The Devil Makes Three is always at home while visiting Chicago. That\u2019s because the California-based trio is a big fan of the city\u2019s rich history of music, especially blues.
\u201cChicago blues is a huge influence on me,\u201d says guitarist Pete Bernhard. \u201cChess Records artists were a big influence on Devil Makes Three and on me as a musician. A lot of my favorite artists went through Chess Records and were from Chicago. Muddy Waters and Little Walter. There\u2019s so many more. It\u2019s one of my biggest influence, musicians from there.\u201d
For nearly 15 years, the trio of Bernhard, Cooper McBean and Lucia Turino have shown repeatedly that they\u2019re strongly indebted to the long-storied traditions of American roots music. They\u2019ve mixed genres like bluegrass, folk, blues and rockabilly into a unique sound of their own. The band\u2019s name is even a nod to a line in a song in the film \u201cO Brother, Where Art Thou?\u201d
Their latest tour takes their admiration a step further. Their 2016 album \u2013 \u201cRedemption & Ruin\u201d \u2013 is a covers album that acts like a love letter to many of the artists that have influenced them and made the band who they are today. It features handpicked covers of artists like Willie Nelson, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and Hank Williams. The band recorded the album in Nashville with engineer\/co-producer Dave Ferguson, best known for his work with Cowboy Jack Clement and Johnny Cash, at his Butcher Shoppe studio.
\u201cWe wanted to let people know where our roots of our music came from,\u201d says Bernhard. \u201cWe had this idea kicking around for a long time and it just took us awhile to get it off the ground.\u201d
The band set out to make an album that had a distinct theme. As they started looking at songs, it became evident that redemption and ruin were a big part of many of their favorites. As a result, they split the album into two sides.
\u201cThe idea behind this album is that one side is redemption and one side is ruin,\u201d says Bernhard. \u201cThe ruin side is songs all about messing up your life and partying and whatnot. And the other side is traditional songs and Gospel songs.\u201d
The Devil Makes There | Giles Clement Photo
These songs remain as relevant as the day they were written, Bernhard says.
\u201cA good song is always relevant regardless of the time period,\u201d he says. \u201cThese songs remain relevant because they\u2019re great songs. A lot of them I feel are timeless.\u201d
To top things off, the band had many musical guests show up to contribute to the songs. That included several of their songwriting heroes including Emmylou Harris, Tim O\u2019Brien, Jerry Douglas, Darrell Scott and Duane Eddy. They had met many of the contributors previously while they were touring, including some before the album was an idea. Others were suggestions of Ferguson.
\u201cWe played with a lot of people that are big heroes of ours\u2026 just great players in the bluegrass and country world,\u201d says Bernhard. \u201cWe recorded the album live so a lot of time we were playing in the room with them like we were playing a show, which was really fun. \u2026 It was a collaborative process and it was a lot of fun for us to play with these people that we listened to on so many records.\u201d
The song arrangements were left open so contributors could make their mark on it.
\u201cWe let the people play on the album and co-produce the track that they were working on and come up with ideas and really steer the direction the song went in,\u201d says Bernhard. \u201cWe really wanted them to make their mark on the songs because we were so excited to have them there. We did everything we could to let them stretch out and take a song the direction they wanted the song to go in. It was \u2018why have great people if you\u2019re not going to let them do what they\u2019re good at?\u2019\u201d
With 2017 marking their fifteenth year together, the band is excited about what they\u2019ve accomplished.
\u201cIt\u2019s a big deal to be in a band as long as we have,\u201d says Bernhard. \u201cIt\u2019s a hard thing to do. We\u2019ve definitely enjoyed ourselves along the way and I think we\u2019re better players than we\u2019ve ever been before so that\u2019s great. It makes you think \u2018wow, I never knew when I started this band that we\u2019d be together for that long.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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