CONAN APPEARANCE CONFIRMED FOR FEBRUARY 27th 

Our first Blue Series single of the year is a dark and delirious slice of new American Primitive from the modern master of the form, Frank Fairfield.

For the uninitiated, Frank is a Fresno California native (and now Los Angeles resident) and a genius on the fiddle, guitar, banjo who possesses a broken soulful voice that perfectly reflects the tragedy and damnation of the subject matter reflected in the timeless American music that he’s made his stock and trade through his albums on Tompkins Square, and through countless tours from coast to coast.

On side A, Frank delivers his unique take on the traditional murder ballad “Duncan & Brady,” (available for your listening pleasure here) which details a barroom shooting of police officer James Brady in St. Louis back in 1890. The song has been interpreted a number of times over the years from a wide range of luminaries, including Leadbelly, Bob Dylan, Dave Van Ronk and Judy Henske. The B side finds Frank switching up from the guitar to the fiddle and being accompanied by Zac Sokolow also on fiddle performing “Devil’s Dream Medley.” “Devil’s Dream Medley” blends the duo fiddles with vocal elements from the song “June Apple,” popularized by Wade Ward and Doc Watson.

Frank Fairfield’s Blue Series will be released on 7″ vinyl and iTunes on January 21st and will be everywhere fine independent records are sold. It is available for pre-order or distro now.

Lastly, overseas fans can check out Frank’s current tour dates below including UK and Spain with Cass McCombs!

08/01/14 Bristol, UK Colston Hall w/ Cass McCombs
09/01/14 Glasgow, UK CCA w/ Cass McCombs
10/01/14 Manchester, UK Deaf Institute w/ Cass McCombs
11/01/14 Leeds, UK Howard Assembly Room
13/01/14 London, UK Queen Elizabeth Hall w/ Cass McCombs
14/01/14 Cardiff, UK Gwidihw
16/01/14 Kilkenny, IE Cleere’s
17/01/14 Dundalk, IE Spirit Store
18/01/14 Dublin, IE The Grand Social
20/01/14 Madrid, ES Teatro Lara w/ Cass McCombs
21/01/14 Cadiz, ES Edifico Constitucion 1812 w/ Cass McCombs
23/01/14 Barcelona, ES Sala Apolo w/ Cass McCombs
24/01/14 Marseille, FR Data
25/01/14 Vendome, FR Chapelle St Jacques
26/01/14 St Ouen, FR Mains d’Oeuvres
27/01/14 Nancy, FR Off Kultur
28/01/14 Rennes, FR Mondo Bizarro

AVAILABLE DIGITALLY WORLDWIDE JANUARY 14

January 14 will see the digital release of The Dead Weather’s two brand new studio recordings, “Open Up (That’s Enough)” and “Rough Detective.” Previously available exclusively through Third Man Records’ subscription-only Vault series as a limited edition yellow jacket colored vinyl 7″ in a custom glue-pocket picture sleeve, these roaring new tracks will be available to the general public digitally via iTunes and all other digital retailers.

In a unique long-term strategy, “Open Up (That’s Enough)” and “Rough Detective” are the first of a series of two-song sets The Dead Weather will be releasing up until 2015, at which time the singles–plus numerous other album-only tracks–will be collected into a full album. The songs will be released digitally, but not until TMR Vault packages containing the physical singles have been dispatched to subscribers.

More importantly, the “Open Up (That’s Enough)” / “Rough Detective” single is unlike anything else The Dead Weather has ever done before, while both songs serve as ample reminders of the ferocity of this motley collection of low-lifes, grifters and ne’er-do-wells.

Stay tuned to thedeadweather.com and thirdmanrecords.com/vault for information about future releases.