Gun Runner

In the belly of a dim bar on the outskirts of Kansas City the idea strikes like an inebriated Bulgarian ex-girlfriend. The night is late, the mood expansive, the drink strong and seemingly endless. Sean Davenport and Diego Rojano, delirious from days on the road, forego the poorly-stocked jukebox and similarly dubious women in order to ruminate upon matters vast and ethereal. Friends since middle school, Davenport spent the last several years studying at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He relocated to New York City and worked as a free-wheeling gun for hire playing keyboard with the likes of Abagail Warchild… and working as an intern to Philip Glass. Rojano had kept busy running a popular restaurant in San Diego but still made time to keep up on his bass licks. Now, with the future unknown in the midst of a haphazard pilgrimage back to San Diego, the city of their youth, the notion refuses to be ignored. Davenport and Rojano would start a band.

Gun Runner, a nod to Davenport’s departure from life as a “hired gun” in favor of exploring his original compositions, was completed in the fall of 2009 with the addition of Carlos Ortiz on drums and celebrated singer/song writer Tommy Graf on guitar. Their sound, informed by Davenport’s diverse musical experience on the east coast, is a sensible mix of blues, rock, and dub which some have called “psychedelic cowboy rock.” Influence from bands like Wilco, Pavement, Sonic Youth, and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are apparent on Gun Runner’s recent six-song EP Bad Neighbor. Fans of San Diego favorites such as GoGoGo Airheart and Moving Units are sure to be impressed by Gun Runner’s lively and compelling set.