PICTOU, N.S. — Pictou County folk singer Dave Gunning will be holding a CD release for his most recent album on Friday, Sept. 20 at the DeCoste Centre in Pictou.
Gunning recently released his twelfth album, Up Against the Sky, which showcases his sharpened his skills as a poetic storyteller. He has also contributed the bulk of the instrumentation, including bass and drums to create what he suggests is his favourite album yet. As in the past, he joins his own talents with many of his musical buddies.
JP Cormier was the one who pushed Gunning into creating this latest compilation using most of his own instrumentation and assured him that it was going to be good, after hearing what Gunning had created with the song “Circle of Boots” which he co-wrote with Tom Swift.
Incidentally, the song was inspired by fellow friend and musician George Canyon after touring with him and noticing, as Canyon would gather everyone together in a circle just before the show to say a prayer, a “circle of boots”. It is also Canyon, who happens to enjoy photography, who took the cover photo for the new album. The title came from one of the lyrics of the songs on the album, “Horse for Sale”.
Gunning feels it conveys a lot about the songs contained on the album, capturing the optimism and adversity contained in the album’s songs. Some of which are very personal for him, especially having written two of them on his own, as they convey so much about what goes on within his own community, and the experiences he’s dealt with or that he’s seen others go through.
Having recorded it in his own one room studio, without a lot of editing or fine tuning, there is a sense of intimacy to the music with those subtle imperfections that Gunning believes could be a great thing.
Gunning will hold the release at the deCoste Performing Arts Centre on Friday, Sept. 20 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $35 or $32 for members and can be obtained by contacting the deCoste Box Office Monday- Friday between 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
