“We have a band that is kind of without genre. People are asking us who we listen to and what we like, and we’re trying to explain it to them and it doesn’t really make much sense,” laughs Pete Bernhard of electrified Appalachia stomp-folkabilly roots trio (see, we can’t classify it either) The Devil Makes Three. In 2016, the band released Redemption & Ruin via New West Records, a carefully curated collection of covers that honors the band’s influences. “We thought ‘why don’t we just make a record that’s a theme or concept record that also pays tribute to all these people that we love?’” he explains. “Obviously, we couldn’t fit them all on the album, but we used the theme to narrow down the choices and give them a nod, and thought maybe people would listen to our version, go listen to that artist’s catalog, and hear something they love.”
Redemption & Ruin features a star-studded roster of guests appearances from the likes of Emmylou Harris, Tim O’Brien, Jerry Douglas, Darrell Scott and guitar great Duane Eddy, who help the band reimagine songs writers by legends like Tom Waits, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Townes Van Zandt and more. One-half of the album houses misbehaving party tunes (the “ruin”) and the other half bears old-time gospel songs (the “redemption”). “We started with a ton of material. We’ve never done that before,” Bernhard says of working with so many guests on the album. “Since we recorded in Nashville, we just kind of jumped at the chance to have all these amazing people come play. Lots of them were people we’d met through touring and opening for their bands on the road. Others were suggestions. Jerry Douglas ended up being on a bunch of tracks because he’s just so much fun to play with. We left the arrangements open and played as much as we could live. I don’t know if we’d be able to do it again.”
The Devil Makes Three is now on a tour which will take them to iconic venues like Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheater, and one which brings them to Nashville’s Marathon Music Works on February 2nd. “These days, Nashville’s a really great audience for us, but strangely enough, it took us a while to catch on there,” Bernhard reveals. “But now, we love playing there. Everybody who played on the record is probably on the road now, but we’ll have some folks come sit in and play with us while we’re there. We always have guests on our tours these days.” The group has been road-testing new material, and soon, will head back to the studio to record their next album in Texas. “Nothing against Nashville!” he laughs. “We recorded our last two albums in Nashville, so we figured we’d try something different. We’re going to go live there for a while and try to make a record.”
While their music may garner many adjectives and classification attempts, one word suits this band that transcends labels—“longevity.” “We’ve been at this for about 15 years now. A big part of it for us is playing live, and doing different stuff during the live show,” Bernhard says of keeping the work fresh and inspired. “We’re not the type of band where you’ll see the show and it will sound exactly like the record. I think some people may be disappointed by that, but for us, it keeps it new and keeps the creativity moving. We’re also old, we’ve known each other a long time,” he laughs. “That makes a big difference.”
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