David Dondero:
Journeyman
Words: Scott Harrell
Photo: David Dondero

Just who the hell is this David Dondero, exactly, anyway?

He’s the guy who put out a couple of records with a South Carolina band called Sunbrain in the mid-’90s, then played drums for Pensacola, Florida folk-punks This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb for a while before heading out on his own.

He’s the guy who’s released music on pretty much every label that you vaguely remember liking for that one artist a few years ago.

(Hell, he’s probably that one artist you vaguely remember liking.)

He’s the guy you heard opening for Lucero or Drag The River or Cory Branan a bunch of times while you were at the bar shooting the shit, the guy who acted a little awkward later when you paid him a compliment as you were waiting for another beer.

But mostly, he’s the guy who’s always, always always on the road, playing his original, alternately quirky, funny, touching and brilliant tunes, and winning new fans - and comparisons to esteemed forbears like Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie and Townes Van Zandt - one at a time.

“It’s flattering,” says Dondero of the high praise. “I’m not sure I agree with it, I can be pretty self-deprecating. But I would love to be associated with those kinds of characters, I have a tremendous amount of respect for them, and have been influenced by them. It’s awesome.”

The high praise and loyal fandom afforded Dondero undoubtedly come in part due to his unique ability to approach timeless singer-songwriter tropes - love, loss, travel - from an utterly unexpected angle. A David Dondero love song isn’t likely to rhyme “girl” with “world” in any context the listener is predisposed to expect; a David Dondero story-song is gonna focus on the little details that nobody else would’ve, perhaps could’ve, noticed. Such an individual perspective is built into his nature, but Dondero adds that he is to some extent conscious of trying to avoid the more obvious beaten-horse trappings of folk, rock and country.

“I prefer to avoid cliches - which is impossible, because the whole process is pretty much a cliche in its own right, you know?” he says with a laugh. “The whole thing is kind of tired, the format, the guy with the guitar. I’m a walkin’, talkin’ cliche, right here. So you try to make it as non-cliched as possible, I guess, if that makes any sense.”

Dondero’s interest in avoiding the usual, comfortable Americana characterizations extends into his choice of voice and subject matter, as well. While many singer-songwriters tend to specialize in first-person laments, classic murder ballads or any number of other safety zones, he deliberately challenges himself with different themes, approaches and even genres; often, an exercise in educating himself in other artists’ material leads to some of his own most original tunes.

“I would say yeah, to try to jump into a different style of song is to challenge myself, see if I could do it,” he says. “Like a jazz song - ‘Pied Piper of the Flying Rats’ from ‘01’s Shooting at the Sun with a Water Gun was me trying to do Dave Brubeck’s ‘Take Five,’ screwing it up and making it my own. ‘Michael Raines’ from 2000’s Spider West Myshkin and a City Bus was me trying to play Springsteen, and I messed it up.

“A lot of that comes from me messing up some other style of music that I can’t play. My own messed-up version. I still don’t know how to play ‘Take Five,’ and I’m still trying.”

One singer-songwriter cliche he wholly embraces, however, is that old one about the lure of the highway - Dondero is an inveterate traveler, a performer who over years earned a reputation as a man truly without a home. He’s currently based out of San Francisco, but is already considering giving up his apartment for another endless round of touring. First, though, he’s got an actual destination to reach: Omaha, Nebraska, where he’ll be working with noted Saddle Creek Records engineer/collaborator A.J. Mogis on the follow-up to ‘07’s Simple Love, which will also be released on Omaha scene icon (and devoted Dondero supporter) Conor Oberst’s Team Love imprint.

“It might be a bit more kind of tweaked-out, high-lonesome, spaghetti-western sounding,” he says, laughing. “With psychedelic undertones.”

Or whatever messed-up version of his own he comes up with while trying?

“Right, yeah. Not sure yet, but we’ll see. It’ll be fun to get some sounds down, I’m excited.”

David Dondero plays WMNF 88.5 FM’s 28th Annual Tropical Heatwave at Ybor City’s Cuban Club on May 16.

myspace.com/davedondero