Album Notes

"Although he's from the Deep South of Louisiana, David Bankston's songs are eclectic--a concerto here, a Big Thicket-groove there, a Beatle moment over yonder--and always with an elegantly understated melody that fits like a fine suit of clothes, and always with that wry, Cormac McCarthy lope to the story, lovingly detailed with the quirk and zane of a true Southern gentleman writing for his people."

Chuck Pyle

"David Bankston is a man overly gifted with language, sublime melodies, and most of all, something worth saying that only a human who has lived too full a life can say. He is neither toying with his talent or engaging in brilliant wordplay, his words are the horizontal rain of the deepest south, the soulspeak of a life lived on the far edges of human wants and needs. He doesn't write fiction, and your life will be enriched by the ache and beauty of his passage in song."

Sam Broussard of Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys

This 10-song project, all written in whole or part by David, is a collection of his best, embodying his original style, lyric command and sense of place - primarily the American South. Galvez Town was recorded in Nashville with producer Frosty Horton (Jenn Adams, Michael Hoppé) and engineer Richard McLaurin (Matthew Ryan, Iris Dement). Guest musicians include bassist Byron House (Nickel Creek, Sam Bush), accordionist Jeff Taylor (Time Jumpers), and guitarist Sam Broussard ( Michael Martin Murphy, Steve Riley).

The title cut, "Galvez Town," is the saga of three generations of a Louisiana family whose roots are in an old Spanish settlement deep in bayou country. The stories radiate out like spokes of a wheel through Louisiana and beyond: a Blackfoot Indian hobo, a love affair along the Red River between a rich girl and an offshore oil worker, a lover contemplating a broken heart on a train across Britain, the fate of the Knoxville Girl bound up with two operatic heroines, a serial motorcycle thief, a desperate man staring across the Hudson River toward his lost dreams, and runaway teenagers hearing Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone for the fist time.

David Bankston is a veteran of the American music landscape,born and raised in Southern Louisiana and currently living in South Carolina. After absorbing the early influences of Bob Dylan and Mose Allison, David's first success was with acoustic group Manchild, signed to Capitol Records in the mid 1970s. After Manchild's breakup, he spent years performing in musical theatre. David has since become a music educator and is a celebrated interpreter of American popular song, performing with symphony orchestras throughout the United Sates and Europe. He currently performs as solo acoustic act or as a duo with Sam Broussard.