...changed my musical perception!
author: Tennille H.
Dan Vaillancourt is fantastic!!! When I heard him for the first time, he changed my musical perception!!! I was looking for something new, and this is it!!!
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Interesting Mix of Songs from a Natural Storyteller...
author: Bob Gottlieb From the Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange
This is an interesting mix of songs from a natural storyteller, who manages to spin and weave his snapshots and snippets of dreams and conversations into engrossing tales that capture the listener's imagination. He is also quite a musician playing a plethora of stringed instruments: mandolin, banjo, bass, lap steel, and his custom made 10-stringed guitar, though, on this disc, he is not doing it all himself and has assembled a number of other musicians to help him flesh out his songs. His music is rooted in folk, with sprinklings of early rock and roll (think Bill Hailey and Carl Perkins) with some jazz licks just to spice it all up. These songs, all written by Vaillancourt, are assembled from those bits and pieces of life that stick in the mind and cause it to ruminate over the workings of things. They're those pieces that seem never to leave and act on the mind like a dog worrying a bone. This music is an intermingling of funky, energetic, and a totally idiosyncratic mix that is truly his own. Like so many other singer songwriters now, he doesn't fit into one of those handy little boxes in an increasingly compartmentalized world, which makes him a much more interesting artist because you don't know what direction the next tune is going to take.
This is his latest self-produced disc and it should expand his audience. It contains a good assortment of his touching as well as haunting songs. His performing energy from his live shows comes through on the album. There is a quirky sense of the absurd that runs throughout it which allows the listener into Dan's mind as it stood when the album was recorded.
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Unapologetically Melodic... Always hits each note with ferocity and cunning.
author: Jason from Smother.net
Captured here is a testament to where his live show goes—the album is funky, energetic, and perfectly prepares you for what a Vaillancourt show would entail. His voice is unapologetically melodic and always hits each note with ferocity and cunning. The songs are crafted with a brilliant sense for songwriting and a knack for performance. Apparently he makes salsa from his home-grown tomatoes in his spare time and I sure would like to taste the fruits of his labor since Melodic Snapshots is so damn delicious. Editor's Pick!
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...Witty, Worldly, and Wise Observations on Love and Life.
author: Evolution of Media
Dan Vaillancourt, who just released his third album Melodic Snapshots. Vaillancourt refers to his music as "Funktified Folk", which is an accurate description of the nine songs contained here. He has been compared to Paul Simon, Bob Dylan (name checked in the wryly self-referential "Dylan Breath"), Leo Kottke, and Michael Hedges. What I hear is 1/2 early Beck (on "Melodic Snapshots", "Green & Gray", and "Anything At All"), 1/4 Jack Johnson ("Everything's Alright" and "Give Up") and smatterings of Dylan, Spin Doctors and Ben Harper.
What really gives Vaillancourt's songs the lift that makes them stand out is the lyrics; his witty, worldly, and wise observations on love and life. "Could I" poses questions of dreams their consequences, while "Anything At All", "With You" and "Wandering Blue Eyes" document the ups and downs of relationships with a sophistication worthy of Paul Simon. Hey, maybe that's where the comparison comes from!
Melodic Snapshots is a mature work that deserves all the airplay accorded to Jack Johnson and all the gushing press received by the likes of Devendra Banhart. If you like either of those artists, you owe it to yourself to give Dan Vaillancourt a listen.
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