25.07.2008: Latest from Gary Dunne:	Gary Dunne
more news... back to home page...

Hello friends, Gary here. Hope you're well. I've just had a pretty crazy few months, what with the album release, touring, various other projects and of course getting married! We 'did the deed' in Dublin at the end of June and it was unforgettable. We had the most incredible live music, featuring Íse, Duke Special, Kevin Molloy, Ronaldo, Bill Coleman, Rory Faithfield, Margaret Healy, the inspiring Nizlopi, Jagtar, Jamie Lawson, Joan Coffey, Matt Ingram, Paul Pilot, Marco and Rocco (my fellow angry Italians), Liz WIlliams and Tallulah. It was of Live Aid proportions - stunning! Go Google them all. So, what now? The album's been out for a few months and I'm delighted with how it's been received. It means so much to me that people are really 'getting it' and that the songs seem to be making a connection. Thanks for all the lovely emails. I was also pleasantly surprised that so much of the usually cynical press came on board. As you all know this is an increasingly tough business, and it's getting harder to get exposure for anything other than robotic, heartless plastic - what Damien Dempsey calls 'McDonald's Music'. Go on Damo!!! Unless you have the corporate machine behind you it's next to impossible to penetrate the mainstream. However, I can honestly say, hand on heart, that for me it's all about writing and performing songs. Of course I would like to play to more people and sell more albums, but fame has never been a motivation for me and I'm quite content to keep making the music that I need to make, in my own little corner! You may sense that this reads a little like a memoir, and yes, in some ways I'm wrapping things up. I've got shows in the UK and Ireland at the end of the month and then I'm taking at least six months off the live circuit to focus on some other projects. I feel that I've come to the end of a phase in my artistic development. My desire to push the 'Gary Dunne, singer songwriter' boat is fading, while my drive to create and express is more intense than ever before, albeit through a different medium and in a different context. Who knows where this will take me. So, come see our shows if you're in the UK or Ireland, we will be on FULL POWER! Keep an eye on garydunne.com, as whatever I'm working on will be listed there. Thursday 24th July First off is a fundraiser gig for my good friend (and drummer!) Rocco, who's signed up for a 450km, London-to-Paris bike ride in aid of Macmillan Cancer Research. Doors 7.30 -- four fine bands for £5 upon entry (all to Macmillan). We'll be there with the full band. 'Paradise', 19 Kilburn Lane, Kensal Green, London, W10 4AE Tube - Kensal Green, 8 min walk. Ladbroke Grove, 20min walk Overland train: Kensal Rise, 10min walk. Wednesday 20th July Hit Sheet Magazine and BMI presents Hit Sheet's Got Talent Showcase at The Cobden Club (170-172 Kensal Road, London), 8pm - 11pm. Again, we're out in full force for this one. Saturday 2nd August Finally, we head for home to play The World Fleadh Festival in Portlaoise. We've got the brilliant Nizlopi on before us - should be very special. Contact 085 1575800 for tickets. That's it for now. After these show I'll be going off on some very exciting tangents for a while. Thanks for the support you've given so far. x Gary P.s. Check out http://youtube.com/watch?v=XtW-A4FNr50 www.garydunne.com "Simple Truth is one of my favourites of the year so far. A mixture of rocky, upbeat numbers and slower tracks; its heartfelt emotion, choppy beats and melodies catchier than the common cold made an instant connection with me" THE IRISH WORLD "Achingly beautiful and irresistible. Twelve songs with something to say about the world we live, and die, in. Now ain't that something ****" HOT PRESS "The guitar-propelled music journeys down as many mean streets as the clever word play, and the diversity on tracks like Hurt by Love and Vacuum show off the album's many strengths" THE STAR "A brutally honest songwriter and a clutch of deeply personal songs. Dunne has fearlessly chosen a deceptively simple format for the complex matter of self-revelation" IRISH TIMES "...catchy tunes as well as meaningful lyrics, an ideal combination...His eclectic musical taste shines throughout, form funky rhythms straight out of the Stevie Wonder songbook to lyrics that recall musical poets such as Neil Young and Thom Yorke" STATE MAGAZINE

There is no email address submitted by the author of this article. Return to main News section

Printer-friendly version