Dan Whitehouse - That's Where I Belong (REVEAL064CDX) 2 CD Set
Following the 'Introducing' EP earlier this year, Dan Whitehouse releases 'That's Where I Belong' his first full-length album for Reveal Records on September 2nd 2016 The title track will be available as a download single from August 12th
A talented songwriter and storyteller, a modern day troubadour, Dan Whitehouse was born in Wolverhampton and has spent a lifetime in Britain's industrial heartland with a brief detour along the hippie trail when his parents decided to board the magic bus to Katmandu and San Francisco in the 1970s, and then to London as an eighteen year old, his prodigious talent making him a sought after guitarist.
For Dan the songwriting is key - his observational lyrics and imagined stories are soundtracked by an original take on modern folk /Americana - Black Country Soul if you will. Political stories of displacement and refuge (Close Up) and lyrics dealing with anxiety and mental health (CCC, Little Left Unsaid), sit beside more personal reflections and universal themes of family and love, loss and compassion (Work).
Recorded at Reservoir Studios in London and Kyoti in Glasgow, the album was produced in the main by Chris Clarke (The Rockingbirds) and Danny George Wilson (Danny & The Champions of the World). It features the legendary pedal and lap steel player B.J.Cole and folk/trance singer Jess Morgan.
Of his influences during the recording sessions, Dan says:
'Around the time of recording specific tracks I was listening to a lot were 'Precious Angel' by Dylan, 'Ry Cooder's 'How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live', Hiss Golden Messenger 'Saturday Song' and The Deelines 'Colfax Avenue', great songs.
The recordings were finished in March this year, Dan then headed out on tour with label-mates Eddi Reader and Kris Drever giving him a chance to showcase the new songs to appreciative audiences. No stranger to playing live Dan has shared stages with a host of inspiring artists including Mark Eitzel, Richard Thompson, Sun Kil Moon and Julian Cope. Dan is back on the road again later this year as Special Guest on Boo Hewerdine's UK tour, dates below..
Between recording and touring Dan works as a community musician using music and songwriting in a therapeutic way with vulnerable groups of people such as those with learning difficulties, acquired brain injury or disaffected young people in PRUs (pupil referral units).
He is also a key fixture at the Midlands Arts Centre (MAC) in Birmingham and is currently the subject of a Summer-long exhibition focussing on the Life of a Song, from inspiration to recording
CD 1
1. Nothing's Gonna Change It
2. Close Up (feat Jess Morgan)
3. That's Where I Belong
4. Work
5. The Little Left Unsaid
6. You Brought The Sunshine
7. The Places We Have Been
8. CCC
9. The Left Handed Way (Geoff Farina)
CD 2
1. Two Widows (Chris Wood)
2. That?s Where I Belong (Live at Kyoti)
3. Bars (featuring Jess Morgan)
4. Work (Live at Kyoti)
5. The Little Left Unsaid (Live at Kyoti)
6. They Care For You (Live at Kyoti)
7. Why Don't We Dance (Live at Kyoti)
8. The Places We Have Been (Live at Kyoti)
9. Nothing's Gonna Change It (Live at Kyoti)