Dave Martin Donegal Tweed & Cowboy Chords
Dave Martin is a folk singer-songwriter who pens songs with light poetic imagery and relatable experiences, as evidenced here in his new release: Donegal Tweed & Cowboy Chords. Dave’s song offer lighthearted humor and gentle honesty in observation of life though Midwestern experiences and natural metaphors, all set against uncomplicated folk style acoustic guitar arrangements.
Opening the album, “March” is an ode to springtime and the reality of mud everywhere, and the renewed hope that it brings: hope it dries to dirt, I’ve gotta plant corn soon, instead, I’m slipping on mud in the mudroom.. my hands are rough and my lips are chapped…think I’ll spend the month in bed.” This is lightly played and creates a sense of comfort.
“Deadwood” chronicles a Midwestern character who drinks “cheap pilsners” that “bead beneath Dakota stars… bottom of the gulch full weight of the town, half a step ahead and I’m Deadwood bound.” Despite the character’s troubles, this song lopes along easily and soothingly.
“Donegal Tweed & Cowboy Chords,” the song that inspired the title, sheds light on memory, spaces and places as the character is on the road. “with my dad’s donegal tweed and cowboy chops, I’ve sung for crumpled bills and a barmaid’s smirk…sweat stains, a fretboard, warm spruce shining. Same hands, different rooms, still drawn to the work.”
“Chicken House Roofs” continues the ode to place, this time through the lens of family. The vibe is casual and bright, and the country memories are crisp and clear and poetic: “I pull this from my old farm photo stack, some still vivid, some with dates worn off the back, I uncurl the corners south of Waterloo, me in blue pajamas, us on chicken-house roofs.” It’s idyllic and sweet.
“The Last of the Old Iowa Farmers” summarizes a farming lifestyle and the tone is bright and gentle as it says goodbye to an inspiration: “He said you’ll never work a day in your life if you like what it is you do, He was still coming out to the farm each day til he was 92,I felt sad sending off the last of the old Iowa farmers I knew, I smile thinking about him cause they don’t make ‘em like they used to.” The guitar melody is subtly and delicately played.
“The Driving Instructor” presses on the humor, with relevant observations of road-rage behavior, made all the funnier by its relaxed delivery: “A sign said I couldn’t pass them, They’re just labels which I don’t see, I flip the bird when patience wears thin, They could all learn something from me.”
The album closes with “Ridgelines,” a heartfelt commentary on memory and loss, and solitude out on the road “One cowboy trick still hits me out here, gun oil as lip balm on the frontier. French lilacs left behind, scents fade behind the ridgelines.”
Donegal Tweed & Cowboy Chords is an album where the Midwestern landscape serves as both the source of imagery and a representation of the emotive metaphors that weave all throughout the songs. Sometimes the songs are tales of characters, other times they feel more personal, and always the symbolism for place and context are present, even while there is longing, a feeling of home, and sometimes, observations of the small oddities of everyday life. Always these are songs with an intimate feel, easygoing, never showboating, stripped down, and enjoyable. This is classic folk music, crisp with imagery, and carefree.
More information is available here: http://www.davemartinmusic.org
Enjoy our previous coverage here: REVIEW: Dave Martin “Sunburned Wisdom”
The album was written, recorded, mixed by Dave Martin. Musicians on the album are Dave Martin on vocals, acoustic guitar and percussion.