Americana mavens The Brothers Comatose bring their raucous, foot-stompin' live show on the road to premier venues across the West Coast and The Rockies with their Frostbite Tour throughout February and March 2017. The Brothers Comatose tour in support of a new The Covers EP: Volume 2 featuring a genre-hopping mix of rock, pop and country classics. The San Francisco-based string band also introduces their whimsical three-part Elevator Sessions video series that rolls out over the course of the Frostbite Tour. The Brothers Comatose are available for interviews upon request.
This weekend, The Brothers Comatose kick things into high gear with two shows in support of ALO, including at The Troubadour (Los Angeles, CA: Feb. 3) and The Belly Up Tavern (San Diego, CA: Feb. 4). The band then heads to El Rey (Chico, CA: Feb. 10), Harlow's (Sacramento, CA: Feb. 11), and The Catalyst (Santa Cruz, CA: Feb. 18).
The Frostbite Tour officially begins at the State Room (Salt Lake City, UT: Feb. 23) and continues to Winter Wondergrass Festival (Steamboat Springs, CO: Feb. 24-26), Center for the Arts (Crested Butte, CO: Feb. 27), The Olympic Venue (Boise, ID: March 1), Knotty Pine (Victor, ID: March 2), Filling Station (Bozeman, MT: March 3), Top Hat (Missoula, MT: March 4), The Bartlett (Spokane, WA: March 5), Brewminatti (Prosser, WA: March 7), Green Frog (Bellingham, WA: March 8), The Tractor Tavern (Seattle, WA: March 9 & 10), Revolution Hall (Portland, OR: March 11), and The UC Theatre (Berkeley, CA: March 31; Fieldwork Brewing's 2nd Anniversary Party).
Covering obscure songs is nothing new for The Brothers Comatose. In fact, that's how brothers Ben and Alex Morrison got their start after learning a mess of classic rock songs for some early garage recordings. The latest round of songs piquing the brothers' muse are as broad in range as the colors in a California coastal sunset. The Covers EP: Volume 2 opens with Alex taking the lead vocals on "To Be Young, Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High" by Ryan Adams. Ben sings lead on the remaining three barnburners, "I Want A New Drug" (Huey Lewis and The News), "Stickshifts And Safetybelts" (CAKE), and "My Bucket's Got A Hole In It" (Hank Williams). The Covers EP: Volume 2 can be purchased on stores.portmerch.com/
"Huey Lewis' album Sports was the first tape I owned, and I absolutely idolized him," says Ben Morrison. "I actually still have a band photo of theirs that a family friend got autographed for me - it's hung up in my room right now. I always wanted to cover 'I Want A New Drug' and our fiddle player Phil Brezina became friends with Huey's daughter. We figured we'd cut a video of the cover and send it off to him. To our surprise, Huey wrote back immediately and said the whole band loved it. I was shocked!"
The Brothers Comatose always keep their fans on the edge of their seat by sprinkling in left-field covers to their live repertoire. Sets have included bluegrass-inflected renditions of songs by The Rolling Stones, Amy Winehouse, Violent Femmes, and Credence Clearwater Revival. On their headlining tours throughout the country, the string band showcases many of their latest originals from the critically-acclaimed 2016 release, City Painted Gold. The album captures the ever-evolving city of San Francisco, where the band has been based for 14 years in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood.
"We wrote this album while living in SF as it was changing from a weird, art friendly mecca to a place that only super rich tech workers could afford," tells Ben. "Venues were closing down, and artist and musician friends moved away. What is San Francisco without its weirdos? That's what the song 'City Painted Gold' is about and that's why it's the name of this record."
Always a boisterous group of musicians, The Brothers Comatose produced three Elevator Sessions where the band spontaneously performs in random elevators. The first set of videos captures the band pickin' away at Westfield Mall in downtown San Francisco to unexpected crowds joining them for the elevator ride and impromptu jam sessions.
"It's been super fun seeing people's reactions to the moment the elevator doors open and there's a full band playing inside. It brings lots of smiles and laughter, which is really what we're all about."
For a comprehensive list of all forthcoming The Brothers Comatose tour dates, please see below and visit: thebrotherscomatose.com/tour
2/3 -- Troubador -- Los Angeles, CA*
2/4 -- Belly Up -- San Diego, CA*
2/10 -- El Rey Theater -- Chico, CA
2/11 -- Harlow's -- Sacrametno, CA
2/19 -- Santa Cruz Music Festival -- Santa Cruz, CA
2/23 -- State Room -- Salt Lake City, UT
2/24 -- Winter Wondergrass Festival -- Steamboat, CO
2/25 -- Winter Wondergrass Festival -- Steamboat, CO
2/26 -- Winter Wondergrass Festival -- Steamboat, CO
2/27 -- Center For The Arts -- Crested Butte, CO^
3/1 -- Olympic -- Boise, ID^
3/2 -- Knotty Pine -- Victor, ID^
3/3 -- Filling Station -- Bozeman, MT^
3/4 -- Top Hat -- Missoula, MT^
3/5 -- The Bartlett -- Spokane, WA^
3/7 -- Brewminatti -- Prosser, WA^
3/8 -- Green Frog -- Bellingham, WA^
3/9 -- Tractor Tavern -- Seattle, WA**
3/10 -- Tractor Tavern -- Seattle, WA**
3/11 -- Revolution Hall -- Portland, OR**
* w/ ALO
^ w/ Rainbow Girls
** w/ Hillstomp and Rainbow Girls
