Dan Israel ­ Dan Who? Hayden's Ferry Records ­20082

By William Michael Smith

	Nobody wants to play a losing hand, nobody wants to book a losing band Too much supply and not enough demand and you're out twenty grand We've all had favorite local or regional performers. We religiously scour the local paper for news of a date or, even better, an album release. We can't understand why these bands haven't been discovered, why they aren't recording for major labels and "going platinum." Minnesotan Dan Israel has had that feeling about bands before ­ his own. Musicians are probably as prone to mid-life crises as sex-symbol actresses or NFL quarterbacks. And their chances of "making it big" are just about as miniscule as the chance of someone making it as an actress or as a professional athlete. On "Dan Who?," Israel, former Austin songwriter and current front man for the respected Minneapolis roots rock band Dan Israel and The Cultivators, looks deep into the relative anonymity of his own life (Dan who?) and musical career and probes the social and psychological effects of never having "made it." A minimalist and highly personal project consisting of only Israel and his acoustic guitar, there is a young Bob Dylan quality to "Dan Who?. " The production has a singing-at-the-kitchen-table feel. The lyrics are surgically matter-of-fact and deep-cutting. On 'Waiting So Long,' Israel, at age 30 already a veteran of a handful of bands and 13+ years in the music business without any real commercial success, condenses the artist's desperation into a simple Dylan-ly lucid verse. I've been waiting so long, I been tossin' and turnin' Waiting so long with desire a-burnin' Losin' my patience, losin' my grip and losin' steam I've been waiting so long, feel like I'm gonna scream I've been waiting so long that I can't remember Been sitting by the phone since last December If this is a test of my will it looks like I'm pretty weak And I don't know if I could still turn the other cheek The bottom line of much of this soul searching is a man pondering his own self worth and his worth to others. It is at moments a terrible thing to watch, but in the end it is uplifting to know that in Dan Israel we have encountered a human being with enough innate humanity and intelligence to recognize these issues in himself and his chosen way of life, to probe the painfully sore spots around these psychologically delicate lesions on the ego, and to want desperately to deal with them in a way that is both satisfying to his own needs and to those near and dear who have a stake in his well-being. On 'Worn Down By the Chase,' Israel cuts out the cancerous, draining, mind-numbingly monotonous part of the music scene and lays it under the microscope in all its cynical and frustrating ugliness. The lyric is both extremely personal and yet poignantly universal. One wonders how many musicians have felt just this way driving home after a gig that didn't pay off or an audition that didn't pan out but have never been able to portray those feelings so eloquently. Worn down by the chase, envy turned you green An extra is the only role you're cast Given up all grace, sick of all the scene And you ain't sure you got enough to last Now it's getting hard to see what you're ever gonna find 'Cause drugs don't dull your pain and sex don't ease your mind Stay up to see morning break, set free in fiery reds Seems like you just fell behind while trying to get ahead California folk maestro Peter Case is another performer who comes to mind when listening to Israel. Like Case, Israel can find a humorous touch in a pathetic situation, as he does on 'Overloaded' where he takes his sharp songwriter's scalpel to the cynical cooler-than-you hipster scene that surrounds the business that he's in. I don't need no cool friends who can't deign to talk to me, I don't need someone who goes and turns on me, Hangin' round the hip ones, tryin' to be noticed, I'm feelin' just a little overloaded Later in the same song, Mr. Israel borders on the supremely sublime when, while in the arms of his lover and feeling overwhelmed by it all, he utters to her the wonderful line, "If I considered suicide I'd probably be outvoted, I'm feeling just a little overloaded." Old road warrior Todd Steed once said during an interview that once the band got in the van and headed out of town to a gig, their world view sort of closed down to where the only goal or question that mattered was "We've got to find the club." On "Dan Who?," Mr. Israel examines the "on the road" aspect of musician life and listeners are left with a feeling that this guy knows what he's talking about, that he's been there, done that. 'Truckee' is a running-out-of-rope song that goes directly to the problems and paranoia of the struggling road musician. A tale of being mentally ragged due to lack of sleep, due to the constant worry of always being in unfamiliar towns, of traveling unknown roads, of wondering if there will be enough money to make it to the next payoff, and of miserably sleeping in cars to save what little money there is, 'Truckee' epitomizes all those long, slightly desperate drives all musicians encounter in the struggle just to make it to the next gig and "find the club." Coaxing that car, running up credit card bills, Praying out loud, wishing on lucky pennies Stretching the dollars, I'm on my last twenty But "Dan Who?" isn't entirely filled with songs related to the musician's struggle for recognition, painful assaults on the ego, or pain at not being appreciated. Following one's muse can also have damaging side effects on a musician's relationships. The album opens with a break-up song, 'Last Words,' that Tennessee Williams would be proud to have written. Israel has the ability to boil complex interpersonal situations down to a few simple phrases. I never could explain what good was suffering for the long-term gain Prior commitments take their toll and strain, enthusiasm wanes The album also includes a very poignant and melancholy song written for Israel's older brother, 'Looking Out For Me,' and one to his parents. 'Tears of Joy,' a song about taking time to love people before they are gone, says what most us would say to our parents with reference to our childhood and to the values parents instill (Trouble that I brought you, wish it could be swept away, 'cause all that you taught me stayed inside me to this day). Mr. Israel is not the type who is afraid to let his feelings show once he's discovered what they truly are and how he wants to convey them. And despite all the negativity and doubt about the music business side of his life, by the time the record has played out and the songs have been summed, he leaves us with more positives than negatives. His song about his recent marriage, 'Hang On To Now,' is a prime example. If we can hang onto now, make it last somehow As the years wear a hole in our shoe, We could grow old together, make it last forever Nothing else would ever hurt much to lose While "Dan Who?" is not a happy or light record, Israel's very personal statement that emerges as the record unfolds and the songs build a picture of the man is not an angst-ridden, woe-is-me sob story. Rather it is a painful but truthful picture of a struggling artist and his resolute sense that despite the indifference and rejection of the public and club owners and record company executives, despite all of the embarrassing questions from friends and family about "when are you going to get a real job and give up this childish stuff," despite the "failure" that others perceive about or project onto his life work, and despite the often destructive strains the business of music puts on personal relationships, Dan Israel is going to stay the course and follow his muse whether he ever "makes it big" or not. In the end, that uplifts us all. With his third fine album in four years, one has to wonder how long it will be before the record buying public uplifts Dan Israel and quits asking "Dan who?" * If we don't buy CDs and send artists money, we might as well call it the music hobby instead of the music business. "Dan Who?," as well Dan Israel's two previous records with The Cultivators ("Before We Met" ­ 1997 and "Mama's Kitchen" - 1999), can be purchased at www.cootner.com/cultivators Contact William Michael Smith at: wms-at-rockzilla.net

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