Pete Feenstra chatted to Francis Dunnery about his blues album for Get Ready to ROCK! Radio. First broadcast 5 November 2023.

Francis Dunnery Music [Release date 15.09.23]

Francis Dunnery’s ‘The Blues Of Tombstone Dunnery Vol 1’ is a concept that goes back to the early 90’s, but he has only been able to explore it now on the back of his recent conversion to the blues.

Long time prog and It Bite fans may find it hard to understand, especially as he’s releasing a new It Bites album at nearly the same time as this blues release.

And yet you could argue it is less of a surprise when you consider his penchant for exploring new musical avenues.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of all is his approach the blues, which aside from his cryptic lyrics is rooted in old school Chicago blues.

He has talked about adhering to the blues genre template, so the task he sets himself is to step up to an already overcrowded plate.

And he successfully does so by completely immersing himself in the blues mystique, right from his clobber to his restrained and yet forceful guitar playing.

Better still he’s levered in a horn section to give his material an undeniable soulful feel, while at adding dynamic stabs, sonorous accompaniment and full blown solos.

He fronts his big band blues approach with a gritty vocal which at time asks much of his range. Happily he overcomes any potential obstacles with his passion for the material.

His blues template might be a very tightly structured and familiar vehicle, but it’s the way he attacks his own story telling narratives without a safety net that gives the album its edge.

True Dunnery fans might expect nothing less, but those blues fans previously unaware of his prog career might be pleasantly surprised by songs with enough of musical depth and lyrical twists and turns to engage even the most recalcitrant listener.

He opens in belligerent fashion with the archetypal divorcee lament called ‘She Left Me With The Blues’, on which his Albert Collins style biting tone rises above an ebullient horn section.

Such is the power and almost celebratory feel of the track, that it’s hard to imagine he’s actually in emotional if not financial pain.

The following sludgy ‘Poison Woman’ is a good example of how he takes an old blues theme and twists it inside out with a booming chorus: “Found me A poison woman, now I’m a poison man.”

He also cleverly contrasts his own stinging solos with an earthy horn section.

It’s a contrast he revisits, albeit with a much fatter tone over sonorous horns, on the deftly observed love song ‘Hard To Love Another Woman’.

On the jazzy jump shuffle of ‘Take My Joy Away’, he builds a subtle tension with call and response bv’s and his own phrasing, before belatedly resolving it with an almost conversational solo.

Then there’s gospel tinged ‘Don’t You Cry’ full of stinging notes and an animated vocal, on a good example of how he still manages to generate a lot of energy through a use of cool restraint and dynamics.

The album flows well mainly because of his ability to explore different musical genres within the blues genre, safe in the knowledge that the horn section will provide heft.

The big beefy riff-led soulful funky groove of ‘Boys Running Wild’ provides an unlikely but complementary backdrop to a very poignant social commentary song. It’s filled by big tones, grainy sax and electric piano, while he exaggerates his observations with elongated vowels over chirping bv’s prior to a sculpted solo.

Then there’s the ska inflected ‘Danglin Man’ with its early career Climax Blues Band style guitar and horn double lines, on a broken relationship song on which his sinewy voice reflects the bitterness of lyrics.

‘The Comeback Boy’ is the lead single from the album and rightly so, being an explosive stomp with intense edgy guitar, significant horn stabs, more bv’s and an unexpected gospel breakdown.

And if the plodding ‘My Whole Life’ feels a little like a filler, it’s counterweighted by the sublime ‘Blues Like Weather’, all tremulous guitar, soothing bv’s and an emotive soulful vocal, which perfectly illuminates his use of a meteorological metaphor.

In sum, ‘The Blues Of Tombstone Dunnery Vol 1’ provides both the album title, concept and image to a left field musical journey for a seasoned prog rocker and session player who is still searching for musical treasure.

Whether he’s able to drag his existing fans over to his latest musical adventure is open to debate. More’s to the point, existing blues fans will surely warm to an album on which old school blues is given a welcome shot in the arm by an album full of meaningful songs in a big band setting. ****

Review by Pete Feenstra

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