Americana Music Reviews

 

Dave Olson
#80
Stumble and Fall Records

by Al Kunz

This music reviewing gig forces me not only to appraise how much I like (or dislike) the music, but evaluate why. If the reasoning isn't articulated, you can't decide how well my tastes fit yours. While listening to Dave Olson's #80, I realized that the qualities I look for vary from genre to genre. Sometimes they'll even vary within subdivisions of a genre. For example I don't expect a punk band like the Ramones or X to have deep lyrics (if they do, and if I can understand them, so much the better). But if they don't make me a volume-blasting fool who can't stay still, they've failed. Dave Olson falls in a category someone described as "Americana poet." I'll appropriate his term and provide my own definition.

In my definition, an Americana poet is a singer-songwriter. Singers who don't write most of their own material won't qualify. Their musical style, like the term Americana, is a bit hazy, but would have some or all of the qualities of folk, country, and roots-rock. My top requirement in this style is songs that put the spotlight on the lyric. They may be songs that tell a story. They might be humorous, but behind the humor is a message or lesson to be learned. Examples of other artists in this category are Fred Eaglesmith, Townes Van Zandt, and Steve Earle.

If the lyric is the key then the vocals matter too. The vocal range of Pavarotti isn't required, only a style that communicates and supports the lyric. If you can understand the words and the vocals don't detract from the song's message, it meets the minimum requirement. You might be attracted to Emmylou's music because of her beautiful voice. Steve Earle and Fred Eaglesmith attract fans with understandable and melodic but often rough vocals. They'll never be opera singers. However, their voices are well suited to the songs they sing. Dave Olson is also no Pavarotti. His vocals have enough rough edges to add character, but not enough to detract from the song. This is an ideal voice for an Americana poet. He might even remind you of Earle on opening track "The Workin' Life," about the work struggles of previous generations with some atypical motherly advice.

My Mama said boy you better promise me
You're gonna break the workin' life chain
'Cus your days and days of doing work and work
Well, it's all gonna bring you pain

So stay in school and stick to your books
Use your brains and not your hands
And if that don't work become a workin' life crook
Rob banks across the land, rob rich banks across the land

If the lyrics are the focus, then they have to say something worth hearing. Whether about the stresses of trying to reach his idea of adulthood in Olson's "Growin' Up" or the distances, both literally and figuratively, we'll go in search of love in "#80," the themes should be universal. In "This Little Town" everyone may not relate to the specific, the less than positive changes caused by growth and "progress" in Olson's small hometown. But even city dwellers should be able to relate to the generic of negative changes in the name of progress.

Well I don't know this road anymore
Used to lead up to my house, right up to my front door
Well there used to be nothin' for miles and miles
In the long country sky with my open space smiles

Well, It's been a long time since my last trip home
I was just twenty years old, in the car all alone
Construction cones turned a two-lane highway into one
Now there's four lanes with shoulders, pointing to the setting sun

Well, what the hell happened here
My little town isn't on the map
I thought we were in the clear
What the hell happened here
My little town isn't on the map
I didn't think we had anything to fear

An Americana poet may focus on the lyric, but he can't forget that this is music, not poetry. Since Olson is based in Iowa City, IA, it's only logical that he looked to the artists on the great Iowa City roots-music label, Trailer Records, for instrumental support. Atom Robinson (bass, accordion, organ), Matt Winegardner (drums), and Dustin Busch (guitar), all members of Kelly Pardekooper's Devil's House Band and sometime members of Teddy Morgan's Pistolas, all contributed. Trailer Records regular Marty Letz plays pedal steel with Jason Schnoll blowing the harmonica. Olson and co-producer Chris Poma found the right balance so that the music supports, rather than overshadows, the vocals.

An additional genre within the Americana poet's arsenal is the blues. In a three song sequence Olson covers a wide range of blues, progressing from the lively "Kerosene" through the mid-tempo "Home Sweet Home" to the melancholy end-of-love blues of "So Long Blues."

So long blues
Guess I'm goin' away
Ain't nothin' you can do to stop me
Ain't nothin' that you can say

Well, my bags are packed
My coat is on and there's a taxi in the street
So long blues
I hope we never ever once again meet

Dave Olson meets the criteria as an Americana poet I can recommend. The vocals and instrumental accompaniment enhance the message of the songs. The lyrics are about universal situations everyone can understand. You couldn't ask for more. Olson ends #80 with "AM Lullabye" about a feeling I have almost every morning. You probably feel the same.

I wake up in the morning with my pillow overhead
In the soft warm confinements of an untidy bed
A thousand slits of light through the blinds against the wall
And a hungry cat is screaming through the door and down the hall
Well I feel so safe here wearin' nothin' but a sheet
And the air from the window through the toes on my feet
I'd like to join the world and see another rotten day
But this bed, it feels so good, so it's where I'm gonna stay

*Visit www.stumbleandfallrecords.com for purchase options, music samples, and additional information about Dave Olson.

Contact Al Kunz at kunz-at-rockzilla.net

 
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