David Dondero
With Love 10″ EP
(Total Treble)
Like Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark and John Prine before him, David Dondero, formerly the drummer with This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb, plays an achingly beautiful blend of folk and Americana. His latest, the 6-song EP With Love, was recorded in 2012 with Against Me! leader Laura Jane Grace after running into each other in Florida. And while all six songs appeared on Dondero’s 2013 full length This Guitar, the stripped-down versions on this EP give the songs a bit of fragility and vulnerability that keep you coming back again. That’s not to say they are better, just a different interpretation. Songs like the tender “Boxer’s Fracture” and the Leonard Cohen-esque “Samantha’s Got a Bag of Coal,” are among some of the best Dondero has written since stepping away from the drum kit and taking his place in front of the mic.
It takes a lot of courage to play with little more than your voice and an acoustic guitar – no drums or feedback to hide behind. All you hear are the strummed chords and every single word that’s sung. Few can pull it off effortlessly; Dondero just happens to be one of the few.
