Video: Rocco DeLuca, ‘Lucky’

Kevin Bronson on
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In a manner, Rocco DeLuca has come full circle. The L.A. native honed his chops at a long-running residency in Orange County from 2003 to ’05 and emerged as a contender with “I Trust You to Kill Me,” the first of two albums his band Rocco DeLuca and the Burden released on the independent label run by Jude Cole and Kiefer Sutherland, Ironworks. (“I Trust You to Kill Me” was also a documentary co-produced by and featuring Sutherland.) After the Daniel Lanois-produced “Mercy” in 2009, DeLuca went ahead without his Burden, and his follow-up, “Drugs ’N Hymns” (out this week via 429 Records) sees him armed with basically just his dobro, his falsetto and the duality of his deepest fears and grandest hopes. Emotionally, it’s as intense any full band can muster, yet “Drugs ’N Hymns” glows with the same intimacy as DeLuca’s live shows – which, in the dim lights on the right night, can be an almost religious experience. Quiet, please.

||| Live: Rocco DeLuca plays tonight at the the Hotel Cafe.