(Dave Gunning recently released his seventh album, We’re All Leaving.)
We’re All Leaving is folk singer Dave Gunning’s seventh album and the first he can honestly say he enjoys from start to finish.
The Pictou County, N.S. native says he’s never a fan of his records once they’re finished, but We’re All Leaving is the exception.
“I usually only hear the mistakes,” he tells EastCoastNoise, adding that his latest record, released a few weeks ago, features better writing and production than his earlier work.
Gunning worked once again with producer Jamie Robinson, and the singer-songwriter is happy with the result.
“We’re done that first-date awkwardness,” Gunning says with a laugh.
Robinson also co-wrote some of the 11 tunes on We’re All Leaving. Other writing partners this time around included David Francey, Matt Andersen and Rose Cousins.
It’s a star-studded affair, but at the centre of it all is Gunning with his sparse folk sound and crystal clear lyrics that have made him a popular name along the east coast and into the U.S. and Europe over the last few years.
While most of the record features Gunning’s familiar storytelling and folk sound, the first single is a country rocker called Made on a Monday. Inspired by the idea that cars produced midweek are likely to be better than cars made just before or after a weekend, it describes how we all feel at different times in our lives.
With the economy still trying to rebound from a recession, the tune really hits home.
“It’s certainly how I feel sometimes,” Gunning says, “when nothing’s going right, and the pieces just don’t fit. Writing the song was a lot of fun, coming up with different ways to describe that disjointed feeling.”
Gunning got his start in 1994 playing pubs and soon he was gigging with other musicians. His first album was released in 1997, but it wasn’t until 2003 that he really began focusing on his original material.
“Otherwise, I’d be 50 years old and still playing ‘The Gambler,’” he says with a laugh
Since releasing his debut album, Gunning has had a steady stream of success, garnering six Music Nova Scotia Awards and three East Coast Music Awards along the way.
This week finds Gunning still in the midst of his Atlantic Canadian tour for We’re All Leaving (see remaining dates below), and he has plans to tour western Canada as well as the United Kingdom once again.
In the midst of it all, the busy musician is already looking ahead to his next project, sort of a side project to his original work – a tribute to legendary east coast musician John Allan Cameron. Gunning performed on a recent tribute album to the artist, but he plans to release his own CD tribute to his musical hero.
Gunning, who says the first concert he attended featured Cameron and Stan Rogers, honoured both musicians on his latest album’s tune Big Shoes.
And while he’s in the middle of touring, Gunning is keeping a close eye on what’s happening back at home. His wife Sara is expecting the couple’s third child anytime now. While Gunning himself is on the road, other family members are on call in case baby decides to show up before Dad can get home.
For more on Dave Gunning, check out his website.
Here are Gunning’s remaining east coast tour dates:
Oct. 20 – Corner Brook, NL – Arts & Cultural Centre
Oct. 21 – Labrador West – Arts & Cultural Centre
Oct. 22 – Goose Bay, NL – Arts & Cultural Centre
Oct. 23 – Grand Falls, NL – Gordon Pinsent Centre for the Arts
Oct. 24 – Gander, NL – Joseph R Smallwood Centre for the Arts
Oct. 25 – Carbonear, NL – Princess Sheila Theatre
Oct. 26 – St. John’s, NL – Arts & Cultural Centre
