Danceland take Steve Earle out for onion bhajia in their new single and video — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
Just because the Toronto band owe their existence to The Grateful Dead doesn’t mean they can’t pay tribute to another musical legend when it’s warranted. Take their new single; it chronicles a night out on the town with the Nashville firebrand — a dinner to remember that, as it turns out, was put in motion by the simplest of requests.
“He was in town, and his label guy needed a couple joints,” Danceland singer-songwriter Joe Ferland explains, matter-of-factly. “My friend asked me to hook him up, and the rest is in the tune. I wasn’t really a Steve Earle fan at the time, so I didn’t ‘fanboy’ him, which I think added to the topics of conversation we ended up having.”
As the song lays out, those topics ran the gamut from the on-field performance of the New York Yankees to “tales of loaded guns and heroin” — perfect fodder to be shared over plates of “onion Bahjia at Little India,” a locale that’s revisited in hi-res glory in the accompanying lyric video.
The snappy, sprightly tune puts you right in the midst of that meeting of the minds, to the point where you can almost smell the Indian food (if not the gunpowder and heroin). And it makes for a perfect leadoff to Danceland’s second album Licky, an absolute tour de force of the psychedelic-Americana genre. Incorporating everything from a honking cover of the Gamble / Huff nugget Expressway To Your Heart to the climactic, organ-driven dance party of Sapphire, the album soars on the pitch-perfect vocal interplay between Ferland and his wife and co-writer Jale — not to mention Joe’s immaculate picking (both acoustic and electric) and the tasteful thwacking of drummer Brad Park.
Just don’t be put off by the self-indulgent connotations of the jam-rock label: This is uniformly tight songcraft that’s expertly arranged and sequenced, making it a stone(r) gas of a listen from beginning to end.
Produced by Ferland and engineered and mixed by Carlin Nicholson (Zeus) at Toronto’s Pineship Sound, Licky augments the core ensemble of the Ferlands and Park with some of the finest instrumentalists on the local circuit — including Jeff Heisholt on keyboards and Ryan Spratt on bass, with cameos by fiddler/violinist D’Arcy Good, sax player Cameron Draper and banjo master Doug Cornish. The result is a rollicking roller-coaster ride that never lets up with beguiling twists and turns.
And twists and turns are certainly what the Ferlands’ career has had over the years: While Joe cut his teeth on the Dead, his career as a professional musician has taken him everywhere from the vibrant rock and pop-punk scene of New York in the 1990s to a self-imposed, 10-year hiatus from the business. Blame the all-too-common scourge of crippling burnout. Ironically, it was landing upon an hour-long block of Dead music on the radio during a family crisis that reconnected him with the pure joy music can bring. Before long, he and Jale had not one but two thriving outfits going: The Cherry Garcia Band, which mostly deals in Dead covers; and Danceland, a largely original unit that’s used their influence as a springboard to new heights of experimentation and excitement.
The Danceland formula was in full evidence on its 2022 bow, Pink Lem. Keeping the keyboard and bass slots as revolving-door positions, the Ferlands and Park toured extensively, building up a rep as a formidable live act that perfectly laid the groundwork for Licky. Ferland, for one, couldn’t be more pleased: “Because of the musicians that played on the record, and Carlin’s uncanny ability to get an inspired performance from everyone, the end result far exceeded our expectations,” he says. “I can’t thank everyone enough for their contributions.”
With the record finished and garnering raves, they are back on the road. Shows are booked through the end of 2024 across Canada and the Northern U.S. — including a return to New York City, where Joe and Jale first met and started working together some three decades ago.
Watch the video for Steve Earle above, hear more from Danceland below, and invite them out for dinner on their website, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
