Part of the bedrock of alt.country, the Delevantes make a welcome return with a brand new single, ‘Little By Little‘ ahead of the album, ‘A Thousand Turns‘.
Brought up in a working-class New Jersey family, brothers Bob and Mike Delevante were playing music together from childhood onwards. Already establishing themselves in their hometown, in the early eighties the brothers were encouraged to move to Nashville where their country-influenced rock was felt would have a better reception than they’d get on the US east coast. The move proved to be a good one – albeit for a short while. Soon after getting to Nashville, The Delevantes found themselves at the forefront of an alt.country and Americana wave that seemed set to capture the public’s imagination. Their first album received widespread critical acclaim and helped secure them a new album deal with Capitol Records. But by the time their second album came out major label interest in both alt.country and The Delevantes was waning. The band were unceremoniously dropped from the label and the brothers took different creative directions. Having both previously studied at art school, they chose to remain in Nashville but with Mike setting up his own design studio and Bob, alongside releasing three fine solo albums, becoming a respected photographer.
Given their experience in design and photography, it’s no surprise to find they’re now making high quality promos for their work. ‘Little By Little‘ shows they brothers have lost none of their talents as songwriters, with the production and their vocal harmonies as sparkling as ever. Shot with a hand-held camera, the shaky timelapse footage immediately gives a disarming, light-hearted style to Bob and Mike’s goofy adventures as they drive around the city in a tasty, lime-green Ford pickup. There’s a warmth and humour in the music that is well matched by the warmth and humour between the brothers that’s evident throughout the promo.
Cool truck, cool guitars, cool graphics… but, most importantly, cool guys playing cool music. Good to have The Delevantes back.
