Deer Tick is an alternative rock band formed in Providence, Rhode Island. The band’s home page addresses their unique style, and how they have been “labeled just about everything this side of Top 40” but describes their recent album Divine Providence as a “true-to-form rock-and-roll record”, referencing their recent release, Divine Providence. Their fun sound and melancholy lyrics cover territory from “Hell Bent and Whiskey Bound” to “Little Lion Man” to “Rip this Joint” and has received favorable reviews from NPR, Pitchfork, and Rolling Stone.

The band’s stripped down tunes are a much needed reprieve from the glitzy spectacle of Lady Gaga & Co. Another one of their notable influences echo another lo-fi band, Nirvana. Last March, Deer Tick debuted their side-tribute band, Deervana at Texas’ South by Southwest festival.  They expertly kept songs like “In Bloom” and “All Apologies” alive for a crowd that was probably too young to have actually seen Nirvana in the early ‘90s.

The Deer Tick was originally created as a John McCauley solo project, but he eventually brought friend Brendon Massei in for touring. The two toured over the US extensively in the mid-2000s. The band slowly expanded over the years to include bassist Christopher Dale Ryan, drummer Dennis Ryan, guitarist Ian O’Neil(after leaving Titus Andronicus) and multi-instrumentalist Rob Crowell.  Beginning as a DIY project, they released their own CD-Rs until signing with Feow! and currently Partisan Records on their fourth album.

Deer Tick is currently wrapping up their tour supporting their latest album Divine Providence, having toured with Jenny Lewis and Dawes. The band is famous for having great parties, er…concerts, with plenty of beer and audience participation, effectively laying pavement for being the next great bar band. And one would expect nothing less from a band whose latest album art (http://www.partisanrecords.com/artists/deer-tick/catalog/divine-providence) looks like it’s been inspired by ‘Brilliant!’ era Guinness commercials (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DPKf7y1F-Q).

Deer Tick will be headlining Tampa's Gasparilla Music Festival in the downtown district. More information at the festival can be found at http://gasparillamusicfestival.com/#!/home.

You can find more information about Deer Tick at their website ( http://www.deertickmusic.com/ )

or their facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/deertick)