Brother Dege, also known as Dege Legg (Pronounced: Deej – Leg) is probably best known, thanks to Quentin Tarantino, for his track ‘Too Old to Die Young‘ which was used on the Django Unchained Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2012). The album it’s taken from ‘Folk Songs of the American Longhair’ was released back in 2010 and the film has ensured it a place on the import shelf since.
Official Video: Too Old to Die Young
Brother Dege is described as one of the best kept secrets in the Deep South; a musician, writer, workingman and heir to a long line of unusual characters born and raised in the southern U.S. He calls his brand of music “psyouthern” roots music…in all honesty it’s part music and part journey..the two elements driving each other and running in parallel to Dege’s own explorations of his southern Louisiana. There’s a lot more to this album than Too Old to Die Young, which is a very fine track, but you only need to listen to the CD sampler Video for Folk Songs of the American Longhair (below) to appreciate the vast influences at play which run amok amongst the slide-delta. The tracks stomp and wail like ghosts from the past, a southern gothic story that is as unyielding as it is rebellious!
Folk Songs of the American Longhair (CD Sampler)
Much like the field recordings of Alan Lomax, the album tunnels into the ancient mysteries of pre-war blues and its devil-obsessed masters. In a return to the crude basics, almost all of the tracks feature only one vocal, one slide guitar and one foot stomping. Folk Songs of the American Longhair could possibly be the Delta-slide, millennial reboot for generations to come.