On June 5, 2008, Canadian fiddle great Oliver Schroer hosted guests at his concert he dubbed, “Oliver’s Last Concert on his Tour of this Planet.”  He was dying of leukemia and in an email prior to the event, he shared that he loved being on stage and sharing part of himself with an audience.  He wrote, “Sometimes in life, things were not clear, but on stage everything always made sense to me.  I was like a fish in the water.”

I understand exactly what he means.  It’s the same way I feel when I’m in the audience at a Dave Gunning show.

Dave put on an exceptional show – telling stories and jokes and sharing music.  There’s something really special about the music Dave writes and shares.  It’s wholesome, in a way, and authentic, and real, but more than all that, too.  He jokes that his songs are all about “dead guys from Pictou” (Pictou County, Nova Scotia where he’s from), and he’s expanded his repertoire to include dead guys from other places like Texas.  But as much as there is death, loss and hurt in his music, show me a folk musician whose music doesn’t include these elements, there’s also fun songs sung out of season like the Christmas classic “Daddy’s Beer” and songs about working life, like “Hard Working Hands”.  Every song is also about connections. 

Whether it’s an old man’s connection to cars passing his house on "The New Highway", or the implications of working for the mill in a one-industry town in "House for Sale", a couple celebrating an anniversary at the Celtic Lodge, "Saltwater Hearts" or even a dead guy, not from Pictou, who messed around with his best friend’s wife  in "Long Black Veil" (okay, so Dave didn’t write that last one), Dave’s music connects the willing listener with difficult circumstances, but also with the hope contained within them.

Dave debuted three new songs on this tour, so I’m guessing on the names of the new songs.  “Made on Monday” felt John Mellencamp-ish for me in a good way.  You have to know, I wanted to write John Cougar Mellencamp, but I thought I’d just be showing my age.  I find it easy to get so caught up in Dave’s lyrics and stories that I sometimes forget what an amazing guitarist he is. 

Dave shared music from his first CD, like “Here She Comes a Running” which made regular appearances on CMT’s Celtic Country for about two years, to somewhat more recent, “Prince of Pictou” and “Twitter”, dead guy from Pictou but a good message about a man who never made a lot of money, but who made a lot of people happy and the most recent of all, “Is There Something I’m Missing”.

Dave invited Roger and Shane back up for two songs, “These Roads” and the “Broom of the Cowdenknowes”, a John Allan Cameron favourite. 

I think these next four words say a whole lot about the kind of guy Dave Gunning is, “HE SHARED HIS ENCORE”.  People were on their feet, asking for more, and Dave invited Roger and Shane to take another song on their own.  The String Gents didn’t disappoint!  They played the aptly named, “Just a Little Bit More”.   Dave rejoined Roger and Shane and they wrapped up the show together with rocking rendition of “Long Black Veil”.

I left Dave’s show feeling a bit better about the world and the people in it.  My circumstances hadn’t changed, but I felt more willing to give people the benefit of the doubt; maybe they were made on a Monday, and I was way more invested in making people happy rather than making money. I felt more connected with people I’ve never met, but had the distinct impression if our paths did cross, they’d be people who’d enjoy a drink with me and who’d enjoy a Dave Gunning concert. 

Just for a while, we could all be fish in the water together.

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