Before he was a member of Counting Crows, guitarist Dan Vickrey was simply an aspiring young musician looking to make it in San Francisco.
But Crows singer Adam Duritz observed him playing a few shows with his band Tender Mercies — which was comprised of Kurt Stevenson, Charlie Gillingham and a rotating cast of drummers — and Vickrey’s career embarked on a path that would span the globe.
Now, however, Vickrey is returning to his roots, as Tender Mercies reunited and recently put out an album of those songs that were played in the early 1990s.
An eponymous debut, Tender Mercies is a departure from the Counting Crows’ sound, even though CC drummer Jim Bogios also contributed.
Twangy guitars, lap steel and organ stamp the album with an easy honky-tonk, alt-country vibe.
Vickrey said the tracks originally developed organically, and that attitude carried over to their latest recording.
“I guess that it should come to no surprise that in the end these songs would end up being presented to the listener at long last after a few sessions of live playing in a room, with just the recorder and the band,” Vickrey said. ”Fitting I would say, and in the spirit of the music itself.”
Find out more about Tender Mercies on their official Facebook page.