Dave Russell

“Disaster” is definitely not something I’d use to describe local singer-songwriter Dave Russell, who is celebrating the release of his first solo EP Unnatural Disaster at FM Lounge on Jan. 23.
For Russell, a former member of The Tree Streets, writing the title track was a sort of epiphany.
“Writing ‘Unnatural Disaster’ was a very natural process oddly enough, and it was only after I wrote it that I understood the scope of it. The band was still together at the time I was writing the tune, but we all knew that we were breaking up, so that was in the back of my mind. I guess my subconscious had a lot to say. People have said they can identify with the song,” said Russell.
“It’s nice to know I’m not the only ‘Unnatural Disaster’ out there,” he continued.
The EP is eclectic, which says a lot considering there are only six songs. Russell doesn’t stick to one genre or style, which he says happened by accident.
He set out to put the focus on his songwriting for Unnatural Disaster, allowing each song to speak for itself.
Russell began recording Unnatural Disaster in late 2009 before taking a couple months off to tour from Windsor to B.C. in January 2010.
“The tour just fell in my lap, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I saw it as a test,” Russell explained.
When he returned home, he found himself inspired. “And it made the EP that much better than what it would have been if I didn’t take the chance and tour,” he continued.
One of his Tree Streets’ songs, “Rocking Chair,” is also included on the EP, a decision Russell made after the song was nominated in the Folk category at the Toronto Independent Music Awards last year.
Although The Tree Streets had been broken up for a year at that time, they briefly reunited to go to the awards ceremony.
While they didn’t win, the attention brought a new audience to the song.
“Since it was just me and an acoustic guitar anyway, I ran it by the guys, and they were cool with me putting it on my new release,” Russell said.
Russell fondly recalls his time with The Tree Streets, but finds himself more drawn to the solo side of music.
“Not taking anything away from that band, I’m very proud of what we accomplished as a group. But when it comes to fronting, and being the main creative mind in a project, I’m very at home as a solo artist,” he explained.
He is, however, forming a band—Dave Russell and the Precious Stones—for a couple release shows later this month. Although, he says he still enjoys his creative freedom.
“I really do enjoy performing with other musicians, and getting that big sound. However, I like having the freedom of playing a stripped-back solo acoustic show, but still having the option of calling up some friends to back me as a band when a bigger show comes up.”
As for what’s coming up beyond the EP, Russell says that he’ll promote Unnatural Disaster for the next year or so, and possibly record and release songs online throughout the year.
Don’t miss Russell’s CD release at FM Lounge, with Tara Watts, on Jan. 23 starting at 9 p.m. Cover is $5. Russell will have his full band with him, so expect a rock show experience with lots of sound.
Russell also plays Thursday nights at The Thirsty Scholar, located in the basement of the CAW Student Centre, from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Check him out online at www.facebook.com/daverussellmusic/.

WIN A COPY OF RUSSELL'S EP:

The Lance is giving away two copies of Russell’s EP Unnatural Disaster. Add us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/UWindsorLance and message us with “UNNATURAL DISASTER” by Jan. 14 to win! Winners will be notified via Twitter by Jan. 16! - The Lance

Dave Russell - Unnatural Disaster

Indie authenticity and country sincerity are quite often combined into mood music thick with pretense, trying too hard to make a point and reaching too far to do so uniquely. Unnatural Disaster defies this tendency. It does not sound indie, nor is it made up of country songs, but sensibilities of both combine on this EP, the first solo release by Dave Russell.

‘Indie’ and ‘country’ are just two of many terms that are flirted with and yet skirted on this record. The production teeters on the line which divides imperfect reality and the perfection of overproduction so often seen in current, heavily effected, over-compressed releases. The sound is clean and open, but never causes the listener to wonder how much post-production was involved in getting it there. There is a certainty that, were you to attend a show, everything would sound just as good live.

The tracks are well ordered, starting with the title track, which not only begins the record but also seems to introduce the singer. It’s the album’s handshake and tipped hat, sitting you down and making you comfortable.

Next is Phadra Phadra, a song which opens and closes with a fragment that sounds as though it could be on loan from The Penguins. On first listen, the intro seems disconnected, tacked on to make a point the song never quite comes around to. When it recapitulates at the end of the song, it seems more at home, finally slipping into a role that didn’t exist three minutes prior. This is the first and perhaps best example of one of the album’s trends: the songs approach like an awkward acquaintance, taking a minute to be recognized as a friend. The first fifteen seconds threaten to be just another folk song, and only when given the benefit of the doubt does the track prove to be more. This may not be the music that walks up to you in a bar and sweeps you off your feet, but it may be the music that ends up getting you down on one knee.

Conventional pop sensibilities return in Listen to Your Heart, the song that by far has the most commercial viability. It is upbeat but not obnoxious, sweet enough to listen to when you’re in love and gentle enough for when you’ve just fallen out of it. It stands in comfortable contrast Rocking Chair, which perhaps has the strongest country influence, with simple instrumentation, layered vocals, and lyrics that are vivd in description and bittersweet in feel.

The album’s closing tracks are a set of surprises. Next Weekend ramps quickly up from a folk song into blues-flavoured rock, with sax and guitar solos that tip their hat to Russell’s musical past with blues-rock group The Tree Streets. The track fades out and makes way for Toys, a song that would insists upon being considered Burlesque Gypsy Folk, were it that such a genre existed. The slow tempo is intoxicating but never drags. The vocals are weighed down somewhat under heavy reverb, and the song seems to continue on one verse longer than it ought to, but as the final seconds approach, you find yourself caught under its spell, drunk on the sound, and thankful for as much as you’ve been given.

The entire EP is a set of surprises, whether in a song that you love more by the end than you anticipated at the beginning, a genre you didn’t expect to stumble into, or the sheer range of styles that seem so at home with one another. Truth be told, this is not the album that will make Dave Russell a household name, but it may be the one that gets him onto your front step.

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- So'lano Music Group.