Blood Feathers are an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band from

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. They were formed in 2005 by Ben Dickey and Drew Mills. The current band consists of Dickey (vocals, guitar, piano) and Mills (vocals, guitar), Clay Simmons (bass guitar), Patrick Marsceill (drums), Sam Murphy (guitar), and Tracy Stanton (saxophone, percussion, keyboard).

Biography

Blood Feathers started as a live performance outlet for songwriters Ben Dickey and Drew Mills to showcase new material they had written. Having met through the Philadelphia music scene in the 1990s, by 2005, both Dickey and Mills' bands (Amen Booze Rooster and Aspera, respectively) had broken up. Dickey and Mills started performing new material,

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and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

covers together at local

open mic An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, usually taking place at night, in which audience members may perform on stage whether the ...

nights under the moniker ''Dickey Mills''. Eventually having an album's worth of material, the two went into studio with local Philadelphia friends, Mickey Walker and Quentin Stoltzfus (''both of the band Mazarin''). With the assistance of Philadelphia producer Brian McTear, the group recorded what would become Blood Feathers debut, ''Curse and Praise''. Walker and Stoltzfus performed as the band's

rhythm section A rhythm section is a group of musicians within a music ensemble or band that provides the underlying rhythm, harmony and pulse of the accompaniment, providing a rhythmic and harmonic reference and "beat" for the rest of the band. The rhythm sec ...

on the recording and would eventually play in a revolving cast of musicians that comprised the early Blood Feathers live show. ''Curse & Praise'' was released on August 8, 2006 on the Philadelphia-based label, Box Theory Records. Magnet Magazine wrote of the album, "Drew Mill's quavering voice -- with its pinch of

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...

, gram of Marc Bolan and healthy dose of

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-- immediately conjures

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fields and starry skies.". Despite gaining favorable editorial reviews, the album failed to elevate the band into the national spotlight. In 2007, after failing to garner national support for their debut, Dickey and Mills planned to take time off from their home town of Philadelphia and relocate to Prescott, Arizona.

The guitarist-songwriters decided to regroup, seeking a bigger piece of the sky in Prescott, Arizona, where they planned to hone their songwriting alliance while working at a restaurant owned by their manager, Newt Lynn. Mills never made it due to personal reasons, but Dickey says he spent a beneficial 18 Southwestern months working in the kitchen by day and as a guitarist in a
Bob Wills James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although S ...
cover band called The Prescott Playboys by night. "I was 30 years younger than everybody else in the band," Dickey, 32, says with a measure of pride. "The guy I replaced played in Patsy Cline's band. It was great for me as a musician." Dickey wasn't about to give up on Blood Feathers, however. So the
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
native moved back to Fishtown - where he now works as a cook at indie venue/gastropub Johnny Brenda's. He got Blood Feathers back together with Mills, who's originally from Willow Grove and who had taken a job touring with songwriter Benjy Ferree while Dickey was out of town.

Upon Dickey's return from Arizona, Blood Feathers established a full band line up, consisting of Mills and Dickey with the addition of Patrick Marsceill on the drums (formerly of The A-Sides), Tracy Stanton(formerly of Bardo Pond) on the saxophone, percussion, and keyboards, and Sam Murphy on the guitar (an old

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

friend of Dickey's who also plays in the Philadelphia band Pink Skull). On December 8, 2009, Blood Feathers second album, ''Goodness Gracious'', was released digitally on Philebrity Label. Vinyl versions of this album are anticipated to be released in March 2010. Since the album has been available, it has gained national attention by consistent airplay on the nationally syndicated NPR program World Cafe. The first single off ''Goodness Gracious'', "Don't Know You At All" was also featured on an

Urban Outfitters Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN) is a multinational lifestyle retail corporation headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Operating in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, select Western European countries, Poland the United Arab Emirates, Kuw ...

musical compilation available fro
their website
and on iTunes.

Interviews

(January 2010)

(January 2010)

Discography

*''Curse & Praise'' (

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

) ( CD, MP3) released August 2006 in the USA o
Box Theory Records
*''Goodness Gracious'' (

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

) ( LP, CD, MP3) released December 2009 digitally (mp3) in the US, in March 2010 on Vinyl in the USA on Philebrity Label.

References

External links

Official Blood Feathers Site

Blood Feathers on Facebook

Blood Feathers on Myspace

Blood Feathers on Twitter

Blood Feathers on Last.FMBlood Feathers Interview on TheWaster.com
{{Authority control Indie rock musical groups from Pennsylvania Musical groups from Philadelphia