The Devil Makes Three Love Finding Small Towns, Unique Venues on Tour
On Wednesday (Oct. 24), old-time folk band the Devil Makes Three will hit the road for a new round of tour dates, in support of their newest studio album, Chains Are Broken. Pete Bernhard, Cooper McBean and Lucia Turino have spent much of 2018 playing throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe.
"It's pretty tough to hit a place we haven't been before," Bernhard tells The Boot -- though they do love finding unique venues, such as the Stuart Opera House in Nelsonville, Ohio, outside of Columbus. All three members of the trio hail from small towns, so the Devil Makes Three have "always made a point of playing places other bands don't ... because we're from small places." It's why fans will find cities such as Chico, Calif., and Bozeman, Mont., mixed in with stops in San Diego, Calif., and Portland, Ore.; it's also why Bernhard harbors the desire to run a tour of exclusively small towns.
"It's not exactly a booking agent's dream come true," he admits with a laugh, "but ... it would be pretty fun ... When bands play small towns, people are really excited."
Chains Are Broken, released in late August, was a complete change in direction for the Devil Makes Three, following their 2016 album Redemption & Ruin. Whereas the latter record features a slew of special guests, including Emmylou Harris, Jerry Douglas and more, the trio's newest project found only Bernhard, McBean and Turino, plus drummer Stefan Amidon, in the studio.
"[The] last record, that was really fun ... and then, this time, we were like, 'Okay, let's not do that at all. Let's go in the total opposite direction ... Let's not have anything on the album that isn't in the band," Bernhard says. "It was a complete about-face, kind of."
It's not that the Devil Makes Three didn't have fun recording Redemption & Ruin; "it's more of just wanting to do something different every time," adds Bernhard. It also made for a challenge if they wanted an additional part on a song: "Instead of trying to hire someone to do it," Bernhard shares, "we tried to figure out how to do it ourselves."
On tour, the Devil Makes Three have been letting their newest songs evolve, "mess[ing] with the arrangements" and experimenting with new ways to play each track. "It makes for an entertaining live show," Bernhard confesses -- for both them and the audience.
"I'm talking about us, mostly," he admits. "It's for us, just to keep it like it's feeling alive and not doing an exact reproduction."
In addition to the Devil Makes Three's remaining 2018 tour dates, the band has an extensive list of shows already announced for 2019. This year's dates are below, while a complete list of upcoming stops, including 2019 dates, is available on TheDevilMakesThree.com.
The Devil Makes Three, Fall 2018 Tour Dates:
Oct. 24 -- Flagstaff, Ariz. @ Orpheum Theater
Oct. 25 -- San Diego, Calif. @ House of Blues
Oct. 26 -- San Luis Obispo, Calif. @ Alex Madonna Expo Center
Oct. 27 -- Oakland, Calif. @ Fox Theater
Oct. 28 -- Chico, Calif. @ Senator Theatre
Oct. 31 -- Eugene, Ore. @ McDonald Theatre
Nov. 1-2 -- Sacramento, Calif. @ Ace of Spades
Nov. 3 -- Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Wiltern
Nov. 4 -- Lake Tahoe, Nev. @ Montbleu Resort Casino
Nov. 7 -- Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada @ Commodore Ballroom
Nov. 8 -- Seattle, Wash. @ Showbox SoDo
Nov. 9 -10 -- Portland, Ore. @ Crystal Ballroom
Nov. 11 -- Spokane, Wash. @ Knitting Factory Concert House
Nov. 14 -- Bozeman, Mont. @ Rialto Theatre
Nov. 15 -- Billings, Mont. @ The Pub Station
Nov. 16 -- Missoula, Mont. @ The Wilma
Nov. 17 -- Boise, Idaho @ Knitting Factory Concert House
The Devil Makes Three Bring Raucous 2018 Tour to Philadelphia