Around 2011 I joined an instrumental post-metal band called Deerhead up in Mankato, Minnesota. It was four guys–three guitarists and a drummer–looking for someone to handle bass duties. I stepped in, and it turned out to be my favorite band I was a part of. We had a small following in town and played some pretty solid gigs here and there. But one of our guitarists took a job out of state and the band ended.
This song is the closest I’ve come to writing the kind of music we played in Deerhead. It starts out with an Earth vibe before breaking into more Pelican territory. And there’s some interplay between bass and guitar at the beginning I’m pretty happy with.
“Return to Deerhead Trail” was written and recorded a couple months into the pandemic in May 2020 in my basement in Des Moines. I performed all the guitars and bass tracks and I programmed all the drums and keys.