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Upcoming events

Sunday, September 5 9:00 pm
Hosting The Edge Songwriter Night
The Edge CoffeeHouse: 394 N. Watkins, Memphis, TN (MAP)
Live streaming at www.memphisedge.tv
(Buy tickets)
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Sunday, September 12 9:00 pm
Hosting The Edge Songwriter Night
The Edge CoffeeHouse: 394 N. Watkins, Memphis, TN (MAP)
Live streaming at www.memphisedge.tv
(Buy tickets)
Share

Sunday, September 19 9:00 pm
Hosting The Edge Songwriter Night
The Edge CoffeeHouse: 394 N. Watkins, Memphis, TN (MAP)
Live streaming at www.memphisedge.tv
(Buy tickets)
Share

Sunday, September 26 9:00 pm
Hosting The Edge Songwriter Night
The Edge CoffeeHouse: 394 N. Watkins, Memphis, TN (MAP)
Live streaming at www.memphisedge.tv
(Buy tickets)
Share

Sunday, October 3 9:00 pm
Hosting The Edge Songwriter Night
The Edge CoffeeHouse: 394 N. Watkins, Memphis, TN (MAP)
Live streaming at www.memphisedge.tv
(Buy tickets)
Share

Sunday, October 10 9:00 pm
Hosting The Edge Songwriter Night
The Edge CoffeeHouse: 394 N. Watkins, Memphis, TN (MAP)
Live streaming at www.memphisedge.tv
(Buy tickets)
Share

Sunday, October 17 9:00 pm
Hosting The Edge Songwriter Night
The Edge CoffeeHouse: 394 N. Watkins, Memphis, TN (MAP)
Live streaming at www.memphisedge.tv
(Buy tickets)
Share

Sunday, October 24 9:00 pm
Hosting The Edge Songwriter Night
The Edge CoffeeHouse: 394 N. Watkins, Memphis, TN (MAP)
Live streaming at www.memphisedge.tv
(Buy tickets)
Share

Sunday, October 31 9:00 pm
Hosting The Edge Songwriter Night
The Edge CoffeeHouse: 394 N. Watkins, Memphis, TN (MAP)
Live streaming at www.memphisedge.tv
(Buy tickets)
Share

Sunday, November 7 9:00 pm
Hosting The Edge Songwriter Night
The Edge CoffeeHouse: 394 N. Watkins, Memphis, TN (MAP)
Live streaming at www.memphisedge.tv
(Buy tickets)
Share

Sunday, November 14 9:00 pm
Hosting The Edge Songwriter Night
The Edge CoffeeHouse: 394 N. Watkins, Memphis, TN (MAP)
Live streaming at www.memphisedge.tv
(Buy tickets)
Share

Sunday, November 21 9:00 pm
Hosting The Edge Songwriter Night
The Edge CoffeeHouse: 394 N. Watkins, Memphis, TN (MAP)
Live streaming at www.memphisedge.tv
(Buy tickets)
Share

Sunday, November 28 9:00 pm
Hosting The Edge Songwriter Night
The Edge CoffeeHouse: 394 N. Watkins, Memphis, TN (MAP)
Live streaming at www.memphisedge.tv
(Buy tickets)
Share

Sunday, December 5 9:00 pm
Hosting The Edge Songwriter Night
The Edge CoffeeHouse: 394 N. Watkins, Memphis, TN (MAP)
Live streaming at www.memphisedge.tv
(Buy tickets)
Share

Previous events

Sunday, August 29 9:00 pm
Hosting The Edge Songwriter Night
The Edge CoffeeHouse: 394 N. Watkins, Memphis, TN (MAP)
Live streaming at www.memphisedge.tv
(Buy tickets)

Sunday, August 22 9:00 pm
Hosting The Edge Songwriter Night
The Edge CoffeeHouse: 394 N. Watkins, Memphis, TN (MAP)
Live streaming at www.memphisedge.tv
(Buy tickets)

Sunday, August 15 9:00 pm
Hosting The Edge Songwriter Night
The Edge CoffeeHouse: 394 N. Watkins, Memphis, TN (MAP)
Live streaming at www.memphisedge.tv
(Buy tickets)

Sunday, August 15 7:30 pm
Tommy Hoehn Memorial Revue
Nocturnal: 1588 Madison Avenue, Memphis, TN (MAP)
Memorial tribute to the late Tommy Hoehn featuring performances from Elizabeth Aldridge Hoehn, Rick Steff, Richard Rosebrough, Chris Swenson, Amy La Vere, Mike Dees Band, The Near Reaches, Gene Nunez, John Lightman, Van Duren, Misti Rae Warren, Brady Howle, John Hampton, Terry Ferguson, Andy Tate, Amy Starks, Jeff Golightly, Steve McCraw, Jim Duckworth,J.J. Stone, Michael Strickland, John Boswell, and more TBA. THIS IS A FREE EVENT.
Free
18+

Sunday, August 8 9:00 pm
Hosting The Edge Songwriter Night
The Edge CoffeeHouse: 394 N. Watkins, Memphis, TN (MAP)
Live streaming at www.memphisedge.tv
(Buy tickets)

Sunday, August 1 9:00 pm
Hosting The Edge Songwriter Night
The Edge CoffeeHouse: 394 N. Watkins, Memphis, TN (MAP)
Live streaming at www.memphisedge.tv
(Buy tickets)

Friday, July 30 10:00 pm
Mike Dees, Tom Arndt, & David Harp at Kudzu's
Kudzu's: 603 Monroe Avenue, Memphis, TN (MAP)
A special acoustic show featuring collaborations, originals, & some choice covers by Mike Dees, Tom Arndt, & David Harp. Jason Vawter will be sitting in on guest percussion.
21+

Sunday, July 25 9:00 pm
Hosting The Edge Songwriter Night
The Edge CoffeeHouse: 394 N. Watkins, Memphis, TN (MAP)
Live streaming at www.memphisedge.tv
(Buy tickets)

Sunday, July 18 9:00 pm
Hosting The Edge Songwriter Night
The Edge CoffeeHouse: 394 N. Watkins, Memphis, TN (MAP)
Live streaming at www.memphisedge.tv
(Buy tickets)

Thursday, July 15 8:00 pm
Ladies Love Hookah with Jeff Pruitt
The Smoking Caterpillar: 1335 Madison Avenue, Memphis, TN, USA (MAP)
Acoustic show with Jeff Pruitt
FREE

View all previous events (198 more)

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Mike Dees

04-02-2010 An Untimely Update

Greetings all,
Sorry for the lack of updates, it's been an eventful time lately here in the Deescave. First off, drummer Kevin Doherty left the band back in October. He's a great guy and an excellent drummer. Thanks for everything and we wish him well in future endeavors.

Our new drummer is Dik LeDoux. He and my bassist Tom Arndt have worked together for years in my favorite local band, Chees Kees (and prior to that in Organ Thief.) An excellent singer and songwriter in his own right, he has really opened up the band's sound and I'm honored to have him on board.

I've pared the live band to a power trio format and we've spent the last 6 months preparing material for the next album (which may end up being 2 full albums, more on that later...) The new songs have much more of a Power-Pop bent to them and it's been a blast getting them ready. There may also be more tribute projects in store later this year.

We are finally prepared to play a preview of the new songs on Saturday, April 3 at the Edge Coffeehouse (394 N. Watkins) at 9PM. It will be part of "Edge-Fest", an all day event beginning at 12 PM and featuring some of Memphis' best songwriters. Come check out John Kilzer, Other Stories, David Harp, Roger Wild, The Sweets, Jeff Pruitt, Davy Ray Bennett, Wally Ford, Emily Anderson, and many more!

The Mike Dees Band will be doing our first show with the new line-up tonight at 9PM at the Edge Coffeehouse (394 N. Watkins). Our portion of the event is FREE and we will be playing loads of new songs from the next album. For those who were wondering, the Edge is now non-smoking and it's an all-ages show. Please come out and get a taste of what we've been working on for the last 6 months. Support local music!

Thanks,
Mike Dees

T-Shirts

The new T-shirts are now available in the store and at shows. $10 for a 100% cotton Gildan shirt. I've also made available a limited number of the 2008 Memphis Pop Fest vinyl single.

Charlotte Popfest

The Charlotte Popfest was great! Playing on the same bill with The Smithereens, The Shazam, Jill Sobule, The Posies, and most of my favorites was one of the best experiences ever. I was dissapointed that Roger Manning Jr couldn't make it and that it rained a lot, but all in all...good times!

Here's me with Jim Babjak & Pat Di Nizio from The Smithereens.

The Smithereens have been one of my biggest influences for more years than I care to remember and it was truly an honor to open for them. Special thanks to Jim Babjak for the conversation and radio recommendations.

Take Refuge In Pleasure: The Songs Of Roxy Music

I've kept this one under my hat until everything was done, but I am appearing on yet another tribute album from Burning Sky Records. This will be my 4th track on all three of their releases and I'm privileged to work with them.

The album is called "Take Refuge In Pleasure: The Songs Of Roxy Music" and will be coming out later this year. When I was contacted about submitting a track for it, I was initially reticent. I'm not the biggest fan of the band and I figured the few songs I liked would be spoken for (Love Is The Drug, Avalon, Slave To Love, More Than This). So I listened to as many songs as I could to find one I could do something with. After initially trying out versions of "Viginia Plain", "Still Falls The Rain", and "In Every Dream Home A Heartache", I finally settled on "Nightingale" from the Siren album.

My take is a more folk-pop version on the song, somewhere between The Beatles/Jellyfish and Wilco/Jayhawks, while still remaining true to my sound. For a recording that I was initially hesitant to do, I think it turned out really well and I'm proud of it.

The personnel on the recording are:

Mike Dees: Vocals, 6 and 12 string acoustic guitar, electric guitar, slide guitar, keyboard
Tom Arndt: Bass (Our new addition KILLS this trackin 2 takes!)
Kevin Doherty: Drums
Jobu Babin: Lap steel during the "this is where the acid kicks in" section.

So check out the good folks at Burning Sky Records ( http://www.myspace.com/burningskyrecords ). They've put all four of my tracks from their various releases on their page for your listening pleasure, including the premiere of "Nightingale" from "Take Refuge In Pleasure:The Songs Of Roxy Music" (coming later this year. http://www.myspace.com/songsofroxymusicrevisited ).

Here's a blog they posted about my involvement.
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=391357368&blogId=482675298

Also watch for Thunderjack's version of "The Bogus Man" from the album. Thunderjack is Tracy Chappell who contributed the awesome guitar solos to my versions of "Let This Dream Never End" from Sensory Lullabies:The Ultimate Tribute to Jellyfish" and "Flood of Sunshine" from Beautiful Escape: The songs of the Posies (Both still available from Burning Sky). Tracy is a great friend and excellent musician and his track is just pure whacked-out, Zappaesque, psychedelic bliss!

Thanks a bunch,
Mike Dees

Updates for 2009

Hey all,
Sorry I've been lax in the blogging department, I'll try to be more regular about these things. I want to thank everyone for coming out to the shows and supporting us and for coming to the site and playing the tunes. It really helps and I couldn't do it without you.

Without further ado, here's what's been going on recently:

Adam Dodds has left to play bass with his new project, Tiger Rag. Really good stuff! You can check it out at http://www.myspace.com/tigerragmusic . We wish him all the best!

We were privileged enough to have Tom Arndt (http://www.myspace.com/tomarndtok ) from my favorite local band, Chees Kees, join the band on bass and vocals. This guy is a monster and his melodic basslines have really opened up the live shows! Chees Kees album "Landscaping" was my favorite local release of last year and I highly recommend you check them out and get yourself a copy. It has excellent songwriting, stunning musicianship and vocal harmonies, and hooks you'll be singing for days. They are working on their second album now, and the previews of the songs I've heard are even better. Check them out at http://www.myspace.com/cheeskees .

Guitarist Jobu Babin has finished his album and I was honored to contribute vocals to it. Look for it to debut this Summer. You can find previews of the tracks (including my contribution to "Mark My Words") on his page at http://www.myspace.com/jobubabin

The Pink Floyd Jam was a rousing success! We raised a lot of money for Camp Looking Glass and got to play some great Floyd tunes in the process. For the show I added Jeff Marks on keyboards and guitar and Magdalenda Romero and Monica Dohnken on background vocals and it turned out really well! I'm not the biggest fan of playing cover songs, but I think we brought enough of our own sound to them. Look for some of those songs to make it into the setlist at various shows. I should have some video of the show up on the various sites soon.

Cheers,
Mike Dees