23 Black
Get new content delivered directly to your inbox.
Good (insert time of day you’re reading this), my friend! I actually don’t remember what prompted me to write something on networking, I think I was coming out of work one day and heard someone talking about it. If this is what happened, let’s assume that everything they said was wrong. I say this because […]
St. Amands - 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm March 12th
Quarthaus - 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm - March 13th
Wrecked at the Reef - 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm March 17th
Wrecked at the Reef - 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm March 18th
St. Amands - 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm March 19th
12 West Mesa - 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm - March 20th
Quarthaus - 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm - March 26th
JOJO Coffeehouse - 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm March 27th
Sozo Alternative/Emo Night - 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm April 2nd
Quarthaus - 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm - April 3rd
Pub Rock - 8:00 pm - 11:00 pm - April 9th
Da Bayou - 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm - April 10th
Jojo Coffee - 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm - April 17th
The Perch - 7:30 pm - 10:30 pm - April 23rd
Da Bayou - 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm - April 24th
12 West Mesa - 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm - April 30th
Private Event - May 1st
The Parlay - 6:00 - 9:00 pm - May 15th
12 West Mesa - 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm - June 4th
Live Performance
When I was a kid, my parents asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up and I said, “A blacksmith.”
My dad told me, “That’s dumb.”
I responded, “You want to see dumb?”
And then I got into music…
Biography: “What’s the point of doing this if you don’t break?” He leaned forward, messaging his neck. “What’s the point? Because I want to do this, what other reason is there?” Dean Nelson is a quicksilver Singer/Songwriter from Pheonix, Arizona. His music is played on late night road trips and before first dates. His music ranges from heartfelt lyrics recalling a night in with a soulmate to a stadium filled with screaming fans. Dean’s stream of conscious lyrics has a distinctive tone in storytelling. Much like his voice, he’s trying to convey something with tone. There is an intentional ambiguity to the music. It’s as if the music were religiously honed in, and in the moment of recording, a fresh take was added to give the songs a sense of unbridled interpretation.
Born and raised in Virginia, Dean released his first album Puzzles Vol. 2 in 2013 under the name Winchester with his cousin and longtime collaborator Spencer Jones. They found moderate success before disbanding the group in 2014 to pursue different genres and ends. They have kept their collaborative roots strong, producing and performing on each other’s subsequent albums. In late 2015 Dean revamped Winchester, collaborating writing duties with the lyrical savvy Danien Martin and inserting a new line up, he released the rock dressed Clever Girl. The album was a gateway to festivals and venues across the west coast. Including Kirkland Uncorked, Brewfest and Omaha’s Summerfest, even headlining at NICfest in Casper, WY. The fan-favorite Pom Pom championed Clever Girl; this marks the start of Dean’s spectrum in songwriting.
Before Pom Pom his music featured more conventional formats. Clever Girl added a sense of sensible levity to his craft. Songs like Lucky and Original Sin have a level of affable self-deprecation to them. At the end of 2016 Dean toured through Europe with Spencer Jones and his Group Redhill, the tour had them recording at the legendary Air Studios featured on fabled stages like the Bedford. 2017 brought the album Twist of Blue. The album came at a time of great change in Dean’s personal life. Shortly after the songs were written with partner Danien Martin, he passed away. The songs were laid down with a sense of loss and reverence which can be heard in the tracks. CJ Rudolph, Nick Kader, and Bob Lewis stepped in to fill the holes left by Martin’s passing. Fan’s quickly gravitated towards Songwriter’s Song.
The track Caramel opened a new vein of introspective instrumental music for the songwriter. In 2018 he released four singles. The songs vary from the uptempo, “uptown funk” esque Half-stack to the somber Not This Time, his most autobiographical song to date. Where Dean does not has a defining sound, his strokes are subject and tone are broad, yet engaging. Like catching up with an old friend. One you haven’t seen in years.
Dean’s has been more focused on collaborative efforts lately. Working with incredible artist like Erin Shae, Pablo Lovetrain, Summer Knit, Juniper Ridge and Every Day After. “I love the different sounds and ideas you get from working with another artist or producer. Garrett Bowers (Juniper Ridge) and I are working on an album now, but after this have run its course and everyone can hear what we’ve been working on, I’m thinking I want to release an album where every song has a different producer on it.”
At the midway point of 2021 Dean has release two polarizing tracks. The bedroom, psych rock “Cream” (the lead single from the upcoming album) and the riff rock stand alone single “Peacock” – This tells us at least one thing about his future, it will be optimistically unpredictable.
Dean has been hard at work in the studio on his next album named Kiss me first; the album has been co-written and produced by Garrett Bowers. It is set to release December of 2021. A subsequent tour across the US will follow.
