THE FELICE BROTHERS: Brotherly Love

The roots-lovin’ Felice Brothers crawled out of the Catskills around the turn of this century. And everywhere they’ve played, from the subways of NY to the fairgrounds of Bonnaroo, they’ve killed it. We try to find out why with accordion player James Felice.

The roots-lovin’ Felice Brothers crawled out of the Catskills around the turn of this century. And everywhere they’ve played, from the subways of NY to the fairgrounds of Bonnaroo, they’ve killed it. We try to find out why with accordion player James Felice.

How was your Bonnaroo?
It was fun. I’d never been there before. It was hotter than hell, but it was really a great time.

Did you get a good crowd response?
I think so. I was pretty drunk, but I seem to remember that the crowd really enjoyed it.

How do you think The Felice Brothers have been to get so much attention and success?
Well, I don’t really know. I don’t know how this whole “media” thing works. We just play music and I guess people like it. Ultimately, quality goes with success, maybe. We’ve got people working for us-we’ve got a publicist and a manager and a record label now, and they all definitely do their part. But at the end of the day, hopefully it’s just the quality of the music.

How long have you and your brothers been playing together?
We’ve been playing together for about over two years now, as a band. We all wanted to do it, it was sort of unspoken. I think Simone, the oldest brother, was the guy who was really like, “Let’s just do this thing.” We sort of waited for him to speak, and then we were like, “Yeah, of course, it’s obvious.” That’s pretty much how it went down. Simone had the idea. It was a good idea.

Who does the songwriting?
We all do some songwriting in the band. Most of the songs are written by our brother Ian, but we all write some songs here and there, if we can. Depending on how many hours we want to spend, in front of the piano or on the guitar.

Did you have a concept of what you wanted the band to be like when you first started?
All I knew is I didn’t want us to suck. That was all of us, we were like, “OK, we’re going to get together and do this thing, but let’s not suck.” So we put all our energy into not sucking. And we played music that came naturally to us. Music that we grew up listening to. When any one of us picks up a guitar or plays piano and starts playing a song, it’s usually in that vein.

Do you guys have any autobiographical songs?
It depends. Some are, some aren’t. Some are stories we heard, somethings actually happened to us, some are plain, made up bullshit. “Ruby Mae” was a story that our grandfather told us about his friend. He says it was his friend. Simone says that “Don’t Wake the Scarecrow” is very truthful. And uh, I believe him.

Are there people who are up and coming who make similar music to you that you enjoy?
We’re sort of still catching up on what’s going on today. There’s two amazing artists who I’ve worked with, one is Justin Townes Earle, who’s an amazing songwriter. He just kills me. And then there’s A.A. Bondy. Who’s actually related to us now, he just married our sister.

You guys have been compared to The Band a lot, which must be an honor…
It’s definitely an honor, I remember when I first read that, I was shocked. I was like really, you guys think this is true? A lot of people use that against us, but I don’t really understand how it could be a bad thing. We didn’t start out to sound like The Band. I mean, they’re amazing, one of the best bands ever. And this whole “Basement Tapes” thing is crazy, us being compared to that, because I’ve never even listened to The Basement Tapes, and I really don’t even know what The Basement Tapes sound like. It’s ignorant on my part, but you can’t listen to everything all the time, you know?

What’s your favorite Band song?
“The Weight” is the obvious one. That song is beautiful. It’s long as hell, it goes on forever, it’s got five verses, but you just want to keep on listening to it. When you’re sitting around the campfire with your friends, you break out that song, and it brings everyone together.

In an extended version of this interview, James Felice talks about pumping 50 Cent, mixing ballads with beerhalls, and whether or not roots music can be innovative. Check it out at Americansongwriter.com.

AGES:
Ian Felice 26
James Felice 23
Simone Felice 31
Christmas 21
Farley 22

HOMETOWN:

Hudson Valley, New York

DID YOU KNOW: Felice Brothers’ drummer Simone Felice is also a published author-a couple of his published books are Goodbye, Amelia and Hail Mary, Full of Holes.

FAVORITE SONGWRITER TO WATCH LIVE:

A.A. Bondy