Brother Dege’s Profound Roots on Display via “The Early Morn” (premiere)

“The Early Morn” is the latest cut from Brother Dege‘s album Farmer’s Almanac (Psyouthern Records). The video was made by Bearfoot Productions and director David Dooley with audio recording done by Paul Mulligan at Audio Monkey Studio. Kinvara, Ireland.

The Grammy-nominated Dege hails from Louisiana, earned a slot on the soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, and remains a fiercely in-demand artist on the European touring circuit.

Of the tune, Dege says, “It’s about those haunting moments of sobering clarity that come to you while getting ready in the grey, predawn hours to go meet the daily grind of whatever kind of job you have to do. Where am I? Who am I? What the hell am I doing with my life? For some reason, I find that all that stuff has a profound resonance in the early morning.”

In making the video, he found a way to celebrate his partnership with fellow musician and dobro player, Tom Portman. He notes, “My solo and duo shows [with Tom] have never been properly captured with the ambient usage of the amps and pedals. Tom and I had some days off in western Ireland where he lives, so we decided to film this in-studio thing after a chance meeting the Bearfoot Production guys at a gig in Kilkenny. They were game to shoot something interesting. So we all woke up early on a Monday and banged it out.”

The track’s understated lyrics and carefully-crafted instrumental passages are testaments to both Dege’s Southern American heritage and a penchant for crafting those spare, haunting tunes that recall the 1960s British folk movement with its lived-in melodies and deep human resonance.