Brian Dunne sits down for a One On One Session at City Winery New York on March 2nd, 2017. Watch the full session here: https://youtu.be/Va6qbeacHeI For more info visit: http://www.briandunnemusic.net Audio & Video by: Ehud Lazin
Setlist:
Don't Give Up On Me
If You Want To Stay A While
Here I Go Again
Bug Fixes & Performance Improvements began as a joke, between drinks number 6 and 7 (7 and 8? Numbers unconfirmed) at a bar down the street from my apartment in Brooklyn, NY. Upon further research (Google), I could not believe there was not an album or book that bore this title so, I set out to write one. 300 songs, 2 years, and 1 near nervous breakdown later, here it lies.
In 2015 I released "Songs From The Hive," a love letter to the music of The Band and Bob Dylan, a tip of the cap (wide brimmed, brown, with a feather) to my folky heroes. And then I hit the road. I played for anybody and everybody, played everywhere anyone would take me; living rooms, cafes, clubhouses, big theaters, small theaters, movie theaters, listening rooms, college cafeterias, etc. Boasting nearly 300 shows in the year and a half that followed, I ended up finding myself in some surprisingly cool circumstances-- and some uncool ones (statute of limitations does not yet allow for me to reveal details). But what I found most liberating was that being a relative unknown had it's perks-- I was beholden to nothing. No one was expecting anything of me, except my cat, and he doesn't give a shit what goes on my record.
So it was with this in mind that I set out to write the next project. Equipped with the title only, I needed just to come up with things that I liked. Should be easy.
As it turns out, I don't like anything. Also, according to the finest head doctors of New York City, I am clinically insane. And while having a conversation with my good pal Liz Longley, who sings with me on track 5 of this here record, she said very simply "well, write about that." And there it was.
Not that this record turned out to be anything like that. Everything takes on a life of it's own, I suppose. But it was the inspiration behind the lead track, "Tell Me Something,” and the others came to me following that one. "Taxi" is a song about the pursuit of something invisible and intangible, and the risk that comes with it. "You Got Me Good" is a song about being a sucker that I wrote so I could sing it at the top of my lungs. “We Don’t Talk About It” is a reflection on how we treat the people we’re closest to, and “Chelsea Hotel” deals with the crutches we lean when our lives are too difficult to withstand. But the record didn’t really take shape until I came up with “Don’t Give Up On Me” one afternoon, sitting at my living room table. It seemed to sum up my mission statement for the whole record. It’s about the devotion to maintaining your idealism as the world makes you more cynical. It’s about putting your chips back on the table after you’ve suffered a big loss. And if you have to lose again, lose in a big way. I love that idea.
With my friend Andrew Sarlo (Big Thief, Nick Hakim, lover of burritos) at the helm, we hit the studio with a great band and tried to flesh out the musical sounds I was hearing in my head (and the other noises). After many pre-production meetings with me rambling about if Lindsay Buckingham had fronted the E Street Band, or Jim Croce on speed or something, we came up with a sound and a vibe that is the trademark of this record. If I tell you anymore, I’ll give it all away. Bill Graham said “always leave em wanting more”. I don’t do that very often. New paragraph.
I hope you like it. I’m incredibly proud of it. I’m gonna go take a nap.
Brian Dunne, Brooklyn, February 2017
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