As his Valentine’s Day gift to the world, James Felice releases his debut solo album, The Little Ones, today. Felice kicks off a tour supporting Shovels & Rope tonight before a run of headline album release shows, with a stop at Union Pool in Brooklyn, on March 15.
“I wrote this record over the course of a summer, mostly in an unfinished attic. It was so hot up there that I could only work at night. I had to sing softly so as not to wake the people sleeping below me. And so night after night, I would sing softly and sweat prodigiously in my stupidly hot attic, and these characters would somehow emerge, and I would try to write songs about them.”
– James Felice
On The Little Ones, James joins the long lineage of winking American tearjerkers, the great crying-in-your-beer smart alecks like Warren Zevon, John Prine, or even Tom Waits. With a similar rollicking ease on keyboard instruments, Felice slides up next to Doctor John and bears Randy Newman’s torch, frequently squeezing the blood of a catchy chorus from the stone of an unlikely song subject. And his sometimes wounded, side-of-the-mouth vocal delivery brings longtime collaborator Bright Eyes to mind.
This album is far more intimate than the music of his forebears – captured mostly at home and often late at night. These songs are spacious and confessional, a simple drum machine pattern just barely keeping them lashed to the Earth, longtime Felice Brothers producer Jeremy Backofen keeping it simple, direct, and effective. More often than not, the record is James and his chords, with a hit of the occasional bass, drumset, or fiddle gliding the edges of the frame. These songs sound like the things you can only say after almost everyone else has fallen asleep.
The Little Ones follows the release of The Felice Brothers 2024 full-length Valley of Abandoned Songs, the first release on Million Stars.
James Felice Solo Tour Dates:
2/14 – Memphis, TN – Growlers
2/15 – Little Rock, AR – Revolution Music Room
2/16 – Fayetteville, AR – George’s Majestic Lounge
2/18 – Oklahoma City, OK – Beer City Music Hall
2/20 – Dallas, TX – The Kessler Theater
2/21 – Houston, TX – The Heights Theater
2/22 – Austin, TX – Antone’s Nightclub
2/23 – Austin, TX – Antone’s Nightclub
2/25 – New Orleans, LA – Tipitina’s
2/26 – Birmingham, AL – Saturn
2/28 – Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl
3/1 – Atlanta, GA – Terminal West
3/2 – Macon, GA – Society Garden
3/4 – Jacksonville, FL – The Bier Hall at Intuition Ale Works
3/6 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Culture Room
3/7 – Tampa, FL – The Crowbar
3/8 – Orlando, FL – The Social
3/11 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
3/13 – Washington, DC – DC9
3/14 – Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church – Side Chapel
3/15 – Brooklyn, NY – Union Pool
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