Biography
Simone Felice crafts songs marked by literary depth, artistic nuance, and raw emotion, shaped by a biography punctuated with unforeseen crises and multiple encounters with mortality. His compositions and sonic textures deliver expansive, cinematic scope that amplifies the evocative weight of verses rooted in poetic imagery and literary sources. A novelist and poet in his own right, he brings an unaffected vocal power to his performances, lending them the dramatic presence of a seasoned stage actor. He first surfaced within the Americana landscape through his role in the Felice Brothers, appearing on the 2007 release Tonight at the Arizona and the 2009 set Yonder Is the Clock. After leaving that family outfit, he launched the Duke & the King, issuing a pair of albums with the group before closing out 2010 with his initial solo recording, Live from a Lonely Place. From that juncture onward he concentrated on solo work, issuing Strangers in 2014 and All the Bright Coins in 2022, both of which extended his focus on personal narrative, while simultaneously helming commercially successful projects for the Lumineers and Vance Joy.
Born on October 4, 1976, in the modest working-class community of Palenville, New York, near the Catskill Mountains, Felice experienced an early deviation from the ordinary at age 12 when a brain aneurysm confined him to a hospital for two months while he regained motor functions and relearned reading and writing. By 15 he had turned to music, performing in an experimental punk ensemble alongside friends; as the band’s lyricist he began crafting elaborate stories that sparked his first forays into poetry. In 2000 he issued his debut volume of verse, The Picture Show, followed soon after by short fiction. Even as his writing career advanced, his musical pursuits intensified: he and brother Ian began composing songs and making informal demos with bassist Doc Brown. Brother James later joined on accordion, completing the lineup with Ian on vocals and guitar and Simone on drums; the group took the name the Felice Brothers and self-released Through These Reins and Gone in 2006.
From 2007 through 2009 the Felice Brothers put out three albums, toured widely, and earned acclaim as one of the most distinctive acts in Americana, with Simone recognized for his standout songwriting contributions. In 2008 he joined the Avett Brothers on drums for their Top 20 album I and Love and You, after which Yonder Is the Clock, his last record as an official Felice Brother, reached number 20 on the Billboard 200—the band’s first appearance on that chart. Around the same period, he and his wife were expecting their first child. Following the loss of that child to miscarriage, Felice turned to songwriting with Robert “Chicken” Burke; the pair formed the Duke & the King, named after characters in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and recorded their debut album, Nothing Gold Can Stay, issued before year’s end.
In 2010 Felice entered the hospital after repeated fainting episodes and learned that an undiagnosed congenital heart defect had caused dangerous arterial blockage requiring urgent surgery. After surviving this second life-threatening episode he recovered fully and produced a burst of activity in 2011: a second, self-titled Duke & the King album, a reunion Felice Brothers release titled Celebration, Florida on which he supplied backing vocals, and his first novel, Black Jesus. Not long after the heart operation, he and his spouse welcomed a healthy daughter; partly inspired by fatherhood, he began composing the material that became his self-titled solo debut, released in 2012. March 2014 brought his second solo album, Strangers, which featured contributions from Ian and James Felice, Jeremiah Fraites and Wesley Schultz of the Lumineers, and Leah Siegel. The following year’s intimate From the Violent Banks of the Kaaterskill again included his brothers along with additional musicians on strings, bass, and drums.
Reducing the pace of his own releases, Felice produced the Lumineers’ number-one 2016 album Cleopatra and lent his hand to projects by Bat for Lashes, Vance Joy, and Dan Mangan. His next solo effort, 2018’s The Projector, included appearances by James Felice, Bat for Lashes, Rachael Yamagata, and Four Tet. He subsequently returned to the studio with the Lumineers to produce 2019’s III. Before issuing further solo material he also worked on recordings for Jade Bird, Wesley Schultz, the Wandering Hearts, and others. Chrysalis Records engaged the increasingly prominent producer for his subsequent solo album, All the Bright Coins. Recorded with producer and arranger David Baron and issued in January 2022, the set once more featured the Felice Brothers and Four Tet’s Kieran Hebden, as well as the sibling vocal duo the Webb Sisters.
Born on October 4, 1976, in the modest working-class community of Palenville, New York, near the Catskill Mountains, Felice experienced an early deviation from the ordinary at age 12 when a brain aneurysm confined him to a hospital for two months while he regained motor functions and relearned reading and writing. By 15 he had turned to music, performing in an experimental punk ensemble alongside friends; as the band’s lyricist he began crafting elaborate stories that sparked his first forays into poetry. In 2000 he issued his debut volume of verse, The Picture Show, followed soon after by short fiction. Even as his writing career advanced, his musical pursuits intensified: he and brother Ian began composing songs and making informal demos with bassist Doc Brown. Brother James later joined on accordion, completing the lineup with Ian on vocals and guitar and Simone on drums; the group took the name the Felice Brothers and self-released Through These Reins and Gone in 2006.
From 2007 through 2009 the Felice Brothers put out three albums, toured widely, and earned acclaim as one of the most distinctive acts in Americana, with Simone recognized for his standout songwriting contributions. In 2008 he joined the Avett Brothers on drums for their Top 20 album I and Love and You, after which Yonder Is the Clock, his last record as an official Felice Brother, reached number 20 on the Billboard 200—the band’s first appearance on that chart. Around the same period, he and his wife were expecting their first child. Following the loss of that child to miscarriage, Felice turned to songwriting with Robert “Chicken” Burke; the pair formed the Duke & the King, named after characters in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and recorded their debut album, Nothing Gold Can Stay, issued before year’s end.
In 2010 Felice entered the hospital after repeated fainting episodes and learned that an undiagnosed congenital heart defect had caused dangerous arterial blockage requiring urgent surgery. After surviving this second life-threatening episode he recovered fully and produced a burst of activity in 2011: a second, self-titled Duke & the King album, a reunion Felice Brothers release titled Celebration, Florida on which he supplied backing vocals, and his first novel, Black Jesus. Not long after the heart operation, he and his spouse welcomed a healthy daughter; partly inspired by fatherhood, he began composing the material that became his self-titled solo debut, released in 2012. March 2014 brought his second solo album, Strangers, which featured contributions from Ian and James Felice, Jeremiah Fraites and Wesley Schultz of the Lumineers, and Leah Siegel. The following year’s intimate From the Violent Banks of the Kaaterskill again included his brothers along with additional musicians on strings, bass, and drums.
Reducing the pace of his own releases, Felice produced the Lumineers’ number-one 2016 album Cleopatra and lent his hand to projects by Bat for Lashes, Vance Joy, and Dan Mangan. His next solo effort, 2018’s The Projector, included appearances by James Felice, Bat for Lashes, Rachael Yamagata, and Four Tet. He subsequently returned to the studio with the Lumineers to produce 2019’s III. Before issuing further solo material he also worked on recordings for Jade Bird, Wesley Schultz, the Wandering Hearts, and others. Chrysalis Records engaged the increasingly prominent producer for his subsequent solo album, All the Bright Coins. Recorded with producer and arranger David Baron and issued in January 2022, the set once more featured the Felice Brothers and Four Tet’s Kieran Hebden, as well as the sibling vocal duo the Webb Sisters.
Albums
All The Bright Coins
2022
The Projector
2018
Strangers
2014
Simone Felice
2012
Live from a Lonely Place
2010
Singles
Live
