The music of Louisiana songwriter Brother Dege (aka Dege Legg) inhabits the rural backwaters of Cajun country, where the ghosts of the dead routinely commune with the living and a pervading sense of foreboding hovers over everything. Long a Southern secret, Brother Dege has been channeling the spirits of Son House and Flannery O’Connor for close to two decades. Underpinning his homespun campfire tales and rural spook stories with a pastoral, acoustic grace, he effortlessly sidesteps the barriers between punk, blues, and folk and comes away with a dark Americana sound that feels tied to the roots of those genres without sacrificing the grit and grime of any of them.
He has had an upsurge in recognition recently as his song “Too Old To Die Young” was hand-picked by director Quentin Tarantino to appear on the Django Unchained soundtrack. Following up on this new-found popularity, Brother Dege has just announced the release of his latest collection of songs, entitled How To Kill A Horse, which is due out on November 5th via GolarWash Labs & Records.
For the first single from the album, Dege has chosen the title track, a slow burning gothic stomp through humid swamps and the sweltering delta sun. Opening with tremulous guitar notes floating hesitantly over aged and weary vocals, “How To Kill A Horse” finds purpose and momentum in the interlocking rhythms between the swampy trudge of thickly poured guitar licks and dense, back-breaking percussion. The song blossoms into a full-on rocker, casting aside its humble beginnings and towering like the skyline of some majestic southern city. Brother Dege allows the song room to grow and mature without sacrificing the intimate and confessional songwriting which has come to be synonymous with his music.
Beats Per Minute is pleased to premiere the title track from Brother Dege’s upcoming record, How To Kill A Horse.
