with after discovering Hank Williams. After performing alongside a rotating series of musicians, McCauley's newly named Deer Tick released three albums – 2007's War Elephant, 2008's Born on Flag Day, and 2010's The Black Dirt Sessions – prior to its 2010 network-television debut on Late Show with David Letterman. After their performance, a deal was signed with French label Fargo Records to distribute all three albums throughout the United Kingdom and Europe, based largely on a rave from Britain's renowned music journalist Allan Jones: “Deer Tick noisily essayed the kind of rock 'n' roll you don’t hear these days as often as you’d maybe like – the sort that lights up everything around it like a burning house.”
In 2011, the band released their fourth album Divine Providence, the first to feature the current Deer Tick lineup. The recording displayed a louder and rawer sound than previous releases and led to the group being compared to the Kinks, the Rolling Stones, and the Replacements. Recorded in Portland, Oregon, with Los Lobos' Steve Berlin, 2013's Negativity became the ensemble's fifth album, and it was followed by the dual release of 2017's Deer Tick Vol. 1 and 2, which inspired Consequence of Sound to rave, "Deer Tick have long been a band beloved for their ability to be masterful in their jack-of-all-trades approach to songwriting, and that’s never been more clear than on these two self-titled albums.” That same year, in the group's most recent recording until last year's Emotional Contracts, the musicians released the compilation album Mayonnaise, which boasted alternate versions of songs from Deer Tick's self-titled albums with covers and a handful of newly written tracks.
John McCauley plays his headlining engagement in Davenport on March 25, admission to the 7 p.m. concert is $37.04, and tickets are available by visiting TheRaccoonMotel.com.
