whatzup
(March 2003)
Nominated as a solo perfomer despite his association with his
band, The Mobile Homewreckers, David Todoran was equally
gracious in winning and uncomfortable in being categorized as a
country music performer.
Look, Paula Jo Taylor & Legacy
[were] nominated, and they’re far more ‘real’ country than
I am. She should have won the award,” Todoran said.
Well, the talented singer, songwriter
and guitarist has gotten used to all this by now. Although more
comfortable wearing the label of Americana, Todoran understands
that the addition of steel pedal guitar player Bob Craven to the
Homewreckers gave the band its underlying country sound.
“Bob’s a real country music guy. He’s played with a lot of
real country musicians,” Todoran said.
If Todoran has far more in common with
Steve Earle and John Prine than with Clint Black or even Keith
Urban (for whom he’s opened at the Scottish Rite Theater),
Todoran has impeccable local music credentials. He and Kenny
Taylor were the backbone of the Red Belly Boys before many of
the people at the Whammy Awards show could get into places with
liquor
licenses.
And
he’s had great success in Europe with two of his more recent
CDs, Under My Skin and Solstice. The Mobile
Homewreckers treated the crowd to a rendition of the classic
“Under My Skin” during a rollicking set at the show.
Still, Todoran never gets too
comfortable in one area. He recently completed work on a new CD
in Berlin called Luck in This Life, scheduled for release
in the spring. He describes it as a departure from his recent
efforts, “darker” and more complex musically, due to his
collaboration with two Berlin-based musicians and producers.
“I wrote all the songs on Luck in
This Life, but I’m not an autocrat when it comes to
recording my music. I depend a lot on the interprations and
contributions of the musicians I’m playing with. In this case,
recording in Berlin was a totally different experience.
There’s something about the city, a feeling that it’s still
finding itself, that comes out in the record. It’s a
reconfiguation of what I do, not a reinvention,” Todoran said.
Undoubtedly, but when he mentions Lou
Reed, David Bowie and U2 as having their music changed by their
associations with the Berlin vibe, you can be sure Todoran’s
next effort will defined by a different kind of country — a
landscape of the
mind.
Whatzup – March 2003
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