Back in the Olden Days there was what we called the "singer-songwriter". These were people who wrote their own songs and usually performed them in a stripped down version (i.e., guitar or piano). Some of the biggest stars of this genre were James Taylor, Carol King, Neil Young and Cat Stevens. Eventually, as they became more successful, they added other musicians to their live shows to better recreate the arrangements used on their records. Except Neil Young who started out in a band and kept his solo act just him and his guitar/piano.
What we're seeing in the new video for singer-songwriter Dusty Grant is in this tradition of the troubadour. No frills is putting it mildly as if he dressed any more casual he'd be wearing his pajamas (which might have added some color). I'm not criticizing his lack of showmanship since this laid back, understated image is in the great 70s singer-songwriter tradition but it is taking a risk since all that is offered that you can't get from some guy in jeans and a T shirt sitting on a stool holding an acoustic guitar is the song itself. No "show" here, I can almost hear him saying "the music speaks for itself, man." The trouble is that music does indeed speak, however, it sometimes speaks with a very thick dialect that can be very difficult to understand if it's not native to your neck of the woods.
In other words, you have to listen to "This Longing Heart" yourself to see if this song speaks to you. Dusty, like Neil, also used to be in a full fledged rock and roll band and since he says he's playing for 17 years one of his bands back in the day must have been Grunge. He describes his sound as being similar to Alice In Chains, Nirvana and Stone Temple Pilots and I can see the style of his acoustic song being influenced by STP's acoustic version of Interstate Love Song. Dusty doesn't quite have the full Yawl down but Grunge is certainly lurking back in there, somewhere.
Dusty is from Wichita, Kansas, (originally from Omaha, Nebraska) and although I don't hear any regional accent or style I wouldn't know it if I heard it anyway. My only experience with Kansas is watching The Wizard Of Oz and hearing the band of the same name (Kansas, not The Wizard Of Oz). My only experience with Omaha, Nebraska, is the psychedelic hit from Moby Grape and the acoustic album by Bruce Springsteen. As far as This Longing Heart goes, Dusty has a fine, strong singing voice (with the shades of Grunge mentioned and production helped out by Jason Catlett at Magnitude Creative ) while the song itself is a cathartic purging of his feelings about... He really doesn't say. He's pretty upset about something and is determined to carry on but carry on from where or who or what he doesn't let us know. It's enough to know he's in turmoil, why is apparently too personal to share. What do you want from a song anyway?
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