Produced by Tim Carbone
Mastered in HDCD by Joe Gastwirt
David Gans's fifth CD was recorded with Railroad Earth violinist (and occasional Dharma Bum) Tim Carbone on Tim’s turf near the Delaware Water Gap, along with a remarkable cadre of musical pals including mandolin wizard John Skehan III, multi-instrumentalist Andy Goessling, bassist Lindsey Horner, and demon steel (lap and pedal) player Buck Dilly.
Loaded with lyrically piercing songs, including a dark, brilliant contribution from Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, Gans' latest is melodically vibrant and engaging as hell, borne on the fluid textures of Carbone's players and encompassing a variety of styles that will prove appealing to Americana, "jam," and AAA radio listeners.
"Warmly cynical"–or perhaps "angrily optimistic"–might be a good way to characterize one of the threads running through this collection, which is bookended by "Shove in the Right Direction," good advice born of personal experience, and "It's Gonna Get Better," an anti-theocracy rant that ends on an upbeat with the line "I love the world we live in 'cause I live in it with you." "An American Family" is a portrait of a couple and their son struggling to make ends meet; "Save Us from the Saved" takes on heavy-handed moralists. "That's Real Love" is a sweet song of love penned by Gans for his wife "ten years too late for our wedding." "The Bounty of the County" celebrates the glories of organic produce, "thinking global and eating local." And Gans' fingerpicked take on Jim page's "Down to Eugene" drew a rave from country-blues guitar hero Jorma Kaukonen, who told David, "That's real finger-style guitar." "Like a Dog," with lyrics by the Grateful Dead's Robert Hunter, is a Dylanesque growl punctuated with Andy Goessling's baritone sax and a percussion track played by producer Carbone on a pair of fire extinguishers.
David is a veteran of the music business as a songwriter and performer, radio producer (host of the nationally syndicated Grateful Dead Hour, host of Dead to the World on KPFA-Berkeley, and a consultant to the Grateful Dead Channel on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio since its inception), record producer (Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia boxed sets, Postcards of the Hanging, Might as Well: The Persuasions Sing Grateful Dead, and others), journalist (an in-demand magazine writer and noted author of four books), and photographer (in addition to musicians, he favors southwestern scenery and organic produce; he provided the images for The Ones That Look the Weirdest Taste the Best).
He is a favorite at many popular music festivals, including MagnoliaFest and the Suwannee SpringFest (Florida), Gathering of the Vibes (Connecticut), and Grateful Fest (Ohio). He has performed at High Sierra and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, and on national radio programs including the Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour, West Coast Live, and his own shows.
If you want to judge the man by the company he keeps, David has performed in spontaneous and/or rehearsed sessions with Donna the Buffalo, Railroad Earth, Ollabelle, Phil Lesh, ALO, Henry Kaiser, Peter Rowan, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Keller Williams, Jim Lauderdale, Donna Jean and the Tricksters, Dark Star Orchestra, moe., Hot Buttered Rum, Shockenaw Mountain Boys, String Cheese Incident, and many others. In addition to his solo work, David has for the last several years been part of a "Beatles jam band" called Rubber Souldiers, with Chris and Lorin Rowan and friends.
Read more...