The White Dukes

A mere glance at three dukes sporting a varied conglomeration of velvet blazers, painted-on jeans, and long, curly hair parted right down the middle would give anyone cause to question whether or not he’d somehow been transported back to Royal Albert Hall circa 1970. And while The White Dukes’ image communicates a message that’s unmistakably clear, rest assured that they are about so much more than rockstar personas and cheap throwback clichés. The White Dukes are passionately pursuing a sound steeped in a heritage of hard rock and rhythm & blues. Claiming influences like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin, the crew follows this muse into the depths of classic, blues-informed rock, emerging with their very own brand of wild and electric rock and roll. Singer and guitarist Adrian Dehn along with drummer Leo Vaessen began playing music together as kids and from the very beginning they knew that they had something special. After moving through a string of several bass players, the band found it’s missing puzzle piece in Oskar Pursche, who rounds out the ensemble and solidifies them as a lean and mean power trio, capable of a sound ten times their size. Cathartic and larger-than-life, the three piece in a live setting are totally supercharged. The band’s full-length debut album is set to be released in 2017 and offers a statement that’s consistent and concise. The record is just as much a showcase of songwriting as it is a demonstration of virtuoso performance. Dehn’s gravelly voice growls classic blues-form phrasing while Pursche’s laid-back bass grooves with Vaessen’s dynamic timekeeping. The White Dukes explore various territories in the vast expanse of rock and blues and the resulting collection of songs is a seemingly seasoned effort for a band just unveiling its inaugural release. A conversation with the guys makes it startlingly apparent that no matter the stigmas around rock musicians, it’s not sex or fame or drugs or money that’s driving the operation — art is the goal. Music, the bottom line. Pursuing more than a brand or a gimmick, each member would humbly admit that what they have to offer can only work within the context of their collective. They need each other and in the pursuit of their mission to create music from the heart, not the head, they’re perfectly in sync. The White Dukes Official https://www.youtube.com/user/TheWhiteDukes https://www.instagram.com/thewhitedukes https://twitter.com/thewhitedukes