Home - Contents - OGC Log/What's New
by Diane Wilkes
In a world of packaged-for-radio music, you rarely come across an artist who isn’t aiming for a particular niche. Linda Dunn is quite the rarity in numerous ways, and one of them is that her self-titled debut CD ranges from blues ("A Broken Heart is a Terrible Thing" and "Mickey Mouse Pseudo-Zen") to passionate, if introspective folk ("This Time Tomorrow," a bittersweet song about leaving home, "Sorry for the Rain") to bluesy-country ("Wonder What He’s Doing," which reminds me of K.T. Oslin every time I hear it) to kick-ass rock and soul ("Stand Down," "Be Somewhere Else").
This is a freshman effort, and there are some places where both words apply. The only cover, Cheryl Wheeler’s "Does the Future Look Black," stands out like a beacon with its infectious, effortless hooks (there’s also a Kennedys feel to this track--perhaps because Pete Kennedy plays electric AND acoustic guitar on it). Certain songs contain an English Major-sensitive lyric intensity (the opening line to "In the Chelsea": ‘Dylan Thomas loved the place and Dionysus once retraced his drunken ruined footsteps through the narrow muted halls’), but this is forgiven because of the humor and wry common sense inherent in each song, even the aforementioned tribute to Jimi, Janis, Jim Morrison, Sid & Nancy. Dunn is very dramatic, but I am of the school that likes passion in her music. And her perspective saves her from going too far over the edge. "Bastard Amber" plays with the double meaning of theatrical lighting and a dramatic Prince of Darkness, and "Be Somewhere Else" combines Marie Antoinette imperiousness with a modern playfulness: "Be somewhere else, you’re standing in my light...you sadly smile and tell me that I’ll miss your knightly thrills, but you ain’t the only joust in town and I have many skills."
If I have one complaint about Cheryl Wheeler and some other folkies with a sense of humor, it seems that jokey one-offs are committed to disk, and then that clever song I enjoyed in concert becomes unendurable if played more than once annually. Dunn’s humor is always part of a bigger picture, and none of the songs on Linda Dunn are annoyingly gimmicky, despite her catchy turns of phrase and zingers. The witty diatribe against Yuppie Spirituality, "Mickey Mouse Pseudo-Zen" flirts around Christine Lavin territory, but the world-weary vocals keep it legit. "A Broken Heart is a Terrible Thing" is sassy fun, a la Bonnie Raitt or Susan Tedeschi at their spunkiest: "Don’t let them forget it’s your god-given right to look and feel like hell." Even here, though, Dunn is singularly distinctive in her insults; I can’t imagine Raitt or Tedeschi singing the line, "He’s gonna have some explaining to do with that slimy boyish charm."
The last song on Dunn’s album, "Guardian Angel," has an ethereal poignance that carries a depth of personal understanding that promises much for Dunn’s future. Hopefully, that angel will continue "faithful and inspired," revived by this occasionally uneven but always compelling fledgling offering.
Old Grey Cat: How does it feel to have your
"baby" out in the world? What reception has been the most
fulfilling--or the least?
Linda Dunn: The most fulfilling, I think, oddly enough, was doing a
search on Amazon.com and seeing my CD there. That's when it truly hit me that it
is really and truly "out." It's also been very cool that people have
heard it on the radio, found my website, and written me e-mail. As far as the
least fulfilling, I really can't think of anything. This is a really exciting
time for me, so there are probably negative aspects to things that I am immune
to even noticing (that's the ideal way to approach life, probably, anyway....)
OGC: There are a number of big "names" who play on your CD.
What was it like working with Nils Lofgren...
LD: It was great. One of Nils's solo albums,
"Wonderland," is one of my favorite records of all time, and he has
always been a favorite guitar hero of mine. I love all that stuff he does with
harmonics. I was sitting three feet from him when we were recording and I still
don't know how he did it.
He is also a really nice guy.
OGC: Pete Kennedy...
LD: Also one of my favorite guitar players. I had admired his work with
people like Nanci Griffith and Mary Chapin Carpenter for a long time. He and
Maura [Kennedy] both came into the studio, and were totally cool people. Maura
knew I was nervous about things and sort of gave me a little "relax!"
pep talk. I love the stuff he played on the record, and he brought a *ton* of
guitars to the studio, which was neat to see.
I'd also like to mention Jon Carroll, who did keyboards, penny-whistles, vocals,
accordion, and a bunch of other things. He also did the string arrangement (and
conducted it) for "In the Chelsea." Watching him conduct the strings
was really fascinating to me. He is one of the funniest people on earth, and an
amazing musician. They all were.
OGC: You also wrote about this on your web page. Folks can read more at .
Any other experiences you want to share about the recording process?
LD: There was really so much to take in that it is hard to pick out
specific things. I think the musicians I got to work with, and also working with
Bob Dawson, in a studio of that caliber, are things I won't ever forget.
OGC: Your lyrics are very intense. Would you say that your performances
reflect that intensity?
LD: I hope so. I try for them to. I have a lot of "serious"
songs, but I like to try to balance that out with humor and lighter stuff. It is
actually easier, I think, for me to put myself into the songs live, I had a
problem with that in the studio at first. I really had no idea how much I
depended on the energy that comes from an audience (whether it is a big one, or
just a few people). I loved making the record, but I have to say that I believe
performing will always be a more intense experience for me, and so I hope that
that is reflected back to the audience.
OGC: There's only one cover on your CD. How/why did you choose "Does
the Future Look Black?"
LD: Bob Dawson suggested I do it. He engineers Cheryl Wheeler's records,
which she records at his studio, and the album this song is on had just come
out. We needed one more song for the album that was mid-tempo, and sort of
upbeat, and he thought it would be interesting to try this, and I definitely
agreed. We changed the key (Cheryl sings higher than I do) and the arrangement.
I especially love the bridge in that song.
OGC: What are your plans to support the record? I saw that you're going
to be playing NYC this month...
LD: Yes, we (Robert Horne, my guitarist, with whom I perform) and I are
going to be playing out as much as we can. I sort of look at things backwards, I
guess -- I look at the CD as a vehicle that will allow me to play out a lot
more. The airplay is helping with that also. We are going to be doing some shows
in the DC area, and the label has set up a lot of in-store appearances, too, at
places like Tower Records. I'll be posting any appearances and shows on my
website as soon as they are firmed up.
I've also been doing some radio interviews/live performances, which are a lot of
fun.
OGC: Do you have a favorite track from the CD? Is it your favorite song
to perform live--if not, what is and why?
LD: It's hard for me to pick a favorite. I think "Guardian
Angel" is my favorite song, overall, that I have written. It is the one
that, when it was finished, I was able to say, "Well, that came off
*exactly* how I wanted it to, lyrically and musically." I also love how Bob
produced it, with the choir-type background vocals. We have a different
arrangement we do live which I like just as much. So, it's not that one is
better than the other, (live or studio), it's just a different process.
OGC: "Guardian Angel" is my favorite song on the CD...
LD: The same goes for "Sorry for the Rain," which I was pleased
with on the CD. It was the first song I'd written on piano, and I wanted a
really scaled-down piano-bar type feel to it, which I think came across well.
Live, it's very interesting as well, because we do it with only me singing and
Robert playing bass, which is a very offbeat arrangement that I think works.
OGC: You mention being a Nanci Griffith fan on your webpage. Is she an
influence? Who else would you say was a big influence musically? Lyrically?
LD: Nanci Griffith is a big influence, I absolutely love her lyrics;
melodically, she is untouchable. Once James Taylor said, of Carly Simon,
something to the effect that you can tell a good melody when you can easily sing
it with no accompanying instrument, and that holds true for Nanci Griffith's
songs.
I mentioned Carly Simon, also a big influence, but there are so many, a lot of
whom might not be readily apparent in my work but they made a big difference in
how I approach music. Billy Joel and Elton John are both heroes of mine; I love
how they write songs about such diverse subjects. Their songs are like little
movies.
I think I am drawn to a sort of theatrical sensibility, which would include
people like Kate Bush and even Pink Floyd. I'm not sure there is any Pink Floyd
element to my own music, but I have definitely listened to them extensively.
Guitar wise, James Taylor was an influence (I play a lot of fingerstyle, so he's
the man for that), Jackson Browne, and Bonnie Raitt. When I started playing
electric guitar, I went straight for a Strat, because of Bonnie.
OGC: What are your dreams for the CD? In an ideal world, what would you
be doing one year from today?
LD: One year from today, in an ideal world, I would be answering these
questions from a laptop computer in a hotel room in Austin, Texas. I'd be in
town because I would be doing Austin City Limits, and then going straight from
there to embark on a small theatre tour of the United States. And I would be
dating Liam Neeson. Any or all of these things would be cool to me, it doesn't
have to be the whole package (actually, Liam is probably (unfortunately) the
most expendable element, since I am fairly focused on my career).
Seriously, my biggest dream is to just continue to get gigs, write songs, and
have enough success with my recorded work to keep the whole thing going.
OGC: And the dreaded question: have you been working on new material?
LD: This is not a dreaded question to me. I have been working on a lot of
new material. I've been collaborating with Robert Horne, and I'm really happy
with the stuff we've done. I usually sketch out the framework of the songs, then
we work on some musical ideas together, then I fine tune the lyrics. By that
time, both of us have some idea of how we want to arrange it to play it live. He
plays a really amazing style of electric guitar, very textured and full; he's
less focused on solos and more on supporting the song, so we both work out our
guitar parts and then the vocal. It's been a lot of fun, and some of my new
songs are what I think is the best work I have done.
I know you have an interest in tarot, so you might be interested in "78
Degrees," a title obviously appropriated from Rachel Pollack....which is
about the correspondence between Aleister Crowley and Frieda Harris. I like to
think I've written the only non-metal song about Crowley in existence.
I've got a lot of songs finished, and a lot on the proverbial back burner. Some
of the new ones are getting rotated into our live sets, which is a good way to
test them out and fine-tune them even more. I'm really excited about the next CD
already, though we are really just getting started with this one, since it was
just released.
-End-
For more information on Linda's just-released CD, head on over to . You'll be hearing a lot more from her--if you're lucky.
|
|