Dan Garner’s 25 Things

click here to buy my CD.......................................................... ............................................................ . A FIRST REVIEW OF "25 THINGS": 25 THINGS/Dan GarnerA sprawling, ambitious project with 25 songs, ³25 Things² paints a diverse sonic and lyrical landscape that showcases Garner¹s broad diversity of musical influences.At times displaying the perceptive intellect of a Leonard Cohen, at others, exposing a Warren Zevon playful slyness, ³25 Things² cooks up a gumbo that sacrifices stylistic continuity for an always surprising and satisfying ³eclectricity.²On the opening cut, ³I Told You Before,² Garner attempts to impart world-wizended wisdom to his children, and that lyrical maturity is masterfully counterbalanced with the raw musical energy of a proto-power punk music bed. This is a great device for luring the kids in to listen to the message with music they can relate to. Telling an obstinate, know-it-all teen, ³you¹ve got more issues than Time Magazine² smartly sums up every parents dilemma with their rebels with or without causes.Garner moves from the energetic power of proto-punk to the realm of ³sensitive singer/songwriter² with effortless ease. In ³You¹re So Beautiful² he tells the object of his affections that ³you¹re so beautiful, you don¹t even know.² This is a subtle but searing romantic line guaranteed to make a heart melt, right up there in a league with ³you had me at hello.²On several notable cuts like ³What Makes The World Go Round,² ³Someone Who Can² and the unsentimentally nostalgic ³Bossier Strip² Garner slips into the smooth blues grooves indigenous to this area .Garner is not only a prolific writer but a well-versed student of the musical history of this area and beyond. Given that talent, Garner references several genre and artists without sounding like he is copying any of them.His vocals do occasionally evoke early Dylan and Nick Drake, even Michael Franks here and there, but he never appears to be doing a cover. And, since he wrote all the songs on the CD, he has kept everything well within the range of his voice.There are some stand out guest star s on ³25 Things² including guitarists Mark Griffith, Ron Johnson and Dave Green; background vocalists Cookie Garner and Amelia Blake and The Ever Ready Gospel Singers to name a few. Ron Johnson¹s fluid, blistering lead work on ³Someone Who Can² channels Stevie Ray Vaughn¹s swagger and Dave Green adds an alternative and progressive fire to ³I Told You Before.² Griffith¹s ferocious space blues attack on ³Bossier Strip² seems to come from a Boom Boom Room in a parallel dimension.The closing title cut gives us a hilarious menu of arm chair philosophical nuggets encased in a musical shell of talking blues a la early Dylan. They are guaranteed to make you think - and to make you smile, if not laugh out loud. Remember, ³it ain¹t the jeans that make your butt look fat.²Tales of love both lost and found; insights both profound and tongue in cheek; superlative songwriting craft; and vocals comfortable in their own skin. These elements make for one of the most entertaining and enjoyable releases in recent memory.All songs written by Dan Garner.Produced by Dan GarnerMastered and Released by Why The Hell Not RecordsArt Design: J.K. Potter ----------Karl Hasten, The Forumclick here to buy my CD.It all started a couple of years ago...maybe 3 years ago. I wrote down a simple goal: I want to put out a CD of my songs this year. The plan evolved...I would put out 25 songs on a CD and call the CD "25 things" after a novelty song I had just written with the same name. I went full tilt into production at various studios around town, getting my favorite musicians to play on it...I would take my time with it...it would be my masterpiece!! ....life came along and set me straight. I ended up with various pieces of work languishing about unfinished. I continued to write and do home recordings...outlines more or less. And then I met a madman by the name of Chris Alexander, who was, if possible, more manic than me. C: "Dan, I'm putting out 12 new albums on my label, WHY THE HELL NOT, by the end of February. Would you like to be one of them?" D: "Why the hell not?" C: "I'll need all the artwork and music by February 14th!!" D: "Why the hell not?"I told my good friend Jeff Potter, who is a world class illustrator and has been a co-conspirator of mine on more than one occasion. D: "Hey Jeff, could I use a couple of pictures you took of me for a new CD project?" J: "Let me do some new pictures..." D: "Why the hell not?"Jeff not only did new pictures, he did layouts and titles. Then, I get a call from Chris.C: "Dan, I have to go out of town Monday the 12th. I need everything by then!!" D: "Why the hell not." Okay, lets don't go through all of the daily grind of my life...let's dont't go through all of the gigs that were hitting at the same time or the trauma that my personal life was going through (re: stays in); suffice it to say that for some insane reason I thought I could pull it off. I did a couple of all nighters and called myself doing the best with what I already had...If it turns out any better it's because Chris remastered... C: "Uh, Dan, I've been listening to the tracks...I really like a few songs that I don't think I can use unless they're remastered, but I don't have the time to remaster and get your approval..." D: "Run with it..." C: "Excuse me?" D: " Do what you need to do. Run with it." There you have it...It all started out so simple. It has become a crazy-quilt patchwork of songs, some "LIVE", some studio pieces, some home recordings, some recorded with many friends who I consider to be some of the best, some recorded with me on everything (I think you'll be able to tell which ones those are) and some with just me, a guitar and a microphone. This then is "25 Things".