david dondero

the transient

‘Are you an audiophile? Do you love rare treasures that tend to slip through the cracks?

If so, “The Transient” may be the best purchase – or illegal download – of the year.

David Dondero is not a fa?ade. He is, by far, the real thing. As possibly the first true singer/songwriter – not just the clich/d fabrication – in years, he lives for his music and in his car. He travels as he may and has called nearly every state in this country home. Sounds a little like Woody Guthrie, doesn’t it?

It kind of is. His music is his passion and he does it under the cover of obscurity. Dondero is an amazing songwriter with a unique voice that inspired Bright Eyes boy wonder Conor Oberst to feel comfortable with his own singing. As a matter of fact, Oberst sings backup on this album.

On “The Transient,” the voice matches the guitar playing: heavily reverbed and bright with a trebly twang.

An obvious comparison of the record’s course can be made to the path of a setting sun. It starts warm and fierce, and virtually omnipresent. Each passing track steps a little further back into darkness, moves a little slower. By “Song for the Civil Engineer,” the final track, it disappears as a whimper, leaving the listener in a silent and peaceful state.

As the feeling of the album changes towards the second half of “The Transient,” a title Dondero has bestowed upon himself, his voice becomes less reminiscent of Oberst and more like Counting Crows front man Adam Duritz.

Expect lots of songs about drinking, drugs and doing time. Thirty years from now, you can also expect your kids or grandkids favorite folk/activist bands to be covering Dondero songs as tribute to a relatively unrecognized but extremely important figure in Americana history.