Hefty Horse
New Member
Tickets: 8euro
Doors: 8pm
Hefty Horse Presents:
David Dondero is a modern-day troubadour, a minstrel, a bard, a rolling stone, a traveling wilbury -- he gets around, and wherever he goes, he makes music. He's been getting around to odd parts of America, making music -- of a primarily transient, narrative, and acoustic variety, in the tradition of great American troubadours of decades past -- since the early '90s. Originally he did it with a band called Sunbrain, with whom he recorded three albums, before opting to go it alone. Since that decision, Dondero has recorded seven studio albums and one live one. In 2006, NPR's All Songs Considered named David one of the "best living songwriters" alongside Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney and Tom Waits. Dondero has toured with such acts as Crooked Fingers, Jolie Holland, Against Me!, The Mountain Goats, David Bazan, Preston School Of Industry, Bright Eyes, Tilly and the Wall, Spoon, and Willy Mason. Dondero currently resides in Austin, TX.
Most striking about Dondero's music is his voice -- which isn't the most tuneful, but is confident, varied, emotional, and direct, nicely suiting his musical style -- and his great guitar fingerpicking, which sometimes sounds like it came straight out of the Appalachian mountains, sometimes sounds
bluesy, and sometimes even sounds vaguely classical. Other stark instrumentation -- lonesome accordion, harsh echoing percussion, and most of all, lots of fiddle -- connects Dondero further with the American folk tradition. Some songs are rock-minded, some desolate and hushed, some are detached, some extraordinarily confessional, some are twisted, some
straightforward, some are happy, and some sad. But all bear the mark of a quality songwriter who knows a thing or two about living.
Here's what Dondero had to say about his new album, # Zero with a Bullet, out August 3rd via Affairs of the Heart:
Have you ever gone from Berlin to Tasmania? Then, from the Klutina River
in Alaska down to San Francisco via Honolulu, Austin, and on to Frogmore,
SC? All in one album? Not knowing where to next? Well, that's where
I've been and where I'm trying to get. The great not knowing... like a
wind that's blowing, rolling… “Wherever you go, then there you are.” The
holy unforgiving blacktop sanctuary has become a wife and family to
me. This is the 7th installment in a series of words put to soundscape
which paint the picture of my life. Jobs, love affairs, battles with bottles
and so on. # Zero with a Bullet. The title… yeah, I know where I
stand in the game. Doesn't mean I'm not gonna keep playing. I didn't
think I had another song in me, but here we go again. They just crept up
and wouldn't leave me alone; wouldn't let me sleep! I don't even know
where the hell they came from or remember how they got here. These
goddamned songs!
This album is chock full of Yogi Berra-isms, shattered Kerouacian
dreams, “Air Conditioned Nightmares”, beer bellies, big belt buckles,
cowboy monkeys, and an extremely subtle bloody human sacrifice. It's a
reflection of broken hearts and busted wallets. Carolina moons, and the
process of lightning striking the fire from a tree. There's an overzealous
job boss talking down to his employees…and his crew holding him hostage
in the end. All the while, a lonely barefoot stripper is so bored with
her job, cursing her customers' neediness, “like little birds in the nest…
waiting to be fed… just babies in their momma's eyes," she said.
I recorded this one at a nice studio in Omaha, NE called ARC (Another
Recording Company) with A.J. Mogis in July 2009. His beard was in
full effect. It only took us 2 hours. Just kidding. I thought he did a
wonderful job and several friends of old and new met up to eat popcorn
and play. I tried to throw in everything in the kitchen sink, but threw out
what didn't work. So, in the end, the sink had just a couple dirty knives
and a broken spatula covered in dried up eggs. The meal was good
though and the eggs were fresh from the back yard in east Austin… yolks
as orange as the sun.
I remember seeing a man on the street ranting and raving drunkenly at
Camden Locks, London. An acquaintance of mine said “he's always Jesus
from 12 to 6… then he's Beelzeebubba from 6 to midnight!” I understood
completely. I'm 40 this year… can you believe that? They say 40's the
new 20 right? Well, hell… it's not a death march… it's a life march. Gotta
live it up now… #1's and zeros. Look through the screen and what does it
tell you? I'll be the zero… # Zero with a Bullet!
-David Dondero (Austin, TX – April 2010)
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You Kiss By The Book is the shambling, endearing, pared down musical project of Simon Dowling. Having enlisted the micro-scene equivalent of a supergroup (featuring those for whom The Terribles and I Heart The Monster Hero are the regular gig, among others),
They have recently recorded an album of winning simplicity live at Simon's house. The result is Bear Leader, a limited edition vinyl released with a free CD enclosed, available at Road Records. The album’s on Hefty Horse records, an imprint that will be familiar to those who’ve attended the gigs Simon has put on in Anseo, upstairs in Whelans and elsewhere.
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Biggles Flys Again is Dublin based musician Conor Deasy. He makes quiet bedroom folk pop that conjures up slices of Elliot Smith, The Beach Boys, and The Magnetic Fields. Releases to date include two ep's, a cassette album, and songs on compilation albums from Series Two Records and Lost Sound Tapes. 2010 began with a short tour of the UK, France and Germany and he is currently recording songs for a debut album.
avid Dondero (USA/Team Love) + You Kiss By The Book + Biggles Flys A
