When you hear a band name like Murder By Death, your mind immediately goes to a growling death metal band.
But when you listen to the Bloomington, Indiana based based roots rock band, you hear a spooky, haunting death country folk sound reminiscent of Elliott Brood and Wax Mannequin with liberal doses of Nick Cave.
They made an impression with their Lethbridge debut last March as one of the Slice’s bathroom’s towel holders now sports the graffiti “Murder by Death is the best band Ever.”
They return to the Slice with Minneapolis roots rock band The 4 on the Floor, Aug. 29.
Murder By Death frontman and songwriter Adam Turla is excited to get back on the road again.
“We’re getting ready for the new tour,” Turla said in a brief moment between finishing a rehearsal and packing the van.
“This is the longest tour we’re doing this year as far as distance covered although we did go to Europe earlier this year,” he said.
They have been spending the summer playing various one off shows and festivals, but this will be the last big tour of the year.
“We’re entertainers. We’re all about that. We like to have a good time. I like to show the dynamics of the band. We like to get people really interested. We’ll play a really slow song and the next one will be aggressive. We like to keep people interested and excited,” he said.
“We try not to describe ourselves. But it all points to dark Americana music,” he said.
They released their latest album “Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon,” in 2012, but for this tour they are learning tracks from throughout their six albums they released since they formed in 2001.
Rehearsal time for a tour can vary.
“ It depends. This tour we’ll be pulling out a lot of older songs, so it won’t be the same show we played last time we were there,” he said.
“It is one of the smallest venues we‘re playing. So knowing we have an audience there, we’re definitely looking forward to it,” he said.
Their friend David Fountain has been touring with them for the past year playing lap steel guitar, taking the place of their usual utility player Scott Brackett who is ill and unable to tour.
“ His doctors say he’s not allowed to tour, so we’ll see,” he said.
He will begin the writing process for a new album after this tour, which takes them from Indiana, through the mid-western United States, up into Canada and down the west coast, through Albuquerque, New Mexico, Texas and ends in Florida on Oct. 5.
“We haven’t started writing yet. I don’t like to do it all at once. I’ve got to let it breathe a little bit. I don’t like to flood people with it,” he said.
“I like to go away for awhile into the woods away from the city and get out of normal life and the internet and the business and just focus on the writing,” he described.
“ I don’t even bring a guitar. I do it all in my head— coming up with melodies I just write down a lot of lyrics and ideas in journals and bring them to the band,” he said adding he isn’t a prolific songwriter.
“ I have a lot of ideas, but I don’t finish a lot of songs, though I’ll keep pieces of them. If an idea isn’t working in a couple of hours, I’ll move on,” he said.
He writes most of the band’s songs, though band members will contribute lyrical ideas and riffs.
“Sara (Balliet, cello and keyboards) wrote down a couple of ideas for ‘Lost River,’ one of my favourites off the last album,” he said.
Turla is are excited about not only the playing, but the tour itself.
“ We’re going to a National Park in Utah. I love national parks. So when we have a day off, I’ll go hiking there. And in Montana, we’re going to Little Big Horn, the site of Custer’s last stand. So when we’re there for our Billings show, we’ll go there because I love a little bit of history,” he continued.
“I’m just excited to be be able to play. Alberta is fun. It’s our favourite place to play in Canada,” he said.
Tickets to the Aug. 29 show cost $20. The show begins at 9 p.m.
— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
