Middle Brother Formed By Dawes, Deer Tick and Delta Spirit Frontmen

Despite their obvious stylistic differences, one commonality that rising indie rockers Dawes, Delta Spirit and Deer Tick all share is their unusually strong songwriting. They all have great songs. So when the three respective principal songwriters decided to collaborate last year, the results were instantaneous.

"When Dawes went out and opened for Deer Tick in the summer of 2009, John McCauley asked me if I wanted to make a record with him," Dawes' Taylor Goldsmith tells Spinner. "I, of course, loved the idea...but I feel like for all the suggestions like that, few ever materialize."

Nonetheless, they decided to follow it through, without much expectation or any pressure. Goldsmith recruited his friend Matthew Vasquez from Delta Spirit to round out the lineup, they flew to Nashville in January, and before anyone knew it, recorded enough material to form an actual album. Two months later, in March, they played their first show -- billed as MG&V to reflect their initials -- at SXSW in front of their music industry peers. While the show was supposed to be low-key, we can tell you firsthand that the energy was undeniably electric.

Since then, the three have all been busy with their own respective bands, but they came up with a name for their collective -- Middle Brother -- and have just announced an album release date for March 1, 2011. A spring tour is also in the works.

Never mind the fact that Middle Brother is comprised of three alpha males who are each used to fronting their own groups -- the chemistry is reminiscent of classic singer-songwriter collectives. The group formed by David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash comes to mind, for example. Yes, really. But don't take our word for it. As a Christmas gift, the Middle Bro's are offering up a free download of the first single to anyone who signs up on their mailing list. Merry Christmas, indeed.