Dave Steel – Wooden Music
Australian artist Dave Steel has a new acoustic album Wooden Music, which is rich with potent restrained playing, where fiddle, double bass and acoustic guitar feature prominently and in turns, while the lyrics speak of life’s misguided truisms against natural backdrops – firelight, starlight, darkness. It’s certainly not every day we cover an artist from Lutruwita – that’s Tasmania, the island off of Australia, in case you’re trying to place it. And although this is Dave Steel’s tenth album, it’s his first album in 20 years.
“road” sets the tone for the album with acoustic guitar followed by fiddle in layers as the song about following the road late night alone unfolds, and the road trip is a metaphor for life: “I got a black night a wet road i’m running down the coastline with a heavy load.”
“like as not” sets a toe tapping pace and the topic is “cabin fever, coming down, waking early, hanging ’round, looking outward, now I’m looking in.” And then we exhale with the next song “go in peace,” a serene genuine wish for peace for those who have left us behind.
In “sickle moon,” Dave flexes in a rustic acoustic bluesy direction: “nothing moves this evening…everything is still everything is waiting / breathless in the chill the creaking of the floorboards as I’m stoking up the fire/ the slow and steady breathing of time just slipping by.” The double bass is raw and the fiddle strings are rich as Dave sings amidst the loping pace. This song is a real centerpiece.
“upside” brightens up a little bit, as the fiddle plays the melody and again there’s contemplation of the darkness, sleeplessness and the moon: “four in the morning, no sign of dawn the darkness is as cold as sin I look around to find the moon but she’s already gone I must’ve stayed up too late again.”
“woodsmoke” is an ode to the sweet smell of woodsmoke, misty dawns, “and all the while I’m watching and waiting for a sign the night sky full of stardust the darkness flowing by.” The images Dave conjures are relatable and go straight to the heart of the matter. There’s not a trace of fluff and silly drivel in his craft. His songwriting is genuine and sincere, which render the songs marvelous as they come to your ear with an easy air.
This album is rustic, honest, and faithful to the natural core of humanity, with frequent nighttime musings under the moon, on the dark trail, by the firelight, on low roads, watching up around the bend, and in countless moments when time just … ebbs. At those moments we wonder what it’s all about. Dave doesn’t shy away from issues of war and judgment and the superficial whirlwinds people get caught into, either.
Dave says: “Wooden Music was recorded live with minimum overdubs on Melukerdee land in Lutruwita. My first album in 20 years! Dedicated to the memory of Uncle Pete…..wish you could have heard it mate….” Images on the album were courtesy of Uncle Peter C Webb.
You can find the music on BandCamp here: https://davesteel.bandcamp.com/album/wooden-music and find more information here on his website: https://davesteelmusic.com
Musicians on Wooden Music are Dave Steel on guitars and vocals; Ross Smithard on fiddle Louis Gill on double bass, and Tiffany Eckhardt on backing vocals.
The album was recorded and mixed by Dave Steel at Riversong studio, on Melukerdee land in Lutruwita (Tasmania) and mastered by Stewart Long. Images on the album were courtesy of Uncle Peter C Webb, with artwork and layout by “Hello Cambo Bagman.”
