Just because Toronto’s Danceland owe their existence to The Grateful Dead doesn’t mean they can’t pay tribute to another musical legend when it’s warranted. Take “Steve Earle,” their new single that chronicles a night out on the town with the Nashville firebrand—a dinner to remember that, as it turns out, was put in motion by the simplest of requests.

“He was in town, and his label guy needed a couple joints,” Danceland singer-songwriter Joe Ferland explains, matter-of-factly. “My friend asked me to hook him up, and the rest is in the tune. I wasn’t really a Steve Earle fan at the time, so I didn’t ‘fanboy’ him, which I think added to the topics of conversation we ended up having.”

As the song lays out, those topics ran the gamut from the on-field performance of the New York Yankees to “tales of loaded guns and heroin”—perfect fodder to be shared over plates of “onion Bahjia at Little India,” a locale that’s revisited in hi-res glory in the accompanying lyric video.

Listen on Spotify here:

open.spotify.com/track/1ONZV2g2oYmqtdkbYXuO03

The snappy, sprightly tune puts you right in the midst of that meeting of the minds, to the point where you can almost smell the Indian food (if not the gunpowder and heroin). And it makes for a perfect leadoff to Danceland’s second full-length album, Licky, an absolute tour de force of the psychedelic-Americana genre. Incorporating everything from a honking cover of the Gamble/Huff nugget “Expressway to Your Heart” to the climactic, organ-driven dance party of “Sapphire,” the album soars on the pitch-perfect vocal interplay between Ferland and his wife and co-writer, Jale—not to mention Joe’s immaculate guitar picking (both acoustic and electric) and the tasteful thwacking of drummer Brad Park.

Just don’t be put off by the self-indulgent connotations of the jam-rock label: This is uniformly tight songcraft that’s expertly arranged and sequenced, making it a stone(r) gas of a listen from beginning to end.

Produced by Joe Ferland and engineered and mixed by Carlin Nicholson (Zeus) at Toronto’s Pineship Sound, Licky augments the core ensemble of the Ferlands and Park with some of the finest instrumentalists on the local circuit—including Jeff Heisholt on keyboards and Ryan Spratt on bass, with cameos by fiddler/violinist D’Arcy Good, sax player Cameron Draper and banjo master Doug Cornish. The result is a rollicking roller-coaster ride that never lets up with beguiling twists and turns. 

And twists and turns are certainly what the Ferlands’ career has had over the years: While Joe cut his teeth on the Dead, his career as a professional musician has taken him everywhere from the vibrant rock and pop-punk scene of New York in the 1990s to a self-imposed, 10-year hiatus from the music business in toto. Blame the all-too-common scourge of crippling burnout. Ironically, it was landing upon an hour-long block of Dead music on the radio during a family crisis that reconnected him with the pure joy music can bring. Before long, he and Jale had not one but two thriving outfits going: The Cherry Garcia Band, which mostly deals in Dead covers; and Danceland, a largely original unit that’s used their influence as a springboard to new heights of experimentation and excitement.

The Danceland formula was in full evidence on its 2022 bow, Pink Lem—a seven-song opus Goldmine called “more grounded and sophisticated than most debuts.” Keeping the keyboard and bass slots as revolving-door positions allowed the Ferlands and Park to tour extensively in Canada and the northeastern United States, building up a rep as a formidable live act that perfectly laid the groundwork for Licky. Joe Ferland, for one, couldn’t be more pleased:

“Because of the musicians that played on the record, and Carlin’s uncanny ability to get an inspired performance from everyone, the end result far exceeded our expectations,” he says. “I can’t thank everyone enough for their contributions.”

With the record finished and already garnering raves, the Danceland/Cherry Garcia Band juggernaut is once again out on the road. Shows are booked through the end of 2024 on stages and festival grounds across Canada and the Northern U.S.—including a return to New York City, where Joe and Jale first met and started working together, some three decades ago.

Come to think of it, they have a lot of great Indian restaurants there, too. Maybe Steve Earle is free?

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