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| Hobby Forum Index » Music - New Age » John Dunbar-Life's Great Listeners... |
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| Christopher... |
 Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 11:29 am |
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New York musician John Dunbar was the man behind the Rutles-esque
tribute to The Kinks called The Kunks ( http://amazon.com/Kunks-John-Dunbar/dp/B000X7B9WI
). So what did he decide to follow up with, after the success he found
with that experiment? A concept album, what else? Didn't Mr. Dunbar
learn from Mr. Davies' mistakes in the 70's?
"I call Life's Great Listeners a song cycle; that seems to be easier
to handle than the daunting term "concept" album," explains Dunbar.
"But saying that, those concept albums The Kinks made for RCA are some
of my favorites of all time."
The theme of Life's Great Listeners centers around the majority of
musicians who have fallen in love with music while that love remained
forever unrequited. The album is comprised of 12 songs about the
people who have picked up an instrument imagining one day leading a
life similar to their musical heroes; the persistent players where
music only remained a spectator sport, no matter how much work,
passion and time they put in,.
"The majority of people who become musicians and develop their little
dreams, not necessarily of becoming famous, but of becoming a
legitimate professional or just to be able to support themselves
through their music, rarely do." Dunbar claims, speaking from
experience. "The ones with that undying passion for music, the
musicians who continue to play and write because it's an involuntary
muscle are the people who I think live for music more than anyone
else."
Not only will musicians relate to the subject matter, anyone with
unfulfilled aspirations will see themselves in songs like "Without An
Audience Waiting" ( about those persevering in the face of
disinterest), "Track of Time" ( with a chorus singing about us losing
track of time but time never losing track of us), "Hanging Onto
Indifference" ( about a character who believes that having no one
caring about his songs is better than knowing they are officially
disliked). "A Loving Scapegoat" is sung by a dedicated and supportive
wife who still believes her husband has the goods to be one of the
greats. "Watching Fingers" is sung by a guitar teacher who has
perfected the fine art of staring at guitarist's fingers looking for
mistakes, or tips.
"People often respond to those classic songs and albums with a
heartbreak theme. These songs can fall into that category. After all
what's more heartbreaking than failed artistic ambitions?" Dunbar
theorizes.
There's an extra treat for the truly great, close listeners. Each song
links into the next; character wise. You can search for cameo
appearances by each character in the songs preceding the ones about
them. Musically it's an adventurous mix of varying tempos and time
signature with unique instrumentation held together with Dunbar's
trademark use of unique melodies, sing-along hooks and bittersweet
humor.
https://www.noisetrade.com/johndunbar# |
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