Frontier Ruckus released Deadmalls & Nightfalls on Ramseur Records yesterday, July 20th, 2010 and you can catch them on the road supporting the effort. The former college friends use traditional instrumentals – banjo, pedal steel, harmonium, bellows, mandolin and guitars – as well as the occasional tasteful horn flourishes and Hammond organ, to adorn their stark travelogues in a unique and heartfelt way.
Don't be fooled by their moniker; this band's frontier is urban and its landscapes are the industrial wastelands of their native Detroit. But the world portrayed in Deadmalls and Nightfalls is a land purely of frontman/multi-instrumentalist Matthew Milia's creation: a new, sacred landscape populated with the memories of the strip mall stretches and Michigan roadways of his youth. His sense of detail and place is beautiful and visually descriptive, like a Midwestern Cormac McCarthy. Milia's vocals are unadorned and honest, the songs haunting and spare.
Upcoming Tour Dates:
** w/ Samantha Crain
WED Jul 21 Wichita, KS @ Rock Island Live
THU Jul 22 Denton, TX @ Boiler Room**
FRI Jul 23 Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
SAT Jul 24 Lubbock, TX @ Bash Rip Rocks
SUN Jul 25 Albuquerque, NM @ Low Spirits
SAT Jul 31 Echo Park, CA @ Roots Roadhouse Fest
TUE Aug 3 Portland, OR @ Alberta Rose Theater
THU Aug 5 Victor, ID @ Main Street Park
SAT Aug 7 Englewood, CO @ Moe's
FRI Aug 13 Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
FRI Aug 20 Wellston, MI @ Hoxeyville Music Festival
SAT Aug 21 Grand Rapids, MI @ Founders Brewing Company
FRI Aug 27 Ontonagon, MI @ Winter Sports Complex – Porcupine Mountains Music Festival
FRI Oct 8 Greenville, SC @ Downtown Greenville
THU Oct 21 Baton Rouge, LA @ Manship Theatre
