Pete Bernhard of acclaimed Americana trio Devil Makes Three plays to play show at Tin Roof
from Staff Reports
The power of words isn’t lost on Pete Bernhard, the frontman and primary songwriter for longstanding Americana triumvirate The Devil Makes Three. For as much as he and bandmates Lucia Turino, and Cooper McBean remain rooted in troubadour traditions of wandering folk, Delta blues, whiskey-soaked ragtime, and reckless rock ‘n’ roll, the band nods to the revolutionary unrest of author James Baldwin, the no-holds barred disillusionment of Ernest Hemingway, and Southern Gothic malaise of Flannery O’Connor.
“I always want our songs to unfold like short stories,” says Bernhard. “You could think of them like the chapters of a book. Of course, they’re shorter and maybe more poetic. This was a much more personal album about what it takes to be an artist or writer of any kind—and what you have to do to make your dream possible. It was really the headspace I was in. It might have something to do with getting older. You start reflecting on life and the people around you. I was doing that in these songs. That’s what makes the record more personal. I’m pulling from these things. Some of it is about drug addiction. Some of it is about the things you sacrifice. Some of it is about the detrimental things we do for inspiration. Nevertheless, they all have some sort of narrative.”
Bernhard’s journey up to this point could be deemed worthy of a novel. His band’s self-titled 2002 debut yielded the now-classic “Old Number Seven,” “Graveyard,” “The Plank,” and more as they organically attracted a diehard following through constant touring. Longjohns, Boots and a Belt arrived in 2003 followed by 2009’s Do Wrong Write between a pair of live recordings, namely A Little Bit Faster and a Little Bit Worse and Stomp and Smash.
2014’s I’m a Stranger Here marked their first debut on the Billboard Top 200 as the 2016 “hero worship homage” Redemption & Ruin heralded the group’s second #1 bow on the Billboard Top Bluegrass Albums Chart and fourth consecutive top five debut on the respective chart. The latter garnered widespread acclaim from the likes of Entertainment Weekly, American Songwriter, The Boston Globe, and more. Over the years, they casted an unbreakable spell on audiences everywhere from Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Hangout Fest, and Shaky Knees.
As the band began writing ideas for 2018’s Chains Are Broken, they veered off the proverbial path creatively and retreated to Sonic Ranch Studios in El Paso, TX a stone’s throw from the Mexican border to record with producer Ted Hutt (Gaslight Anthem, Dropkick Murphys).
“We broke a lot of rules in making that record,” says Bernhard. “We’ve always done whatever we wanted to, but there were still some things we wouldn’t try. Those fears went out the window. Ted was a big part of that. He stayed with us throughout the whole process from pre-production until the final moment of recording. He pushed us outside of our comfort zone. We’ve never had this experience. So, we got really creative under pressure, which ended up being super fun.”
In the end, the words and music leave a long-lasting imprint. “I’d love for people to feel inspired,” Bernard says. “Some of the songs might be sad, down, or depressing, but they inspire me. I feel better through the process. I hope you do too.”
After Covid 19 put a hold on the band’s touring schedule Bernhard started exploring playing solo and released Harmony Ascension Division in 2020 on Kahn Records, the label owned and operated by The Devil Makes Three. The band has again been playing live and working on new material. But Bernhard is also touring as a solo act through the south this summer.
Pete Bernhard of The Devil Makes Three plays Tin Roof on Saturday, Aug. 26 along with Clyde McGee and Lightning Luke of The Bridge City Sinners. Tickets are $18 in advance and $23 day of the show. Tin Roof is located at 1117 Magnolia Road. To purchase tickets, visit www.citypapertickets.com
