Other Brother Darryl rolls on with an important message for us all on ‘Drive’
Boston cosmic canyon alt-country rock band urge listeners to tell those around them they love them via a new single out Friday, November 10
Other Brother Darryl’s debut album ‘Roll Shine Roll’ out in early 2024
Listen to debut single ‘Until I Do’ via Spotify // Watch the video on YouTube
Photo Credit: Chris Valle
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BOSTON, MA [November 10, 2023] – Other Brother Darryl has a simple message for complex times: When you see your friends, tell them that you love them. Because we’ll never know when that last chance comes around.
It’s a sentiment the cosmic canyon rock group knows all too well, and one that swirls with impassioned honesty over its hypnotic new Americana single, “Drive,” set for release on Friday, November 10, with a music video to follow afterwards. It’s the second single from the ensemble band, led by Boston music scene veterans Dan Nicklin, Nate Leavitt, Dan Cedarholm, and one that continues to cherish and maintain the memory of their beloved friend and band member Dave Mirabella, who passed away unexpectedly in in the spring of last year.
“It has a laid back feel, but still drives forward, which mirrors how the band works,” says Leavitt. “Move at your own pace but get there just the same. A motivational rhythm and tempo. Instrumentally it covers a wide range of sounds that capture the cosmic canyon rock.”
Other Brother Darryl, its name taken from a Newhart reference, was first conceptualized a decade ago at long-lost Somerville venue Radio, with its members bonding over The Jayhawks, Wilco, and the various projects each had been a part of over the many years spent in the trenches of a local music scene. But time was on their side, and after loose exchanges of ideas it would be seven years before the group began writing music together, crafting the harmony-driven, Americana-leaning sound that their spectral surroundings and sharp songwriting acumen were destined to produce.
Then Covid hit, and the world stood still. And in April 2021, the band’s world collapsed: Mirabella died, leaving an empty space within Other Brother Darryl both as musicians and friends. Suddenly, time, once a casual asset, became anything but, and a common refrain of telling friends and family how much we care for them became an important one.
Late last year, on the verge of performing live at New York City’s Underwater Sunshine Festival, a longtime dream of Mirabella’s, the band released debut single “Until I Do,” a tender indie-folk ballad about a lost love or lost friendship. The song took on an enhanced feeling in the wake of Mirabella’s passing, and now so does “Drive,” a weathered road-trip earworm buoyed by Other Brother Darryl’s layered vocal harmonies, spacious alt-country storytelling, heartfelt chemistry amongst its collaborators, and dual acoustic guitars alongside a soaring B3 Organ. The chorus drives it all home: “Make sure you tell ‘em that you love them / In the morning and the night / Make sure you tell ‘em that you love them, oooh.”
“To me, the song says, ‘It’ll be okay. Keep driving, you’ll get there.’ My favorite line is, ‘If you found someone whose beats so you won’t die.’ It really spoke to me in that moment we were all together writing these songs,” admits Leavitt. “I realized we all have hearts that beat for each other. When you have people like that in your life, you tell them you love them. This song is a reminder of that sentiment. We made it part of our goodbyes to each other when Dave was with us and continue to do so today. We encourage you to tell someone before it’s too late. It’ll make you feel good.”
A draft of the song was first written back in early 2016, and it took another few years before Other Brother Darryl fleshed it out as a band. But much like “Until I Do,” the composition and its warm sentiments have taken on an enhanced aura that swirls around the song now that Mirabella is gone.
“It was the second tune we wrote together as we were getting going,” says Nicklin. “For me it made sense to release this one now because of what Nate said – I told Dave I loved him every time we spoke and when he was gone – I was grateful for that. I find it interesting as most of the songs have a similar theme, which is about life and loss and love and moving forward in music and life as a middle aged rocker.”
“Drive” is truly a team effort. It was written by the core Other Brother Darryl team of Mirabella (guitar, count-in), Leavitt (guitars and vocals), Nicklin (vocals), and Cederholm (drums); produced by the band at Henley Row; and recorded and mixed by Nicklin at his aforementioned studio in Stoneham, with mastering by Brian Charles. It expands the Other Brother Darryl collective outward, featuring Jim Collins on bass and vocals; Dave Lieb on acoustic piano; Matt Odabashian on B3 organ; Paul Gallo on conga and percussion; and Jason Meeker on bongo and percussion.
“The dual acoustics and organ were always the goal,” says Nicklin. “That love of the Jayhawks really pops out on this one for me. And Danny’s drums are just so good. It has a bounce and groove to it that really works”.
Shortly after the release of “Drive,” its music video will be released, showing the band moving fast around a workshop while the lyrics flash across one television screen and Mirabella posthumously plays guitar on another. “The way the video is presented, played back at high speed throughout and slowed down for specific phrases, is symbolic of how fast we move in life,” Leavitt reveals. “We have to remember to slow our lives down sometimes and take a breath.”
While Other Brother Darryl captured Mirabella’s guitar parts for “Drive,” he was never able to provide vocals for the track. An important and disappointing turn of event for a band that leans into vocal harmonies so heavily. But remarkably, the band discovered that during one guitar recording session, Mirabella actually counted himself in, whispering “Six… seven… Dave.” That part was added to the very start of “Drive,” giving their late friend a voice that introduces and welcomes the listener.
“Since we don’t have as much of Dave recorded on the songs as we wanted we try to include everything we can,” admits Leavitt. “Sometimes we forget we even had things like this. They’re like little gifts from him. It’s also a great reminder of how hilarious he could be.”
Adds Nicklin: “The count-in was actually cut off while we were working the tune. After Dave’s passing we were going back through everything so we could understand what was there. So when we were looking to see if we had multiple takes of Dave’s guitar part and looking at the wav form I realized we had something muted. When we unmuted it – well it was laughter and tears – it’s so very Dave. Sitting alone with the headphones off counting himself in, in the third person. A little Dave pep talk for Dave.”
From here, more new music from Other Brother Darryl is soon on the way, including a cover song around the holidays, and a few additional singles before the debut full-length album – titled Roll Shine Roll, echoing a playful phrase that’s become the band’s official motto – arrives sometime in 2024. Though it was a year between “Until I Do” and “Drive,” and nearly a decade between the band’s formation and first unveiling of new music, Other Brother Darryl says now is the time to bring these compositions to light.
“We probably weren’t ready to release the first single last year. It was too soon. Too much still to process,” Nicklin admits. “But we were playing Underwater Sunshine fest and felt we needed to have something – there are also a lot of friends of Dave in that circle so it made sense to do it for us and them and that helped us get it done. However the break has allowed us to get excited about the tunes and to get to a place where we can remember our friend and celebrate him and still be excited about the songs. So the record is really coming together and we are ready to start really pushing the music.”
And it starts anew again here with “Drive.” Leavitt says Mirabella, a Boston Music Award-nominated songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist who was known for his work around Boston fronting scene stalwarts The Rationales, as well as a Covid-era practice of performing a new cover each day for nearly a year, loved taking long drives and walks. The single artwork for “Drive” even depicts a photo taken by Mirabella during one of his travels, and Leavitt praised his “eye for photography” as well as his friendly demeanor and songwriting brilliance.
“Like us, he just wanted to keep himself moving,” Leavitt concludes. “We want to continue honoring him. So this song, all the songs, are for him.”
Media Contact: Please direct press inquiries to Michael Marotta at michael@knyvet.com or reach the band via Nate Leavitt at theband@otherbrotherdarryl.com.
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Other Brother Darryl is:
Dan Nicklin: Vocals
Nate Leavitt: Guitars and vocals
Dave Mirabella: Guitar and count-in
Dan Cedarholm: Drums
Jim Collins: Bass and vocals
Derek Feeney: Guitar
Dave Lieb: Acoustic piano
Chad Raleigh: Multi-Instrumentalist
And those who contributed to ‘Drive’ (and are also sometimes in the band)...
Matt Odabashian: B3 Organ
Paul Gallo: Conga and percussion
Jason Meeker: Bongo and percussion
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‘Drive’ single artwork:
Design Credit: Dan Cedarholm, IG: @simplebits
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‘Drive’ production credits:
Written by Mirabella - Leavitt - Nicklin - Cederholm
Produced by Other Brother Darryl at Henley Row in Stoneham, MA
Recorded and mixed by Dan Nicklin at Henley Row in Stoneham, MA
Mastered by Brian Charles
Cover logo by Dan Cedarholm
Cover photo by Dave Mirabella
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Other Brother Darryl short bio:
Other Brother Darryl are a Boston-based alt-country supergroup made up of singer-songwriters Dan Nicklin, Nate Leavitt, Dave Mirabella and Dan Cedarholm. First coming together over a love of big folk harmonies, the cosmic canyon rock sound of The Jayhawks and Wilco, and the television series Newhart, the seeds of Other Brother Darryl were first conceptualized back in 2012 at the defunct Somerville rock club Radio, where each member would perform frequently with their respective projects. An endless string of conversations, local Boston rock shows, and beers would line the next several years, and in 2019, Other Brother Darryl would make good on a promise to each other to bring their collective creative vision to life and write and record the album they were always meant to. In November 2022, Other Brother Darryl released debut single, “Until I Do,” b/w “The Ballad of Joni & Graham,” the same night they would perform live at Underwater Sunshine Fest in New York City. A new single, “Drive,” arrives a year later, and debut record Roll Shine Roll, recorded at Nicklin’s Henley Row Studios, is set for 2024 release. It is dedicated to fallen bandmate and close friend Dave Mirabella, who passed away suddenly in April 2022.
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Media praise for Other Brother Darryl:
The music of Other Brother Darryl can be heard on Americana UK, Banks Radio Australia, Bay State Rock, Blood Makes Noise, Boston Emissions, BumbleBee Radio, Christian’s Cosmic Corner on Mark Skin Radio, Click Roll Boom, Good Music UK, Music Mafia Radio, On The Town with Mikey Dee on WMFO, and other fine stations, shows, and platforms…
“Boston alt-country and Americana band Other Brother Darryl make music in that tight harmonies, melody rich, cosmic-tinged corner of Americana. ‘Until I Do’ is a tale of a parting of the ways – a ‘you go your way and I’ll go mine’ moment, with the pledge to never think of or cross paths with the other again. It’s a bittersweet moment for Other Brother Darryl, as the song was released a few months after the unexpected passing of co-founding member Dave Mirabella, which gives the song an added poignancy.” _Americana UK
“...you can hear such a genuine, heartfelt musical collaboration coming at you through your speakers. The overall recording is so honest and without big production, it just feels like you are sitting in the room with the band performing. Really nice stuff.” _Blood Makes Noise
“The musical description of ‘cosmic canyon rock’ might not make sense until you hear the latest single from Other Brother Darryl, and then it makes perfect sense. …This is the kind of song that would have made Gram Parsons proud. It has that timeless quality that is soaked in 70's AM radio sweetness but is far too country to be a rock song, or even a soft rock song. But ‘Until I Do’ doesn't sound like a throwback song. It has elements of the classics from the 70's, but it's a modern song. If you've ever loved anything considered alt-country, this one is for you.” _If It’s Too Loud
“Whoah, deepcut Newhart reference. You don’t get that every day in 2022. Other Brother Daryl picks up the thread of new Americana that bands like Wilco have returned to respectability in the new millennium. A strong acoustic progression, a banjo on a walk, and multi-layered harmonies. Comfort food musical textures, mixed with a little melancholy.” _Hump Day News
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Press Contact: Michael Marotta at michael@knyvet.com
Band contact: Nate Leavitt at theband@otherbrotherdarryl.com
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