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HOLLAND
COLLEGE • January 14, 2003
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FEATURES
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| N.S.
musician hoping to earn his stripes By Zachary Kurylyk Writing and performing his own songs is great, but it’s not something he can always do, says folk musician Dave Gunning. The Pictou County, N.S. native, was in Charlottetown for a weekend of performances in December. Gunning said one problem when he tours is that people don’t know his songs. “My heart is really in writing songs and performing my own materiel, which is not always possible,” said Gunning. “People want to hear Great Big Sea, or they want to hear ‘The Gambler,’” he said. “They don’t neccessarily want to hear something new.” Gunning and his band are on the road a lot of the time - they performed 200 shows last year. Life on the road can be a hassle sometimes, but it’s necessary, said Gunning. “I enjoy it for the most part, but I’m sort of an old fashioned guy,” he said. “I might have been born a little too late. Maybe I was meant to be a farmer or something, and be home all the time. “I love being home, but you can’t stay home and make a living as a musician - you’ve got to travel,” Gunning said. “I do enjoy traveling a lot of the time too. I guess one of the reasons I love being home is because I do travel. I suppose if I was home all the time maybe I’d love to travel more, or whatever.” Gunning toured with Stompin Tom Conners for part seven weeks in 2001, performing 21 shows with him. He said that may tour with the veteran singer again in the future. “We still keep in touch. We formed a pretty solid friendship. I was just up to visit him a couple of weeks ago. “I think that if he tours again I’ll probably get the call to go out.” One of the greatest thrills of his career, said Gunning, was performing in the “Singing Stan” part of the Stan Rogers festival, when musicians get together and sing Stan Roger’s songs. Gunning said he would really enjoy performing with Stan’s brother, Garnet Rogers. But right now, Gunning has to make himself known in the music world. “I’m still earning my stripes, but one day I hope to be a Jedi,” he said. Gunning recently released a new CD, Dave Gunning Live. The recording, done mostly in Cape Breton, features many of Gunning’s personal best songs, such as “Time Slips Away,” “House Painted Green,” “Taxi Phone,” and “Down Caribou Way.” J.P. Cormier makes guest appearances on the disc, most notably with his fiddle playing on “Here She Comes A-Running.” “Studio records, you end up sort trying to refine them so that the energy is lost, so we thought ‘Let’s do a live CD,’” said Gunning. Gunning is already working on his next recording. He says that it’ll be more mainstream than his three previous CDs. “The next album is leaning towards more of a contemporary sound. It’s not going to sound as ‘East Coast.”’ Gunning didn’t say if he was following in Bob Dylan’s footsteps by “going electric,” but he did say he was keeping his eyes open for a Fender Telecaster electric guitar.  |
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