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Born and bred in a city hardly known for its country music heritage, Detroit's Deadstring Brothers play alternative country-rock with no small amount of rock & roll swagger and a deep bluesy undertow that often suggests Exile on Main St.-era Rolling Stones more than Uncle Tupelo or their followers. The Deadstring Brothers formed in late 2001, when singer and songwriter Kurt Marschke, who had been playing shows as a solo acoustic act, began working up material with a handful of likeminded friends. The band wasted no time earning a reputation for its tough but soulful sound, and on September 9, 2003, the group released its self-titled debut through Detroit's Times Beach Records. On the disc, Marschke was joined by Peter Ballard (Dobro, pedal steel), Phil Durr (guitar), Eric Hoegemeyer (tambourine), Aric Karpinski (organ, piano), William King (percussion, drums), Philip Skarich (bass, guitar, percussion), and Ross Westerbur (strings, chamberlin), with background vocals by Skarich, Robert ...