The Duke & The King

The devil has a Ferris wheel, to take you up and show you all the pretty ones dancing in the fires below. So say the Duke & The King, troubadours from the Catskill Mountains, and a group on my must hear list. The album is called "Nothing Gold Can Stay," and the men behind the name (a nod to the two conniving grifters in "The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn") are Simone Felice (of The Felice Brothers) and Robert 'Chicken' Burke (George Clinton). (Simone Felice and Robert Burke. photo credit: Dave Herron) Felice wrote some of the songs after he and his lover lost their baby in a miscarriage. Instead of going on tour with the Felice Brothers, he stayed holed up in the woods, up in Bearsville, NY with Burke and recorded this record. The result is one hell of a debut, that conjures the likes of 1970/'71 Cat Stevens...

The devil has a Ferris wheel, to take you up and show you all the pretty ones dancing in the fires below. So say the Duke & The King, troubadours from the Catskill Mountains, and a group on my must hear list. The album is called “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” and the men behind the name (a nod to the two conniving grifters in “The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn”) are Simone Felice (of The Felice Brothers) and Robert ‘Chicken’ Burke (George Clinton).

(Simone Felice and Robert Burke. photo credit: Dave Herron)

Felice wrote some of the songs after he and his lover lost their baby in a miscarriage. Instead of going on tour with the Felice Brothers, he stayed holed up in the woods, up in Bearsville, NY with Burke and recorded this record. The result is one hell of a debut, that conjures the likes of 1970/’71 Cat Stevens wandering atop a mountain. It’s the sound of good men full of sorrow and joy, making sense of it as they go, until their mourning has broken. Have a listen.

“The Morning I Get to Hell,” by The Duke & The King.

And dig this interview with them on NPR’s, All Things Considered.

More at label, Loose.