It’s easy to dismiss the joy of a campfire song. Sure, we have all had a fire under the stars ruined by myriad troubadours handing out cherries to their loves or drunkenly trying to remember how to play ‘Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong’. This ain’t that kinda party.

This is a campfire that has been burning for years, decades actually. It first lit in the corduroy soaked 70s on family trips to remote Michigan locales like Bois Blanc, Presque Isle and Crystal Lake. With family and friends encircling the warm glow, an uncle or an old family friend would pick up a guitar and fill the evening air with music. Adults drank, and sang, and smiled.

As Jeff Gower and Jason Lantrip grew into young men their fascination with the magic of that campfire kept growing as well. They picked up guitars, learned how to sing, and play and write. They formed bands in the 90’s and tracked separate paths.

Jason saw critical success and a series of well received albums with his space rock band, Calliope. Jeff played in a number of bands until the late 90’s eventually forming The Gentleman Callers, a honky tonk country outfit that was a going concern for more than a decade.

In 2009, Gower and Lantrip founded the Stick Arounds with Matt Carlson (ex-Pantones) and the trio created a band with a three guitar attack and tight harmonies that is thriving still today. Despite the success of previous bands and their continued work in the Stick Arounds, the campfire kept calling.

Now, as Deer & Elk, the pair have found a new avenue to share original songs and reinventions of classics that break a great song down to its bare elements; a couple of voices and a couple of guitars. With this small set of tools, Deer & Elk manage an alchemic sound of two voices in true harmony.

Welcome to the campfire.

Deer & Elk

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Deer & Elk are currently at work on their debut release