Dan Bern

press release: “Dan Bern is a throwback, a singer-songwriter who marvels at life’s beauty, fragility, and complexity with a fresh, defiantly uncompromising style. In a perfect world, he’d be as beloved as Dylan or Lennon—he’s that good!” So wrote Stereophile magazine contributing editor David Sokol for that publication’s popular Records To Die For feature several years back.

Dan’s songs range from topical to funny, often using iconic characters such as, Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Marilyn Monroe and many, many more. Dan Bern is a throwback to the days of exemplary songs and extraordinary songwriters. He’s one of the very best, and we sure could use more of his kind these days. His voice, to me, is a mix between Tom Petty and Bob Dylan. He has always been defiantly uncompromising in his writing style. He is a singer, songwriter, a painter and a writer and sometimes you get all of that tossed in to one song. He currently has more than two dozen albums released, everything from a children’s record to a record of just baseball songs.   

Dan is touring in support of his newest album, Hoody, which was released this past September. The record has a warm, organic feel, with the band usually performing together in the same room, at the same time. Beside Dan, who plays acoustic and electric guitars and some harmonica, musicians on the album include Adam Busch (drums, harmonica), Jordan Katz (trumpet, banjo), Eric Kufs (lap steel, vocals), Johnny Flaugher (bass), Eben Grace (guitar), and George Sluppick and Tripp Beam (drums). And Hoody was co-produced by Dan with his old friend Greg Prestopino, whose long list of credits includes co-writing Matthew Wilder’s ubiquitous Top 5 hit, “Break My Stride” from 1983. Says Dan, “The way we recorded the stuff was a bit rough in spots, and Greg was able to massage it really well.”

Tickets are available at Spruce Tree Music, Orange Tree Imports and online at Brown Paper Tickets. door.  Location is The Brink Lounge, 7:00 show time and doors open at 6:30. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door.

www.madfolk.org  or www.danbern.com  for additional information.