Calgary Folk Club
March 1, 2013
Dave Gunning with
Molly Thomason
The Saturday Morning "Somebody-Asked-Me-To, So-Here-I-Go" Entertainment Review:
Calgary Folk Club
March 1, 2013
Dave Gunning with
Molly Thomason
True story - I discovered Dave Gunning's music back in 2009 when I wrote a column for my national column. I write a humour column for the real estate industry, and my concept for that month was a list of songs about house and home.
Almost immediately after it came out, I got a letter (2009, remember letters?) from a reader upset about my omitting Dave's "House For Sale". I found a copy, and immediately became a fan of his style of country - as he suggested last night, Celtic Country.
Regardless of what you call the genre, this is a style of music that won't soon go out of favour. It's the sort of music that can be played around a campfire. In a kitchen. Or as he commented in one of his many stories last night, gathered around fellow oil patch workers, missing the home province you left in search of a good income.
A true east coast storyteller, Gunning shares how so many of his songs were inspired, and openly pays frequent tribute to his personal inspirations. A great story about seeing Stan Rogers and John Allan Cameron in concert (TOGETHER), getting the title of a song to co-write with Ron Hines in a bar - the audience clearly enjoyed those nuggets as much as the songs that came from them.
His comments about going to school with J.D. Fortune (Rockstar INXS) and George Canyon (Nashville Star), and their subsequent reality TV success was pretty cool - I followed both of those TV competition journeys, start to finish.
Songs. The man can write songs.
With about 20 centimetres of snow expected tonight, it maybe wasn't so out of context to hear his hilarious Christmas song, "Daddy's Beer". Regardless of the season, you might never get tired of hearing "Saltwater Hearts".
Dave is currently in competition - "These Hands" is a finalist in the International Songwriting Competition. Click on this link to visit his website, and VOTE!! Or find links to his music and tour schedule.
Opening act Molly Thomason was immediately endearing. At just 18 years old, her musical influences certainly spill into her songwriting. Citing The Beach Boys, Buddy Holly and Dion and The Belmonts, her songs showed deep maturity, as did the introductions she shared before performing them.
She's well aware of her old soul. She confessed to "Hometown" being part of a mid-mid-life crisis. I also really enjoyed "Walk You Home", and "Shine In The Dark", from her 2011 release "Beauty Queen". The remarkable thing is that some of her material is 4 years old, which would have meant she wrote them when she was 14!
A new release is coming out soon, and she is ALSO in a competition. Visit her site to vote for her as Best New Artist on CBC's Searchlight MainStreet. Vote!
Check out The Calgary Folk Club for upcoming shows!
Chow for now...
2 comments:
I enjoyed the show. I like Dave's style in how he delivers his stories. Very funny, very humble.
Molly is amazing. Unbelievably talented. She has a quick wit and obvious warmth about her. I really enjoyed her story of how her Grandmother came to marry her Grandfather and the song she performed from that story. I am not sure if it will be called Alice or something else, but can't wait for that song to come out.
A great night!
Love this club.....
Post a Comment