Desolation Angels “Hell Or Highwater”

Dan McKernan - guitar/vocals; Erik Pelto - drums/guitar; John "Wolf" Abel - bass. 

“So shut up, live, travel, adventure, bless and don't be sorry”
― Jack Kerouac, Desolation Angels

I spent a month with this album one day. From heart pumping in your hands ballads to whack a mole upside the head country rockers, surf riffs pounded against rock breakers until they’re just splintered wood and cuts and bruises in between, Desolation Angels “Hell Or Highwater” packs a wallop of kick ass and I'm a glutton for ass whopping’s. Get it! Available on Amazon, iTunes, CdBaby and other online retailers.


1. Hellbound
2. Ghost (Of Packard '39)
3. Freightliner with Emily Rose
4. Another Day
5. Morning Comes To Call
6. Kansas
7. Even If He's Wrong
8. Stuck Here With You
9. Tulsa
10. Try Try Try
11. No Place Left (To Turn)
12. Water Into Wine

Recorded over two years at the White Room and Pretty Suite Recording Studios, the album runs the gamut of alt country styling, from rockabilly rave-ups (Try Try Try, Kansas) to pure country balladry (Freightliner, Tulsa), retro outlaw throwbacks (Even If He’s Wrong) to the cowpunk of the album’s first single “Hellbound.” Said drummer Erik Pelto, “There are so many different subgenres in Americana we enjoy, we let the song dictate the style rather than vice versa.”

The Desolation Angels started in 2001 by McKernan and includes drummer Pelto, lead guitarist Josh Weddle and bassist John “Wolf” Abel, who is also in Detroit bands The Infatuations and Bat On Fire. The Desolation Angels have toured regionally for several years including the east coast and Midwest