Local favorites Dead Winter Carpenters to perform in Carson City

One of Lake Tahoe’s favorite bands will headline the Levitt AMP Concert Series Saturday in Carson City. The Dead Winter Carpenters, from North Lake Tahoe, will play the series for the first time.

Jesse Dunn (acoustic and electric guitars, vocals) said it had been a long time since the band has played in Carson City.

“We’re excited and looking forward to it,” he said.

He also knows how much the Levitt AMP series means to the community, as it has been a national program bringing music to many communities.

“It’s a really great program going on,” he said. “I know they have them all over the Midwest and the South.”

The local band is a favorite around the lake, voted favorite band for many years in the Sierra Sun’s Best of North Lake Tahoe & Truckee. They recently won the award in 2019. The band formed in 2010, and they have earned the accolade several times.

The show will have a local feel to DWC with it so close to their home. The band’s schedule has kept them busy on the road as well. The last show they had in the area was at Truckee’s Music in the Park Summer Series on June 19. Many of their friends will get to see the show.

“We’ll have people come down from Tahoe as well as Reno for it,” he said. “Being a weekend night, it’s a good night. We’ve had a lot of people asking us about the series.”

Dunn describes the quintet as a country rock band or alternative country. He said their music sounds along the lines of The Band or Neil Young. He said the band jokes around and calls it grungegrass, because they have elements of bluegrass but stray away from formal bluegrass since the band uses drums and electric instruments.

The band has put out three full-length albums, an EP and a single. Dunn said they have enough material to record another album, and he hopes they’re able to get some studio time in the fall and winter. In the meantime, they stay busy touring nationally along the festival circuit and also clubs and continue to play their best.

“We want to bring vitality to the performance and share some good energy out there,” Dunn said.