Watch "Diamond Ring," directed by Two Brothers Films (Regina, SK).

In The Dead South’s world, characters do what they must, even when twisted logic leads them astray. From the opening galloping strum to the lower register cello and backing vocals, the song’s moody mania captures The Dead South’s stock-in-trade, stories of desperation and bad decisions told in fast-paced, brightly-laced bursts.

Sugar & Joy, The Dead South's tightest, weirdest and most exciting studio work yet, is their first album written and recorded outside Regina. The album was produced by FAME Studio-trained Jimmy Nutt, a longtime member of the Muscle Shoals music scene whose recent credits include a Grammy for his work on The Steeldrivers. “They have an obvious dedication to what they are doing,” says Nutt. “They really encourage each other, which you don’t see a lot.”

A Bauhaus-via-bluegrass stomp and minor-key mandolin tremolo of “Alabama People,” which finds the universal in the hyper-regional, could not have been written anywhere else but at The Nutthouse. With equal parts empathy and fear, The Dead South have channeled their experience in the fraught, beautiful south into an outsider, observational anthem.

The ongoing question of what is, or is not, bluegrass music, occasionally froths up in The Dead South’s wake as they speed on to the next gig. Cue “Blue Trash,” a song built on a perfectly bluegrassy banjo lick about...not being a bluegrass band. “Blue Trash” is a love letter – not apologia – to the purists, for The Dead South come in peace.

Sugar & Joy will be released on October 11, 2019.
RIYL: Crooked Still, Avett Brothers, Bad Livers, The Del McCoury Band

SUGAR & JOY TRACK LISTING
1. Act of Approach
2. Diamond Ring
3. Blue Trash
4. Black Lung
5. Fat Little Killer Boy
6. Broken Cowboy
7. Snake Man Pt. 1
8. Snake Man Pt. 2
9. Heaven In A Wheelbarrow
10. Crawdaddy Served Cold
11. Alabama People
12. Spaghetti
13. Distance Oneself

PRIVATE MEDIA ADVANCE STREAM AVAILABLE.

TOUR DATES:

SUMMER CRAWL 2019
EAU CLAIRE, WI: Blue Ox Music Festival, June 15
PERRANPORTH, UK: Bands in the Sands, June 21
TUNBRIDGE WELLS, UK: Black Deer Festival, June 22-23
OXFORD, UK: O2 Academy Oxford, June 25
NORTHAMPTON, UK: Roadmender, June 26
BATH, UK: Komedia Bath, June 27
GLASTONBURY, UK: Glastonbury Festival, June 29-30
CALGARY, AB: Big Rock Brewery, July 6
NORTH PLAINS, OR: Northwest String Summit, July 18- 21
JACKSONVILLE, OR: Britt Pavilion, July 21
RENO, NV: Virginia Street Brewhouse, July 22
MORRISON, CO: Red Rocks Amphitheatre, July 24 w/ Trampled By Turtles
SANTA FE, NM: Santa Fe Brewing Company, July 29
DALLAS, TX: Gas Monkey Live, July 30
TULSA, OK: Cain's Ballroom, July 31
ST LOUIS, MO: Atomic Cowboy Pavilion, August 1
ST. CHARLES, IA: Hinterland Music Festival, August 2-4
REGINA, SK: Regina Folk Festival, Aug 9-11

CANADA SERVED COLD TOUR
VANCOUVER, BC: Commodore Ballroom, Oct 19 + 20
EDMONTON, AB: details coming soon.
CALGARY, AB: MacEwan Hall, Oct 24
SASKATOON, SK: TCU Place, Oct 25
WINNIPEG, MB: Burton Cummings Theatre, Oct 26
OTTAWA, ON: TD Place Arena, Oct 29
TORONTO, ON: The Phoenix, Oct 31
MONTREAL, QC: Telus, Nov 1
QUEBEC CITY, QC: Imperial, Nov 2
HALIFAX, NS: The Marquee, Nov 4

*NEW* USA SERVED COLD TOUR (on sale 6/28)
TEMPE, AZ: Marquee Theatre, Nov 24
LAS VEGAS, NV: House of Blues, Nov 25
SAN DIEGO, CA: House of Blues, Nov 26
LOS ANGELES, CA: The Belasco Theatre, Nov 27
SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA: The Fremont Theatre, Nov 29
SAN FRANCISCO, CA: The Fillmore, Dec 1
SACRAMENTO, CA: Ace of Spaces, Dec 2
SEATTLE, WA: Showbox Sodo, Dec 5
SPOKANE, WA: Knitting Factory, Dec 6
GARDEN CITY, ID: Revolution Concert House, Dec 7
CLEVELAND, OH: House of Blues, Jan 5
BUFFALO, NY: Asbury Hall at Babeville, Jan 6
BOSTON, MA: House of Blues, Jan 7
BROOKLYN, NY: Warsaw, Jan 9
PHILADELPHIA, PA: Theatre Of The Living Arts, Jan 10
SILVER SPRING, MD: The Fillmore Silver Spring, Jan 11
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA: Elevation 27, Jan 12
CINCINNATI, OH: Bogarts, Jan 14
LOUISVILLE, KY: Mercury Ballroom, Jan 15
ASHEVILLE, NC: The Orange Peel, Jan 16
RALEIGH, NC: The Ritz, Jan 17
CHARLOTTE, NC: The Underground at the Fillmore Charlotte, Jan 18
CHARLESTON, SC: Music Farm, Jan 20
ORLANDO, FL: House of Blues, Jan 21
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL: Revolution Live, Jan 23
TAMPA, FL: The Orpheum, Jan 24
ATLANTA, GA: Buckhead Theatre, Jan 25

IRELAND AND UK SERVED COLD TOUR
DUBLIN, IE: Vicar Street, Feb 18
BELFAST, UK: Ulster Hall, Feb 19
GLASGOW, UK: O2 Academy, Feb 21
NEWCASTLE, UK: O2 Academy, Feb 22
MANCHESTER, UK: Academy, Feb 23
BIRMINGHAM, UK: O2 Academy, Feb 25
PORTSMOUTH, UK: Guildhall, Feb 26
LONDON, UK: Brixton Academy, Feb 27
NOTTINGHAM, UK: Rock City, Feb 28
EXETER, UK: Great Hall, Feb 29

**NEW** EUROPE SERVED COLD TOUR
UTRECHT, NL: TivoliVredenburg, Mar 24
ANTWERP, BE: De Roma, Mar 25
HAMBURG, DE: Docks, Mar 27
COPENHAGEN, DK: Amager Bio, Mar 28
OSLO, NO: John Dee, Mar 29
STOCKHOLM, SE: Debaser Strand, Mar 30
BERLIN, DE: Columbiahalle, Apr 1
HANNOVER, DE: Capitol, Apr 2
LEIPZIG, DE: Werk 2, Apr 3
PRAGUE, CZ: Palac Akropolis, Apr 4
VIENNA, AU: Gasometer, Apr 5
ZURICH, CH: Volkshaus, Apr 7
MUNICH, DE: Tonhalle, Apr 8
FRANKFURT, DE: Batschkapp, Apr 9
COLOGNE, DE: E Werk, Apr 11

ABOUT THE DEAD SOUTH

A rock band without a drummer, a bluegrass band without a fiddler. To the gentlemen of The Dead South, a self-styled 4-piece string band from Regina, Saskatchewan, it’s about how, not what, you play.

On their third album, Sugar & Joy, The Dead South tell stories of desperation and bad decisions in fast-paced, brightly-laced bursts. The title, Sugar & Joy, selected in the band’s style of pulling a lyric from their self-identified “weirdest song on the record” (in this case, the Gashlycrumb goth of “Fat Little Killer Boy”), speaks to that insulin spike, followed inevitably by the crash. Abscessed morality, rotten motivations and conman-made magical thinking shape Sugar & Joy into a thesis on violence and masculinity.

The JUNO Award winning band's original and current lineup includes the gnarled baritone of Nate Hilts, Scott Pringle on mandolin, whistling cellist Danny Kenyon and virtuosic banjo player Colton Crawford. The four-piece, string-driven approach puts the interplay of unique and versatile voices front and centre, with Hilts, Pringle and Kenyon all sharing lead vocal duties.