Jerome Deupree (born November 9, 1956) is an American musician, based in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. He is best known as the original drummer in the

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

band

Morphine Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a pain medication, and is also commonly used recreationally, or to make other illicit opioids. T ...

Early career

Deupree started playing drums at the age of six, with the help of his two older brothers. In the early 1970s he formed a band with his brother Jesse. After high school, he moved to

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside the Indianapolis metropolitan area. According to the Mo ...

, where he got to record for the first time. After a few years he again relocated to

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz ( Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 62,956. Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz is a po ...

, where he played with

Humans Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

, who toured with Squeeze and opened for Patti Smith and Iggy Pop. In 1981 he moved to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, and has lived there since. His early Boston projects included stints in

Sex Execs Sex Execs were a new wave music band from Boston, Massachusetts, active from late 1981 to mid-1984, playing bars and colleges in the Northeast. Although the group's recorded output was scanty and self-released, lasting recognition came via severa ...

and Either/Orchestra.

Morphine

In the late 1980s, songwriter

Mark Sandman Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Finn ...

suggested that the two jam with saxophone player Dana Colley. As

, the three composed material and performed throughout the East Coast, including shows in New York. They also recorded at

Q Division Studios Q Division Studios is a recording studio located in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1986, Q Division was originally located at 443 Albany Street in Boston, but moved to its current two-studio facility in 2000. Bands that have ...

and The Outpost. In 1991 Deupree was forced to leave the project temporarily due to pain in his hand. Billy Conway took his place during that period. He returned to the band in 1992 and played on the debut album ''

Good In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...

''. The band also toured through California. Although the project was successful, Deupree had personal differences with Sandman, and he decided to leave the band at the end of 1992. Soon after that, Sandman called him and asked him to take part in a demo session that ended up being the band's second album, '' Cure for Pain''. In 1998 he made some appearances with Morphine, playing along with drummer Conway, shortly before Sandman died while performing in Italy in 1999, ending the band suddenly.

Post-Morphine projects

After Sandman's death, Colley, Conway, and Deupree formed the band Orchestra Morphine to tour behind Morphine's posthumous final album, '' The Night''. Orchestra Morphine remained sporadically active thereafter, reassembling occasionally to perform Morphine material. Deupree played frequently with jazz guitarist Joe Morris, appearing on several recordings. He participated in a formative version of the band

Beat Circus Beat Circus is a band from Boston, Massachusetts, US, fronted by the multi-instrumentalist / singer-songwriter Brian Carpenter, who has been its only constant member since its inception. Musical style The band's songs are characterized by lush ...

in 2002, and joined the Boston group Bourbon Princess for an extended time. He has also appeared as a session musician on records by

Eric Hutchinson Eric Hutchinson (born September 8, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter best known for his songs " Rock & Roll", "OK, It's Alright with Me", "Not There Yet", "Watching You Watch Him", and "Tell the World". Hutchinson was named an AOL "About t ...

Merrie Amsterburg Merrie Ruth Amsterburg (born in March 1960) is an American singer-songwriter born in Ludington, Michigan, United States. Her music has folk, rock, and pop influences. She has won two Boston Music Awards, a Boston Phoenix Award, and a Jam Magazin ...

Jen Trynin Jennifer Trynin (born 1963), is an American singer-songwriter and author from Boston, Massachusetts. Career She recorded her debut album '' Cockamamie'' in 1994 while running her own desktop publishing business. The track "Better Than Nothi ...

, and

James McMurtry James McMurtry (born March 18, 1962, in Fort Worth, Texas) is an American rock and folk rock/americana singer, songwriter, guitarist, bandleader, and occasional actor (''Daisy Miller'', ''Lonesome Dove'', and narrator of ''Ghost Town: 24 Hours i ...

. In 2009, Colley and Deupree began playing with

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

musician

Jeremy Lyons Jeremy Lyons (born March 24, 1970) is an American musician, currently based in Massachusetts. Musical career Jeremy Lyons began his professional music career playing blues guitar and singing on the streets of New Orleans, and went on to make a ...

as Members of Morphine, later renamed

Vapors of Morphine Vapors of Morphine is an American rock band founded in 2009 by the remaining members of the alternative rock band Morphine, saxophonist Dana Colley and drummer Jerome Deupree, along with blues guitarist Jeremy Lyons. Jerome stepped down in early ...

. This trio performs classic Morphine songs and new material. Jerome left Vapors of Morphine in 2019.

Discography

With Either/Orchestra *''

The Half-Life of Desire ''The Half-Life of Desire'' is an album by the Either/Orchestra recorded in 1989, with one track from 1988, and released by the Accurate Records label the following year.

'' (Accurate, 1990)

References

External links

Official Website

Vapors of Morphine
at Facebook
Vapors of Morphine's Official Website
Living people Musicians from Cincinnati Musicians from Ohio 1956 births Either/Orchestra members Morphine (band) members {{US-drummer-stub