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It’s summer, and Deer Tick is everywhere.
With fans such as NBC Nightly News anchorman Brian Williams and Rolling Stone, Rhode Island-born band Deer Tick is poised for a national breakthrough.
Singer/songwriter John Joseph McCauley III, bassist Christopher Dale Ryan and drummer Dennis Michael Ryan all hail from Providence and Pawtucket. (Guitarist Andrew Grant Tobiassen, a Floridian, is the band’s only non-Rhody.)
The son of Rhode Island House Representative John McCauley, the young McCauley graduated from Providence’s MET School, then took his Tom Petty-meets-The-Band whiskeyed twang on the road. Deer Tick’s first album, War Elephant, with its haunted observations of love, liquor and loss, was met with critical acclaim. After the band’s performance at this spring’s music industry-heavyweight South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, Rolling Stone hailed Deer Tick as the “Breakout Band to Watch.”
Despite several months a year on the road, McCauley says he will always be most at home in Rhode Island, where his favorite activities once included “trying to sneak into Rocky Point or climbing to the top of the Temple.” These days, he’s more likely to enjoy a relaxing beer with friends at Providence’s E&O Taproom. Deer Tick’s new album, Born on Flag Day, was released in June. Catch them live next month at the Newport Folk Festival. —JAMIE SAMONS
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