The Deli Magazine's SXSW annual print issue is coming out soon and DC's The Walking Sticks are featured! If you haven't heard of this awesome indie dance band or their genre-flexing music, you've had your buried in the sand and under a rock. Vocalist Chelsea Lee has been on the scene for a few years now and her siren pipes grew a fanbase all their own. Now artfully flanked by some inventive electronica, her trained voice rings out, gripping your attention and moving your body for you. As this group has blown up, they're playing sold out shows around town, so catch them soon! -Jonathan Goodwin

The Walking Sticks give us what we want (I had to), premiering a new video for "You Got What You Wanted" on DCist today. Made on an iphone, it features what looks to be a single shot walk through a snow-covered wood with the snow falling. The creative minds of The Walking Sticks have managed to turn the otherwise dreary and upsetting weather into something beautiful and mystical. Thank you.

The song itself is pretty sexy. Like Portishead sexy, where the sex is kind of angry/frustrated/despairing sex (because, in this case, it seems, the sex is too addictive to escape). The music does not share the sexy gloom of a "Wandering Star" however. A beautiful organ leads the pretty sounds that fall about it like soft white snowflakes. The track, like the video, is filled with brightness, and Chelsea Lee's crystal voice. "Can't stop loving the high" indeed. --Natan Press

Deli Readers,

The Deli DC Area's Best of 2014 Readers and Fans' Poll for local emerging artists is over, thanks to all those who cast their vote in support of the emerging local bands and artists in our list of nominees.

Here is the top ten, and streaming track of the top four bands - which we congratulate!

1. Footwerk

---

2. Peoples Blues of Richmond

---

3.  Vexine

---

4.  The Walking Sticks

---

Here's this poll's top 10 chart, full results can be found here.

THE DELI'S BEST OF DC AREA 2014 - READERS' POLL RESULTS   Artists Votes   1  Footwerk 855  2  Peoples Blues of Richmond  522 3  Vexine  114 4  The Walking Sticks  104 5  Party Like It's  72 6  Sleepwalkers  51 7  Sean Barna  37 8  Walk The Plank  32 9  Fortress  31 10  The Cowards Choir 28

Stay tuned for the composite chart, to be released soon, which will include details about the point nominees accumulated from the jurors and Deli writers' votes, and will crown The Deli's Best Emerging DC Area Artist of 2014.

The Deli's Staff

There’s a fantastic show at The Dunes this Saturday. Previous DC Deli Band of the Month winner The Walking Sticks will be joined by previous DC Deli Album of the Month winner Klauss and the super adorbs America Hearts (The Deli hearts them too). Brooklyn based How to Be Topp completes this stellar lineup. Don’t miss it! --Natan Press

(photo by KelPhoto) Silver Spring's dream-pop trio the Walking Sticks make some groovy sounds, let me tell ya. Comprised of twin brothers Max Ernst (vocals, keys, bass,) Spencer Ernst (vocals, keys, guitars) and long time friend Chelsea Lee (lead vocals/keys/percussion,) the three all had professional recording contracts at an early age. Once those broke, they were able to get together and make incredible music that you can hear on World So Bright (June 2013) and Send the Night (Sept 2013) which you can check below. They won over the Deli readers who crowned them DC's band of the month, but "even more better!"- they are the National Deli's Band of the Month! We had to find out more about them, so here they tell us about that incident at Mason Inn, their Universal Audio Apollo Quad, and chasing down Chris Martin. Now onto the interview...

Catch the Walking Sticks live on Oct. 6 at the Takoma Street Fest in Takoma Park, MD. It's FREE!