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I just received a new release, Empty Roads, from Dan Bubien. It’s not often that I get to review an artist from my original hometown, Pittsburgh Pa. but it’s a solid pleasure when I do…and the music is great! Bubien presents not only a pleasant rack of tunes but a strong voice and great instrumentation. This release is a bit more “popular” sounding than I typically listen to but it’s always cool when musical strength, catchy tunes and vibrant grooves collide. Opening with the title track,Empty Roads, a funky, Little Featesque, track with strong vocals and cool guitar. Excellent start. The guitar work on this track is straight forward and interesting exhibiting solid chops. Fight Club pulls even more funk with Andy Taravella on drums, Gary Ripper on bass, Timmy Mabin on keys, Jonathan Vallecorsa on guitar, and especially Eric DeFade on sax. Crazy Days really has a strong Philly sound (the other side of the state) and I really like it. If you don’t know the Philly sound, it’s also called blue eyed soul. Excellent! Andre Marocco adds backing vocals to this track, a key component to the authentic sound. Exile Blues is a nice light 12 bar number and includes the addition of Chris Nacy on harp and a nice clean piano solo by Mabin. Slide work by Bubien adds a vocal warmth to the easy going track. To Youngstown has a distinctive Little Feat feel to it and a touch of Traveling Riverside Blues. Really cool track. Dizzy Eyes is an uptempo R&B style track with a load of horns by Steve McKnight (trumpet) and Eric De Fade and backing vocal by Jimmie Ross, Morgan Maybray and Marocco. Joe Monroe lays down a nice organ solo on this track and the push is all JB’s. Irony is another strong R&B style track and a solid hit coming. Bubien has a definite knack for melody and DeFade and McKnight add warmth to the bottom. A super stinging guitar solo by Bubien is a terrific compliment to his excellent vocals. keep Love In Mind is another sweet Philly love song (straight out of Pittsburgh). Bubien is just waiting for the ear because the music is absolutely here. Do you even kind of like Daryl Hall? How about Smokey Robinson? You’ll love this guy! Sniper is an easy going blues track with a country feel. Marocco adding vocal backing and Justin Stagg adding banjo along with Bubien’s slide work make this a smart ending to a really cool release.

 

Original link:  http://www.bmansbluesreport.com/2013/11/dan-bubien-empty-roads-new-release.html

Dan Bubien, what an eclectic cd. Flashes of Funk, Jazz, Country, Rock and of course Blues colour “Empty Roads” into a very engaging listenable album of eleven original compositions.

 

Dan Bubien – “Empty Roads”.

 

** Dan Bubien – Guitar, Vocals.

** Gary Ripper – Bass.

** Andy Taravella – Drums.

** Timmy Mabin – Keyboards.

**  Joe Munroe – Keyboards.

** Eric DeFade – Saxophone.

** Chris Nacy – Harmonica.

 

* Track 1. “Empty Roads”.  Dan hits us with a Funk based offering up front. Pleading vocals offset by the guitar has Bubien set the ledger straight as to the direction our journey will take us. Bubien clearly showcases not only his writing prowess but also his outstanding voice and sizzling guitar.

* Track 2. “Fight Club” kicks off with Bubien’s Funky guitar jangling and offset with Eric DeFade’s wailing Sax. What strikes you very quickly is how tight the Rhythm section comprising of Andy Taravella and Gary Ripper are. Always right on the mark holding it all together with their moody interpretations of Bubien’s music. This song as the tittle offers is about life and it’s ups and downs and how we try to avoid confrontation in an effort to obtain sanity.

* Track 3. “”Crazy Days” is a sumptuous love  ballad given a Soulful vocal over a beautifully orchestrated Blues. Brass laden with tasty backing vocals of Jimmie Ross, Morgan Maybray and Andre Marocco. Bubien provides an understated guitar that wrings every emotion from every note. Brass overlaid with harmony backing again add to the appeal to a sound and style of the classic Soul of the 70’s. A heartbreaking story of love gone bad and why he could not hold it together.

* Track 4. “Exile Blues” is a solid Blues shuffle showcasing Bubiens dobro playing duelling with Harp player Chris Nacey then add to this some honky tonk piano from Timmy Mabin. This is a true Blues and as such is given the Bubien treatment who calls on his band to follow suit. Whisky soaked and cigarette smoke stained Juke Joint music one would hear throughout the 30’s and 40’s in the Southern states. The sound of a troubadour trudging dusty backwaters roads looking for a place to play.

* Track 5. “To Youngstown” takes us to the heart of the Delta rich in Blues history style and emotional phrasing. Bubien and Nacy again play off of each other with the band holding it all together. This is a trip down the back roads and byways of the Delta in search of love.

* Track 6. “Brother” is a wonderfully poignant Blues ballad that has Bubien call on all of his pathos and emotion as he wrings everything out of this song taking us to the depths of despair and then to a crescendo of hope. Emotion charged but not to the point of the absolute despair of the lonely lost in love.

* Track 7. “Dizzy Eyes” returns to the Funk but this time definitely with a Latin bent that adds an excitement in itself. The horn section and backing vocals underscore Bubien’s vocals and funky guitar. A song pleading for truth and honesty in the face of addiction. Mabin lays down some serious grooves on keys that add to the big fat sound on this oh so Funky track.

*Track 8. “Irony”, at first if l may say struck me all so briefly as “You Really Got A Hold On Me” but that soon went as l listened to this Brother Smokey Robinson inspired Soulful gem. Bubien again lays down his signature understated guitar that creates an image of a heart pleading for acceptance and love. Solid brass and Joe Monroe’s keys layer and weave throughout the song ala Smokey to build the tension to a head. Bubien could easily be a Soul star in his own right if he so chose to do so. This track is absolutely stunning in every facet. Love it!

* Track 9. “Keep Love In Mind” is a breathy ballad showcasing the group Soul of the 70’s groups once again. Clearly a style laden with gorgeous harmonies, keys and solid rhythm section. A heart rendering torch song extolling dreams of the love he wants.

*Track 10. “Love Games”is a return to the Blues in a jaunty rollicking hoe down. Can his lady really so shameless as Bubien is trying to tell us? Slide guitar infused to great effect, as all band members drive this song home.

*Track 11. “Sniper” has a back home hill country feel what with the dobro and harmonica centre stage and piano playing out a honky tonky jaunt. Bubien again excels with his vocals and guitar. Love again does not come easy for Bubien.

 

Eleven track that are absolutely stunning in their grasp of the differing styles of Blues music whether it be Funk or Soul. Bubien is the full package what with his exquisite voice, sensuous guitar and outstanding song writing. There is just so much to love about this album and l hope it is a taste tester for what is to come from one very talented individual in Dan Bubien. Now if you  will excuse me l have much more listening to do.

l think it is obvious that l love this album. Dan Bubien is new to us but l think he will quickly be embraced, so very talented, engaging and eminently listenable, as he has it all.

 

Peter Merrett

PBS 106-7 FM

http://www.pbsfm.org.au/

Melbourne Australia.

By Dave Rubin, 2005 KBA recipient in Journalism

Musical technique and vocal ability are prerequisites for popular music, the blues and related genres included. However, when impressive skills everywhere abound, it is indefinable “feel” and unfiltered personal expression that separates the exceptional from the merely excellent. Extraordinary singer, songwriter and guitarist Dan Bubien, emerging from the gritty blue collar world of Western Pennsylvania, fulfills the requirements with overpowering passion and commitment to his artistic vision.

Bubien makes his big league debut with 11 original blues, funk and silky R&B tunes boosted by Gary Ripper (bass), Andy Taravella (drums), Timmy Mabin (keyboards) and additional guests. The title track is the most odiferous funk this side of Little Feat. Bubien sings poetically “I drove alone through midnight, December air was cold. I wore your favorite jacket, babe, the leather one so old…” intensified by his introspective guitar solos. Hard funk kicks “Fight Club” with Bubien “skanking” like a JB, his deeply soulful voice imploring “Don’t let ‘em take the fight out of you. Don’t let ‘em take away the things you love to do…” that could be a political declaration as Eric DeFade honks sax like Maceo Parker. Expansive vocal chops on the dreamy, heartbreaking ballad “Crazy Days” are accompanied with hip guitar fills and luscious guitar harmony as Bubien waxes lyrical with “Forced in your fun, never paying for one, your mystery I’m loving. Precious diamond rings, pretentious limousines, your style keeps me wandering.”

“Exile Blues” swings the shuffle, Bubien picking sweetly on his Dobro and employing the carnal imagery of “Use to rock me all night long, ride upon my love, woo hoo. You use to rock me all night long till my brain would come undone, woo hoo. And you sting like morning whiskey, stain me like a bad tattoo” as Chris Nacy blows snaky harp and Timmy Mabin accompanies appropriately on piano. Bubien and Nacy stop in the Delta on the way “To Youngstown,” his rhythm guitar barking like a hellhound, his slashing slide guitar punctuating his lust with “If you take my love to Youngstown so we can be low key, keep them bed sheets burning in flames of ecstasy.” On the tender ballad “Brother,” Bubien builds to a cathartic vocal and guitar crescendo, emoting “It gets lonely out on that island, stars shine but you’re stuck behind them. Lonely thoughts get lost just floating in the wind” with evocative word pictures of loneliness that permeate the record. Hot, horn-driven Latin funk on “Dizzy Eyes” underscores accusing lyrics to an addict with “Years of buried truths hidden by disguise, fears deep in root a garden of lies resides. See I don’t want to wait, racing in my mind, no other love but you can my body find.”

Nodding to Smokey Robinson on “Irony,” Bubien crafts a gorgeous, classic R&B ballad, his sweetly pleading tenor belying the lyrics “Irony, these words indeed can’t express my love. These melodies they ring in me, laughing, dancing high. Heaven moves inside of you, lonesome alibi, be your dreams reality, floating through the sky,” his yearning guitar solo and Joe Munroe’s organ underscoring romantic frustration. Digging deeper on the breathy, low lights ballad “Keep Love in Mind,” Bubien is most vulnerable with “Sweet love don’t deny this heart I have inside as these dreams stray away…don’t leave it all to find all the loneliness in life. So just, keep love in mind.” The rollicking “Love Games” and his exuberant slide guitar buoys the mood while Bubien undercuts the joy with “You have no shame in this love game, darling, now how can that be? Songs we sang yesterday fade like empty dreams.” The lilting country hoedown of “Sniper” lulls as Bubien spins a chilling story of a spurned stalker with “We left in poor condition, we left it all behind. Dying for forgiveness, giving up inside. My finger’s on the trigger, your heart is on the line. Waiting for the time, to say goodbye,” his sprightly Dobro a distraction from the reality of the lyric content.

Dan Bubien sings and plays like a man possessed by an inner fire to make music. The fortunate recipients of his creative compulsion are the lucky listeners who will make Empty Roads a destination.

The “To Youngstown” music video has been entered into a Guitar Center Singer Songwriter competition.  While not everything relies on views, it does count towards a portion of the judging and helps immensely by bringing it to the attention of the judges.  The 6,000+ views on Youtube DO NOT COUNT in this instance so please, stop by this contest page and watch the video again.  Share with your friends and family just as you did the first time around and help “To Youngstown” bring home the prize!!!

http://songwriter.revimage.com/channels/Dan+Bubien+Music

Dan Bubien is a soulful bluesy singer-songwriter and guitarist who first solo album Empty Roads is a delightful mix of original old school soul, blues and funk tunes.  Cuts from Empty Roads have been heard on Pittsburgh stations WDVE and WYEP along with Youngstown’s  93.3 The Wolf.  Empty Roads was produced by four-time Grammy Award Winning producer/engineer Jay Dudt at Audible Images Studio in Pittsburgh.  The all original songs on Empty Roads were co-written by Dan and Roman Marocco.  Backing Dan to create big full soulful R&B and blues sounds are an all star cast of veteran Pittsburgh musicians including saxophonist Eric DeFade, horn player/arranger Ralph Guzzi, keyboard player s Joe Monroe and Timmy  Mabin, Chris Nacy on  harmonica, bassist Gary Ripper, and drummer Andy Taravella  along with harmony vocalists Jimmie Ross (of The Jaggerz and Skyliners), Morgan Maybray and Andre Marocco.  Outstanding tracks that best show Dan’s singing and guitar prowess are the bluesy rough edged “To Youngstown” and the smooth soulful tunes “Crazy Days” and “Brother”.

 

A native of Aliquippa Dan learned the guitar when his career as star high school baseball and golf athlete was interrupted by a knee injury.   Sidelined from sports for six months Dan taught himself the guitar following in the footsteps of his professional guitarist father.   After high school Dan fronted and played with several Pittsburgh area bands.  He fronted the popular funk reggae band the Sun Kings from 2004 until 2010 when he went solo.   Empty Roads is a great debut album from a talented singer and guitarist with tunes fans of soul and blues will enjoy.

Original Article:  https://sites.google.com/site/radiofreetunes/news