Spring 2009
Artist Statement
DB LEONARD is a Singer and Parlor Guitar Player and a Teller of Tall Tales. His music has been classified as music noir, heavy in mood and imagery, with an emphasis on the spaces in between. It has been a near perfect match for the films it has accompanied as well as the listening rooms in which he has cast a web.
He is a Scorpio, which is a water sign, which doesn’t help, nine planets out of twelve. The stars conclude that this can make his words sting. He has put this piece to good use, publishing his poetry in over a dozen literary journals. In Costa Rica, he was stung by a Scorpion. The next one he cut in two with a machete.
His restless spirit started in Boston on heavy doses of Morphine and the Pixies. At Nineteen, he joined the first of several bands, soon ditching them all for a Trio of his own (Upright Bass, Broken Down Drums, 1973 Guild) that played all over the drunken town, the most memorable stint being a Tuesday Night Residency at the Plough and Stars in Cambridge (home to other local heroes, G. Love and Special Sauce and Morphine). In New York City he got the Tuesday night residency at the Living Room which broke Norah Jones. He still looks forward to Tuesdays.
It was in New York City where he experienced his coming of age, first in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and then on 42nd Street. It started there on the platform of the L train and continued on through the stages, slowly and simply, a beautiful and often battered way of living, rising through the circular staircase of some of the city’s finest underground clubs. (The Living Room, Mercury Lounge, CBGB’s).
September 11th prompted an investigation of alternatives. Literally and figuratively, DB began unplugging himself from the hive. He ditched his Vantage Electric for a 1932 Parlor Guitar handed over, as luck would have it, by one of his childhood heroes, Kurt Smith, (Tears for Fears) (for three hundred dollars). Quickly named Jezebel for her devilish fantasies, the instrument turned his moody pop songs onto their head, back in the direction of Robert Johnson. Like all bewitched guitars of her standing, Jezebel opened up some doors and burned some others. There was a solo tour in Amsterdam and an extended residency at the Colony Café in Woodstock.
With the alternative tunings and the finger picking came vivid memories of Elliot Smith and Nick Drake. Glimpses of the blues tradition ala G. Love and Ben Harper. The angst of American Music Club’s Mark Eitzel and a certain longing of Paul Buchanan from The Blue Nile. The narrative of Steve Earle and John Prine. If only Leonard Cohen would smoke a cigarette in the room, the majority of Db Leonard’s influences would be accounted for.
For character studies, DB purchased a 1976 Pentax from a Flea Market in Hell’s Kitchen (twenty dollars) and started to shoot on film, in black and white. Somehow the images helped complete the circle, and the combination, of the word, music and image aided the folk opera that his work and life had become.
The hidden gems of a decade of recordings can be found on his 2009 LP, The Infinity Sessions. Gearing up for the record’s release, DB returned to the subways to ply his craft as he had done at the start of his journey. Herein lies the folk tradition, perhaps the original one. He is honored to be a part of it.
http://www.dbleonard.com
“…Db is a shot of adrenaline to a listless industry. He has reinvented music and made it his own creation…”
Songwriter’s Monthly
“… the laid back ethereal jaunts of Db leonard and his band are so casual and unassuming that you find yourself being comfortably wrapped up by their design… a sinfully languid musical offering with clever tack and purposeful precision… there’s no pushing and pulling here, but rather the band’s ingenious ability to let the music develop on it’s own terms. a stellar recording and one of the best efforts this year from the irrepressible db leonard…”
Metronome Magazine
“A lively mix of funk and folk... leonard’s voice is eerily similar to Dylan’s, with a more comprehensible articulation and husky bent... “...try to imagine Dylan embodied in the spirit of Joe Jackson- a bit husky with a little vibrato and good emotional range... informs the personal, introspective sonic quartet with necessary emotion and power...these are observational songs about life and love, pain and sacrifice, retribution and redemption...”
Richard Thorpe, The Boston Globe
“… a mix of Sting and Peter Gabriel… the lyrics make room for the wonderful flow of sound and controlled easy-does-it strength and power… a silky smooth, riffy, dark and spooky electrified river of current- could we be uttering Db leonard in the same breath as Daniel Lanois in the future?”
www.indie-music.com
“Isn’t this just a multi-talented superstar waiting to happen?... emotional and engaging... leonard’s voice is perfect for the songs he sings- emotive, fresh, unafraid to yell or be quiet... God is it good. One of those moments you find on acoustic albums where you can hear the emotion, hear the feelings, cause it’s all you hear. You hear me?... Overall, what a beautiful album.”
Eliot Popkin, www.musesmuse.com
"Db's work is served by a virtuoso understanding of the music in language. His songs, poetry and fiction play off each other. And each is informed by an intuitive sense of text's roots in oral forms. Furthemore, the warmth and intelligence in his diverse body of work readily enables audiences of all kinds to experience the 'singing underneath', the singing deep within writing."
Lee Bricetti, Executive Director of Poet’s House, www.poetshouse.org
“...a big unforgettable and assertive voice... grumbling bass, booming drums and percussive acoustic guitar... vivid sketches of what seem like detail, yet they actually paint larger pictures... Db leonard knows how to do it- write songs, craft melodies and pick his supporting cast... productive, intelligent and talented... the funk comes through...”
Les Reynolds, www.indie-music.com
“Top honors for this singer-songwriter- very nice arrangements... but what puts this effort over the top is the writing. Now, comparisons are the ground beef of this little butcher shop called music reviewing, but I will add a couple of my own lean grinds- Himmelman, Penn.
Norm Deplume, www.demorama.com
“... most of these tunes are pretty upbeat musically, but leonard’s lyrics are a bit darker, concerned largely with sex and character sketches of sketchy characters... glimmers of passion shine through... his voice comes over with hints of Dylan and the occasional J.Mascis-like whine... keep an eye and ear on db leonard- he’s got energy and promise...”
Paul Gibson, Seven Days- Vermont
“... though I don’t want to praise him with faint damns, this sounds more than a little bit like the first Paul Simon solo album to my nostalgic ears... the sort of music the label ‘introspective’ seems tailor made for. It has a soft, folky ambience and stirring subject matter throughout...”
Butch and Brenda, The Noise- Boston
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