DAVID GANS
Solo Acoustic (Perfectible Recordings)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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Damn near everyone who has ever written a word about music would gladly trade all their clips for a career as a performer. That's true of a fair number of the folks who spin songs on the radio as well, I imagine. Many of us have tried, and, well, we write about music. Draw your own conclusions....

David Gans has written reams about music, and he's the host of the nationally syndicated Grateful Dead Hour radio show. It's got to be a pretty tolerable life - spin music by and interview musicians you admire, write a book every couple years, take the occassional magazine gig. Stay home, enjoy the family, live almost sanely. Except....

Damn near everyone who has written a word about music would gladly trade all their clips for a career as a performer, except that developing that career is hard. It means putting yourself out there for other people to critique instead of passing judgement on others. It means hitting the road, living at the mercy of airlines and car rental agencies and hotels and hoping for the hospitality of friends. It means putting your ego on the line in front of people who probably came either to see someone else or just to get drunk with their friends. Developing that career is a bitch.

David Gans has summoned up the necessary courage to do what a lot of us wish we could, and he's doing it in fine style. A couple years now into the process, he's released Solo Acoustic, a sampling of what's happened so far in front of a variety of audiences, and a pretty fair guide to what you might expect when he hits a stage near you.

So what should you expect? Well, some of what you might imagine from someone who's been as closely associated with the Grateful Dead for as long as Gans has. Hunter/Garcia tunes crop up here and there, and Gans has adapted the Dead's trademark medley style to create his own solo jam style. Like the Dead, Gans freely mixes original tunes with creatively selected covers, and there's even a Hunter/Gans collaboration on the disc.

This is no GD cover act, though. Gans works in the singer/songwriter tradition, offering music that's more Americana than jam band in feel. Among the standout tracks are the original tunes "An American Family," a piece of wry social commentary, and "Who Killed Uncle John?," a devastating commentary on the delitorious effects of musical idol worship. Also noteworthy is his collaboration with Robert Hunter, "Shut Up And Listen," a word of advice to the audiences who came to get drunk with their friends, a new arrangement of Jim Page's "Down To Eugene, and a cover of Martin Mull's "Normal." Every cut has it's own appeal, though, and the whole package is a highly enjoyable 80 minutes.

Gans released this disc primarily to have something to sell at gigs, but you don't have to wait for him to show up in your town to get one. A trip to www.dgans.com will provide all the information you need to get your hands on a copy, and I recommend that you do just that.

Track List:

Ask Your Dog!>I Bid You Good Night * Return Of The Grevious Angel * An American Family * Down To Eugene * Lady With A Fan>Terrapin Station>River And Drown>The Minstrel * Shut Up And Listen * Sovereign Soul * Normal * The Nightmare>Blue Roses * Black Peter>Dear Mr. Fantasy>Trying * Elvis Imitators * Brokedown Palace * Who Killed Uncle John? * Tear My Stillhouse Down

© 2001 - Shaun Dale