Grammy-nominated, renowned singer/songwriter Brother Dege (pronounced ‘deej’) aka Dege Legg has inked an album deal with Prophecy Productions. The American guitarist will release his upcoming new album via the label as well as his physical catalogue of dark, southern Americana, and heavily Delta blues imbued, spellbinding song-craft. Please see below for quotes by Quentin Tarantino and music press regarding this extraordinaire artist.
Brother Dege comments: “After literally decades of doing everything on my own, the workload was just getting too much for me”, the singer and guitarist explains. “I’m therefore supremely stoked to be working with a killer, eclectic label like Prophecy Productions from now on.”
Martin Koller adds: “We have always put substance before style regarding our signings”, the label’s founder writes. “To work with such an outstanding artist as Brother Dege is both a privilege and an obligation, which we are well able to fulfill. As perspired last year with the highly successful release of legendary British singer Arthur Brown’s new blues rock masterpiece, we seem to have made our own deal at the crossroads. Going deeper into the dark south into the lands of Delta blues is a logical next step, but is only one of the many great reasons why we welcome Brother Dege from the bottom of our hearts into the Prophecy family.”
Four Brother Dege albums will be reissued on October 20, 2023 via the label on black and limited colour vinyl and also as Digisleeve CDs: “Folk Songs of the American Longhair” (2010), “How to Kill a Horse” (2013), “Scorched Earth Policy””(2015), and “Farmer’s Almanac” (2018). Pre-sale link: http://lnk.spkr.media/brother-dege
Brother Dege ‘Too Old to Die Young’ (live, acoustic): https://youtu.be/f8VoSM0VrQU
Quotes about Brother Dege:
“Frankly, every track on the Brother Dege’s CD could have been in the movie”, Quentin Tarantino wrote about the blues veteran’s debut album “Folk Songs of the American Longhair”, from which the ingenious director picked a song for his critically acclaimed blockbuster “Django Unchained”. “It works and has a badass score sound to it. Almost every song could be a theme song. It’s like a greatest hits album. But this song ‘Too Old to Die Young’, it’s pretty damn badass. And it’s used in the movie in a pretty damn badass way, I’ve got to say.”
“‘Folk Songs of the American Longhair’ is in the tradition of the slide guitar Delta blues tradition, but with Legg’s own twist.” – Classic Rock Magazine
” Brother Dege is a guitar-slidin’ force of nature whose songs could fill a hall with their effortless, mostly-acoustic verve. Ranging from quietly desperate to careening full-tilt boogie, Folksongs of the American Longhair is a testament to the idea that less can, in fact, be considerably more. Fans of slide guitar, Southern gothic, or plain old rock & roll attitude need to run, not walk, and check out Brother Dege ASAP. This outstanding record is a case study in how one guy with a steel guitar and minimal accompaniment can out-rock a roomful of electric bombast, given the right songs, the right skills, and the right voice. Brother Dege has ’em all.”- Popmatters (9/10)
Despite his DIY ethics, Brother Dege‘s video clip for the track ‘Bastard’s Blues” taken from his fourth album “Farmer’s Almanac” has meanwhile organically reached more than 15 million views: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrQZBTkvV8I
When an artist, who has always done things DIY and in his very own way, suddenly finds himself nominated for a Grammy Award, usually something quite out the ordinary has happened. In the case of Brother Dege it was Quentin Tarantino, who picked the track ‘Too Old to Die Young’ for the original soundtrack of his acclaimed movie “Django Unchained” for which the prodigy director won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA for his screenplay.
This nomination shone a welcome spotlight on an outstanding musician, who had once been dubbed “one of the best-kept secrets in the Deep South”. Brother Dege Legg is a singer, guitarist, songwriter, author and poet, who was born as an heir to a long line of enigmatic characters birthed in swampland of Louisiana. He utilizes slide guitars and dobros, and entwines his roots in Delta blues with his unique cinematic songwriting style to conjure a new vision of the psychedelic Deep South.
Following his 2001 full-length debut “Folk Songs of the American Longhair”, Brother Dege has released four more albums. Starting with ‘How to Kill a Horse’ (2013), the self-managed artist continued with “Scorched Earth Policy” (2015) and “Farmer’s Almanac” (2018), until his latest record, the instrumental album “Only the Dust” came out in 2021. Live, the full-blooded blues musician has crisscrossed both the United States and Europe as well as many other parts of the world. Currently Brother Dege is getting ready for his next album, which will be released via the label in early 2024.
Current line-up of Brother Dege‘s band: “Brother” Dege Legg – vocals, guitars / Jim McGee – lead guitar / Kent Beatty – bass / Greg Travasos – drums
