David Bavas

By: Han Orsel

In a festival full of self-centered guitars, David Bavas is a strange
bird. Together with his band, the Down Comforter, he appeared in a saloon on 6th Street for a handful of people and provided a great performance of somber pop. Bavas brought outstanding musicians with him, among whom the most
notable were the cellist and the guitarist. Bavas' voice gives the
songs an extra melancholy rendering. Here we are in the terrain of, for example, the Red House Painters, but it isn't cheerful. Bavas' music is still a
bit new. He truly has the voice, the music and the musicians to build upon.

(translation courtesy of Kathleen Millard)

In een festival vol gierende gitaren is David Bavas een vreemde vogel.
Samen met zijn band Down Comforter treedt hij op in een zaaltje aan 6th Street. Voor een handjevol mensen verzorgt hij een prima optreden vol sombere pop. Bavas heeft uitstekende
muzikanten meegenomen, waarbij
vooral de gitarist en de celliste opvallen. De stem van Bavas geeft de songs een extra melancholische lading. We zijn hier niet op het terrein van bijvoorbeeld de Red House Painters, maar vrolijk is het niet. De muziek van Bavas is nu nog wat netjes. Hij heeft echter de stem, de liedjes en de muzikanten om absoluut nog te groeien.
http://www.kindamuzik.net/live/diverse-artiesten/sxsw-2006-dag-2


- KINDAMUZIK - 27 maart 2006

“…low-moaned depresso strum lament…”
- -Chuck Eddy (Music Editor) Village Voice 12/21/04

This week’s lucky CD from my pile is David Bavas’s Songs of Love, Death, and Trains. While it’s an album that’s been out for almost a year, Bavas was kind enough to contact me through Myspace not long ago and offer to send it my way. I figured I’d reciprocate the kindness. There’s at least a decent chance many of you out there in Volcano Land haven’t heard of Bavas yet (though I do believe he recently played in town), and I figured that was as good a reason as any to give Songs of Love, Death, and Trains a spin.

Today was gray. The office was quiet and the mood was sleepy. The entire pace of life seemed slowed, which made for a perfect backdrop to Bavas’s Songs of Love, Death, and Trains.

While it’s not quite wrist-slitting, Songs of Love, Death, and Trains is definitely a sad record. Made up of creeping, pitter-pat indie-alt country numbers that rarely speed past a waltzing pace, Songs of Love is porch sitting music, seemingly made for remorseful recollections of past pain.

As is evident from the very beginning, and especially on the disc’s best track, “Cigarettes and Bourbon,” the subject matter isn’t the only thing that’s dark on this album. Bavas’s voice is equally as shadowy – lying in the reaches of these songs - and his humble, Appalachian born demeanor adds an engaging edge that takes some of the sting out of the heartbreak he sings of.

Bavas’s songs may all be similarly paced, and – for the most part – similarly mired in sorrow, and they might all be built on Bavas’s unassuming voice, the no-hurry beat of country drums and the slow, steady strum of an acoustic guitar, but Travis Hartnett does add some electric guitar swagger to the mix. It’s the rarest of musical tag-teams, as both artists seem to lift each other to a new level. Without Hartnett, Bavas’s music would be noteworthy. With Hartnett, Bavas – and his CD – are the full package.

Songs of Love, Death, and Trains captures a day like today perfectly. It may have been out since last year, but it’s definitely worth your attention right now. - Matt Driscoll

David Bavas: Songs of Love, Death, and Trains



Where do emerging singer-songwriters come from? In the case of David Bavas, the answer is from the Appalachian foothills by way of Seattle.

Bavas's latest CD is his second. And though I missed his self-titled debut in 2005, after hearing Songs of Love, Death, and Trains, I can assure you that you don't want to miss this one.

This CD has 10 tunes; nine that Bavas wrote and one Townes Van Zandt classic. Bavas' cover of "No Lonesome Tune" is a great introduction the Seattle-based singer. It's rare to hear an emerging artist do a rendition of a song that surpasses the original, but Bavas did it.

That track definitely got my attention. Bavas has an expressive voice, a collection of eclectic styles and uses an array of instrumentation. However, that's still just the tip of the iceberg. The weightier element is his songwriting, the constant that ties it all together.

Some of his songs tell dark stories, and like Hank Williams Sr., the tunes on Songs of Love, Death, and Trains are tinged with tears.

The CD opens with "All the Trains," a song of hard luck and heartbreak backed by a plaintive pedal steel.

All the songs on the CD have a timeless quality. They could just as easily have been sung by Woody Guthrie, Jimmy Rogers, Hank Williams Sr. or Johnny Cash. But even though those master storytellers may be gone, Bavas is still singing their songs ... songs of love, death and trains.
- Curt Nichols

Dark, disturbing but unmissable 8 out of 10

Singer-songwriter David Bavas could be singing a set of the most optimistic songs ever written, they could tell of God being in his heaven and all’s right with the world and it wouldn’t matter a jot.

Bavas, originally from the foothills of the Appalachian mountains, has been given the kind of inky black voice that drags you into the bottomless pit of his songs. There’s no escape and something he’ll have to live with.

But it’s the dark richness of that voice that makes him an interesting and original artist and it’s that voice which makes the accurately descriptive Songs of Love, Death and Trains such a wonderfully uncomfortable but unmissable experience.

It’s really easy to hear why he has been compared to the likes of Tom Waits. Although he is slightly less craggy (who isn’t?) the same black cloud hangs over Bavas’s lyrics as hangs over Waits.

Admittedly Songs of Love, Death and Trains is an album that requires a bit of work, not by Bavas but by the listener, If The World is perhaps the most accessible song on the album it still needs to be approached with care. The song is also the closest that Bavas comes to a recognizable ballad but it has to be admitted the term is used loosely, nothing Bavas does comes that close to anything really. The sheer intensity does sometimes render his music a touch impenetrable but any effort is rewarded tenfold.

The base of the album is certainly the kind of grass roots, country that Bavas would hear in his childhood with Raindrops, Cigarettes and Bourbon drawing most heavily on the past but it is just a base, this is a man who ploughs his own furrow.

Whether it’s the delivery or just the songs, the album has a definite poetic feel, as Bavas recounts his Lonesome Tune and Willow Tree you get the feeling they’d be just as good without music.

It’s not surprising that such an introspective musician should give little away in his songs. The suspicion remains that Heaven and Hell among others is drawn from personal experience but it is just a suspicion, not too much is given away and nothing is offered lightly.

Although it’s an album completely devoid of flash and trash, Songs of Love, Death and Trains contains a harsh undercurrent that magnifies and multiplies its effect. It is an album that is conceived , written and performed in stark black and white and perhaps it’s that lack of light relief that makes it so compelling. - Michael Mee

David Bavas
Songs Of Love, Death, And Trains
Proud Mountain/CD Baby
www.heaven.be

Translation
David Bavas
Songs Of Love, Death, And Trains
Proud Mountain/CD Baby
www.heaven.be
Because of his slightly sleepy sounding vocals it’s quite easy to underestimate alt.country singer-songwriter David Bavas. The Townes Van Zandt meet Will Oldham-style songs on his second album Songs Of Love, Death, And Trains are nonetheless of excellent quality and are definitely worth investigating.

*** Pieter Wijnstekers

Met zijn vrij slaperig klinkende stemgeluid is het gemakkelijk om alt.country-singer-songwriter David Bavas te onderschatten. De Townes Van Zandt meets Will Oldham-achtige liedjes op zijn tweede cd Songs Of Love, Death, And Trains mogen er echter zondermeer wezen, al moet je dus wel even doorzetten.

*** Pieter Wijnstekers - www.heaven.be (Pieter Wijnstekers)

Salt Lake City Weekly

David Bavas is more than just a pretty face. While his brooding good looks and dark singer/songwriter style merit comparisons to Jakob Dylan, the Seattle-based, Appalachian Mountains-reared musician is easier on the ears than the Wallflowers leader. Perhaps I’ve heard “One Headlight” one too many times, but it pales next to Bavas’ new Songs of Love, Death & Trains, whose subtle poignancy far surpasses the brief allure of Dylan’s one-time Top 40 hit. Bavas comes off as an everyman—if every man could win us over with a strange timbre that makes the hard-of-hearing struggle to pick up. It’s a nice change from the musical version of Jon Lovitz’s SNL character Acting!
(Jamie Gadette) - Jamie Gadette

“Very down, indie alt-country… dark vocals and beautiful guitars on precise and hearty songs. Excellent.” (Sterling)
- (Sterling)

David Bavas - Originally from the Appalachian foothills, David Bavas now lives in Seattle. His style is unique, although his Appalachian upbringing definitely influences his music. However, his sound owes as much to Indie Rock as it does Roots Music. His newest album Songs of Love, Death and Trains was released on October 2nd by Proud Mountain Records. The album was mixed by Kevin Suggs (The Shins, Minus 5, Cat Power). Among his original tunes is an excellent cover of the Townes Van Zandt song “No Lonesome Tune.”(Chip “crackersoul” Frazier)
- Chip “crackersoul” Frazier

David Bavas and the Down Comforter David Bavas

Self-released

Rocks like: Tom Waits, Iron and Wine, Cat Power

When former Western Pennsylvanian David Bavas moved from the Appalachians to Seattle he crossed a lot of territory. Now, 10 years after making the trip, Bavas' debut release, David Bavas and the Down Comforter, shows that he didn't have his eyes and ears closed during his travels.

The album, with its hushed, country tones and unhurried rhythms, transports the listener from calm, Western prairies beneath starry skies to coffee shops on the Pacific coast.

David Bavas and the Down Comforter takes its time, yet it clearly knows where it wants to go. Bavas' smoky voice and acoustic guitar amble over the instrumentals of his band, The Down Comforter, composed of friends and local Seattle musicians (guitarist Travis Hartnett, upright bassist Kevin Millard and drummer Brady Hall), along with the sounds of guest musicians, such as cellist Taryn Webber and singer Willow.

Bavas stays true to the singer/songwriter mainstay of having themes of love and loss that pull the listener into his melancholy. The album is comprised of songs with only one-word titles, a reflection of Bavas' "less is more" approach to music.

"Car," "Silence" and "Talk" stand out as beautiful waltz-like homages to failed relationships and the pains of regret. With a heavy-drum backbeat urging it on, "Car" progresses from a slow, sleepy tune that lulls the listener into a calm tranquility before rousing him on Hartnett's soaring electric guitar.

Fellow singer/songwriter Willow joins Bavas on "Silence" with a sound reminiscent of Aimee Mann. Their voices play off one another in a romance through music underscored by Webber's cello. On "Talk," the electric guitars of "Car" and the cello of "Silence" meet and blend perfectly with Bavas' vocals, reflecting feelings of remorse and sadness. Both Webber and Hartnett have solos on the song, highlighting their own talents as musicians and actually outshining Bavas' vocals at times.

Though most of the tracks on David Bavas and the Down Comforter do not rise above a quiet shuffle --- except for momentary, instrumental solos on occasion --- two of the songs, "River" and "Crazy," might actually be called upbeat. On "River" the drum and guitars provide an almost rock-ready beat, yet Bavas' voice remains slow and melancholy, not allowing the song to move too far from the central mood of the album.

Perhaps it's the additional help of Hartnett's electric guitar, but Bavas is able to break through this barrier on "Crazy" and show that he can direct the strong, driving rhythm from the slower tunes toward making an upbeat love song.

The most surprising aspect of David Bavas and the Down Comforter is that it's a debut album. Bavas shows a maturity of lyricism and understanding of composition that begs one to question why he had not put out an album sooner.

So how did Bavas decide to try his hand at songwriting in the first place? Inspired by a quote from Cat Power's Chan Marshall that anyone could do what she does, Bavas took up the guitar. Needless to say, Bavas proves that Marshall's quote is not only true, but that one can do it on his first attempt. © Copyright 2006 Pitt News - Michael Boyles/ Senior Staff Writer / The Pitt News