A Note from Bailey Jones…. A very busy springtime for Sundilla comes to an end on Friday, but it will definitely end with a bang, since David Olney will be taking the stage alongside guitarist Sergio Webb. When David was last here in August 2006, he and Sergio were just beginning to tour together; they were incredible then, so now that they have had almost three years to practice together, it should be whatever the word is that means “beyond incredible.” The date will be April 3, and showtime is 7:30. Admission is just $10, $8 for students, and free for children 12 and under. There will also be free coffee, tea, water and food, though as always you are invited to bring whatever food or beverage you prefer.
Trying to accurately describe David Olney in concert isn’t easy, but I heard it put better than ever last week: David likes to get wound up before a show, then unwind while he’s on stage. But not “unwind” as in “sit back and relax;” more like “unwind” as in releasing a spring that has been wound as tight as it will go. So much energy is released when Dave is performing that you can’t help but get caught up in it. And since his last Sundilla appearance David has released three CDs, which is about what you could expect from someone who has released more than 20 in his career.
At 13, when he first picked up the guitar, he found himself drawn to Woody Guthrie, Jimmy Reed and the other musicians in his older brother’s record collection. While he was trying to learn folk music, popular artists such as Ray Charles, Elvis, The Stones, The Beatles and Bob Dylan provided the background music of his life. It was during a brief stint at the University of North Carolina that he decided to pursue music as a profession.
Olney arrived in Nashville in 1973. He signed contracts with several publishing companies and had every intention of being a mainstream songwriter. He struggled to find his true songwriting “voice” until he wrote the recklessly romantic “If My Eyes Were Blind” in 1975. Thereafter, peers like Rodney Crowell and Guy Clark began praising his vivid works. He spent several years fronting Dave Olney and the X-Rays, opening for Elvis Costello and appearing on Austin City Limits. After that he went solo and, as he puts it, “back to square one.” No one knew who he was, but that didn’t stop him; in fact, he calls it a lucky break because “If you haven’t gotten famous or made some kind of mark and you have to face the stark reality that maybe this isn’t going to pay off in a material way, then you find out whether you like it or not. To me, that was kind of a lucky break.”
He can’t say that no one knows who he is now. In addition to playing America’s biggest festivals and finest acoustic clubs, Olney now tours annually in Europe. He has issued albums on Dutch and Italian labels, and performed for fans in Germany, Ireland, Scandinavia, England, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland and Holland.
Rave reviews in The New York Times, USA Today, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Miami Herald, The L.A. Times and elsewhere continue to build his popularity. Versions of his songs by others have also enhanced his reputation as “a songwriter’s songwriter.” Key artists who have sung and/or recorded David Olney songs are Emmylou Harris (“Deeper Well,” “Jerusalem Tomorrow”), Steve Earle (“Saturday Night and Sunday Morning”), Del McCoury (“Queen Anne’s Lace”), Johnny Cash (“Jerusalem Tomorrow”), Linda Ronstadt (“Women Across the River) and Linda & Emmylou as a duo (“1917″).
So what will you get at a David Olney performance? Moving from song to extraordinary song, Olney can be scary, hilarious, tender, enraged, loving or ironic. But he is always dramatic and unforgettable. (His records have these same qualities.) Few have amassed a catalog of recorded performances that is so striking, distinctive and compelling. When most people think of a “singer-songwriter,” they think of a confessional, inward-looking lyricist. David Olney will have none of that. Instead, he inhabits characters and roles that his lyrics create.
“My first obligation is to the song. But I do believe in being a good entertainer. I’ve played a lot of gigs where there weren’t many people there — I always made sure that the ones who were there, got something they will remember.”
So make your plans now– if you haven’t already– to be there on Friday, April 3, to experience David Olney and Sergio Webb. Showtime is 7:30, and admission is just $10, $8 for students, and free for children 12 and under. (And since November 2005, NO ONE has brought in a bigger Sundilla crowd than David Olney; we’re hoping he can raise the bar he set last time, which means that you might want to arrive a little earlier than usual to get the seat you want.)
From the Archives — originally published on the Opelika Daily News on March 31, 2009. View the original page.
