Ha may have experimented with prog and pop as a frontman of IT BITES and switched between styles on his solo albums, but nobody expected Francis Dunnery to go as far as to embrace such traditional genre as blues which originally inspired him ages ago, when the future singer listened to Robert Johnson and other old masters. Still, it was not as a vocalist yet as guitarist that Dunnery was kept in high esteem by the likes of Robert Plant – on whose “Fate Of Nations” Francis played before going on tour – and back in 2021 his two facets came together, and a band called TOMBSTONE DUNNERY emerged on the scene to first go on the road and then to deliver their studio debut in the nearest, as of now, future.
Titled “The Blues Of Tombstone Dunnery” and set to be released on September 15th, it’s comprised of a dozen Francis-penned numbers that cut deep into his love of the old American music and features a tight-but-loose collective with brass adding to the sway. As for the record’s genesis…
“What I love about the blues is that it is thoughtless when done right,” says Dunnery. “There is no thought involved. It has no ego. It is purely from another realm. The skill of the blues guitar is not the usual widdly-diddly guitar peacock stuff, it has more to do with humility and being vulnerable. It opens a portal to the soul and people come to see that rather than coming to see a technique festival. As a student of the blues I had the biggest wake up call of my life and I’ve been playing all sorts of styles of guitar since the age of eight.”
Not wonder the platter’s so sincere, then, its tracks running like this – read the review:
The Blues Of Tombstone Dunnery – Vol. 1
1. She Left Me With The Blues
2. Poison Woman
3. Boys Running Wild
4. Take My Joy Away
5. Don’t You Cry
6. The Town Where Nobody Feels
7. Danglin Man
8. My Whole Life
9. Blues Falling Down Like Weather
10. It’s Hard To Love Another Woman
11. The Comeback Boy
12. Riding On The Blues Train
