The signing also coincides with news of a forthcoming new album. Team Love released the band’s last three albums, Adventures of the Felice Brothers Vol. 1, The Felice Brothers, and Yonder is The Clock. Fat Possum’s site says the new record will arrive at some point this Spring.

In the meantime, the band will tour the U.S., hitting SXSW before heading to the other hemisphere for a handful of Australia and New Zealand shows—and they’re not taking many breaks in between cities. Check ‘em at one of the many dates below.

For a little inspiration (and since we’re particularly excited about whiskey-related news this week), here’s a whiskey-themed video clip of The Felice Brothers performing live:

“Whiskey in my Whiskey”

Felice Brothers:
03/19 Austin, TX – Auditorium Shores (SXSW)
03/25 Oneota, NY – Oneota Theater
03/26 Hudson, NY – Club Helsinki Hudson
03/27 Hoboken, NJ – Maxwell’s
03/30 Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian
03/31 Washington, DC – Rock and Roll Hotel
04/01 Huntington, WV – V Club
04/02 Lexington, KY – Buster’s Billiards and Backroom
04/03 Knoxville, TN – Rhythm ‘N Blooms (Dogwood Arts Festival)
04/05 Charlotte, NC – Visualite Theater
04/06 Athens, GA – 40 Watt Club
04/07 Nashville, TN – Exit/In
04/08 Birmingham, AL – The Bottletree
04/09 Memphis, TN – Hi-Tone
04/10 Dallas, TX – The Loft
04/12 Lubock, TX – Blue Light
04/13 Santa Fe, NM – Corazon
04/16 Indio, CA – Coachella
04/20 Sydney, Australia – Annandale Hotel
04/21 Melbourne, Australia – The Prince Ballroom
04/22 Melbourne, Australia – Boggie Fest
04/23 Meenyan, Australia – Town Hall
04/24 Auckland, New Zealand – Grassroots Festival
04/28 San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall
04/29 Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
04/30 Seattle, WA – Tractor Tavern
05/02 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
05/03 Denver, CO – Hi Dive
05/04 Omaha, NE – The Waiting Room
05/06 Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall

The song is the first to surface off Dondero’s forthcoming #Zero With a Bullet, which Team Love will release August 3. Listen and download right here.

Dondero, in just a couple of days, will take his backing band and banjo on a seriously long North American tour. Dude’s schedule is close to rivaling a certain other musical act that tends to favor epic tour schedules.

06/25 Athens, GA – AthFest
06/29 Wilmington, NC – Soapbox
06/30 Asheville, NC – Grey Eagle
07/02 Chapel Hill, NC – Nightlight
07/03 Greensboro, NC – Green Bean
07/06 Charlottesville, VA – Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar
07/07 Washington, DC – Black Cat
07/08 Lancaster, PA – Senorita Burrita
07/09 Philadelphia, PA – Dan/25 – Athens, GA – AthFest
06/29 Wilmington, NC – Soapbox
06/30 Asheville, NC – Grey Eagle
07/02 Chapel Hill, NC – Nightlight
07/03 Greensboro, NC – Green Bean
07/06 Charlottesville, VA – Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar
07/07 Washington, DC – Black Cat
07/08 Lancaster, PA – Senorita Burrita
07/09 Philadelphia, PA – Danger Danger Gallery
07/10 New York, NY – Rockwood Music Hall
07/11 Brooklyn, NY – Union Hall
07/13 Hamden, CT – The Space
07/14 Cambridge, MA – TT The Bears
07/15 Keene, NH – The Starving Artist
07/16 Portland, ME – One Longfellow Square
07/17 New York, NY – Radio Happy Hour @ (le) Poisson Rouge
07/21 Montreal, QC – Le Cagibi
07/22 Wakefield, QC – Black Sheep Inn
07/23 Toronto, ON – Drake Hotel
07/24 Kalamazoo, MI – The Strutt
07/25 Ft. Wayne, IN – The DashIn
07/26 Chicago, IL – Schubas
07/27 Milwaukee, WI – The Irish Pub
07/28 Minneapolis, MN – 7th St. Entry
07/29 Fargo, ND – Aquarium
07/30 Grand Forks, ND – Whole Wheat Records
07/31 Winnepeg, MB – The Lo Pub
08/02 Edmonton, AB – The Haven Social Club
08/04 Vancouver, BC – The Railway Club
08/05 Seattle, WA – Sunset Tavern
08/06 Tacoma, WA – O’Malley’s
08/07 Corvallis, OR – Interzone Coffeehouse
08/08 Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
08/10 Boise, ID – Neurolux
08/11 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
08/12 Denver, CO – Hi – Dive
08/13 Lawrence, KS – Jackpot Saloon
08/14 St. Louis, MO – Off Broadway
08/15 Nashville, TN – The End
08/17 Charlotte, NC – The Milestone
09/24 Champaign/Urbana, IL – Pygmalion Festival

No point in quitting when you’re ahead though. Here’s a look at some of its upcoming and very exciting projects that will surface in the coming months.

Midnight Masses, who signed to the label in November, is finally ready to release their debut EP, Rapture Ready, I Gazed at the Body. It’s a somber affair written in the wake of frontman Autry Rene Fulbright’s father’s death, and, from both a musical and lyrical standpoint, the four tracks on the release achieve more complexity than is found on a lot of albums three times the size. In other words, this one’s well worth the wait.

Pre-orders are shipping now through the Team Love store, while the EP’s official release date is next week, on December 15.

Meanwhile, Jason Boesel steps away from the drum kit to put his songwriting skills and throaty vocals to good use. The Rilo Kiley/Mystic Valley Band percussionist will release Hustler’s Son, which is technically his first solo record, but sees contributions from so many members of that particular brood (fellow Mystic Valley Bander Nik Freitas and Rilo Kiley’s Blake Sennett among them) that it’s more of a family affair. Which is just fine by us.

The album will drop January 10, 2010. Preview some of the tracks over at Jason’s MySpace right now.

And while you’re at it, listen to the Christmas classic “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” courtesy of A Weather. The band re-envisioned the song and recorded it over an orchestra of guitar and organ arrangements, and while it’s pretty, it’s not the most exiting news coming from that particular outfit’s corner these days. The band announced earlier this week that a new album is in the works and slated for a March 2010 release. Cove, the band’s debut from 2008, struck that razor-fine balance between heartening and heart-breaking, and if the artwork below is any indication, Everyday Balloons will deliver more of the same.

Tracklist:
01 “Third of Life”
02 “Winded”
03 “Ducks”
04 “Seven Blankets”
05 “Midday Moon”
06 “Newfallen”
07 “Newfallen”
08 “No Big Hope”
09 “Fond”
10 “Happiness”
11 “Giant Stairs”
12 “Lay Me Down”

Jason Boesel is best known as the man behind the drum kit for acts like Rilo Kiley, The Elected, and, most recently, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band. Anyone who snagged the latter’s 2009 album, Outer South, will also be privy to his capabilities as a songwriter (which, I have to say, sometimes outshone Oberst’s own on that particular release).

He’s putting his many musical talents to good use, as Team Love announced last week that Boesel will release a solo full-length, Hustler’s Son, early next year. At his side during the recording process were fellow Mystic Valley Bander Nik Freitas, Band of Horses’ Blake Mills, and producer Jonathan Wilson. The album’s talent list also includes Benmont Tench, Orenda Fink, David Rawlings, Taylor Goldsmith, and fellow Rilo Kiley Member Blake Sennett.

Grab the country-drenched, organ-dappled track “Hand of God” right now.

Hustler’s Son is out January 12.

Hustler:
01 Black Waves
02 Hand of God
03 French Kissing
04 Burned Out and Busted
05 New World Mama
06 Miracles
07 Hustler’s Son
08 Getting Healthy (Good Luck)
09 I Got the Reason #1
10 Was It, Man?
11 Winking Eyes

Fortunately, the bad isn’t too harrowing. The band’s debut EP, Rapture Ready, I Gazed at the Body, was set to drop tomorrow, but erase that date from the calender, as we now have an extra month of waiting to do before the new release hits stores.

It will be worth the delay, however, as the band announced today via MySpace that it has struck a deal with Team Love Reocrds, who will co-release the album along with Collect. This is an opportune deal for a band well deserving of one, so set your sights on mid-December for the EP, and in the meantime, there’s this.

Rapture Ready, I Gazed at the Body is out December 8 (digital) and December 15 (vinyl).

Rapture:
01 Walk On Water
02 Preacher’s Son
03 I Was A Desperate Man
04 Do You Believe In Rapture?

The rolicking number “I Didn’t Know it Was the Devil” is already available. Follow the link to download a free version of the track.

“I Didn’t Know it Was the Devil”

Life with a Slow Ear is out November 3 on Team Love.

Image Credit: Jason Boesel