Philadelphia Inquirer Reviews Dan's Latest Release:
"Montgomery keeps it real - there are not a lot of happy endings here - but he makes the journey a richly rewarding one. Once again, everything is framed in superbly crafted arrangements that dip into country, folk, even gospel ("Working on a Building" plays off the standard of that title), and flat-out rock ("Wheels of Soul"). And, like Montgomery's often hangdog vocals, they're suffused with a deep soulfulness."
Man From Out Of State
Reviews, lyrics, and the story
Where To Buy Man From Out Of State Right Now:
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"Dan Montgomery's ability to spot people you'd never notice and turn them into characters you can't resist is uncanny. When he turns his attention inward, he's powerfully, sometimes painfully, honest about the life that's produced such a collection of songs. Songs about sexual revolutions lost, opportunities discarded, hopes retained if not fulfilled."
cdUniverse Says:
"You know how a guitar case knows more after it¹s traveled? Dan Montgomery picked up plenty during his highway years, pouring into these songs good licks, sweet melodies, and observations witty and astute. This collection is a solid first chapter in what will surely be a prolific catalog."Robert Gordon Author of It Came From Memphis and Can't Be Satisfied, The Life and Times of Muddy Waters "Impressive storytelling skills and raggedly heartfelt delivery"Nick Cristiano, Philadelphia Inquirer"The most bittersweet commentary on relationships you're likely to hear all year"Bill Ellis, Memphis Commercial AppealNew release Man From Out OF State now available through CD Baby!Since moving to Memphis, Tennessee two year ago, Dan Montgomery released his first CD, Room 104 (Fantastic Yes Records), which received much local airplay and has led to his playing over 100 gigs a year. From catfish restaurant/grocery stores in Mississippi to swanky Los Angeles nightclubs, Montgomery has shared the stage with artists as diverse as singer songwriters Steve Forbert, Victoria Williams, Mark Olson, David Poe, Richard Julian, David Wilcox, Bruce Robison and Amy Farris; alt.country heroes Cary Hudson, Slobberbone, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Marah, The Yayhoos, Bastard Sons Of Johnny Cash, I See Hawks In LA and Lucero; garage rock kings Reigning Sound, and his longtime compadre (and one time employer) Ben Vaughn. His date book is even that much more filled with release of his new album entitled Man From Out Of State.
Man From Out Of State (Fantastic Yes Records) was recorded both in Memphis, TN. at Easley McCain Studios (White Stripes, Wilco, Townes Van Zandt) and at the studio of Ben Vaughn (That 70's Show, Third Rock From The Sun, Ween, Arlo) in Venice, California. The album is a chamber-folk travelogue across the miles, the mind, and the heart. Man From Out of State contains a song cycle that spans a ten year period, an album of restless hunger for what's next and a somber look at what's been left behind. Montgomery mixes accordion, violin, and viola with acoustic bass and steel guitar to chronicle ten years, three thousand miles, and almost as many sleepless nights. Musicians on Man From Out Of State include Amy Farris (Dave Alvin, Alejandro Escovedo), Gus Cordovox (Ben Vaughn Combo), John McDuffie (Rita Coolidge, I See Hawks in LA)as well as Neil Arot and Ben Vaughn. It was mixed by Ben Vaughn and mastered by Mark Linett (Brian Wilson, Dave Alvin).
Born in Philadelphia and raised in New Jersey, Montgomery was known there as the man behind the scenes with The Ben Vaughn Combo. As road manager/sound man and occasional bass singer on The Combo's doo-wop numbers, Dan looks back at those years on the road as "the puberty I never really had!" On his own, Dan has played in such Philly bands as The Crackers, The Fumblers, Drugs Before Breakfast, and Del Pez who, in March 2000, released Hope I Had A Good Time (King of Rock Records). In addition to being a musician, Dan Montgomery has been a meat cutter, teamster, garbage man, dishwasher, mental health worker, and held many other jobs that no right thinking person would claim!With the new album's release, Montgomery is gigging. Always an engaging performer and spinner of yarns true and sometimes less so, Montgomery plays constantly. "It's about the connection," he says, "and you need to be out there if you expect to connect! That's the job." As noted music journalist Andria Lisle (Mojo, Oxford American, Memphis Flyer) put it: Montgomery claims his job is "just to entertain", but with his subtle musicianship and flair for storytelling, he's clearly raised the bar for performers.
Tracks Featured In The Series SHADOW FALLS:
Episode 2:
"Long Time Ago"
Episode 5:
"Man From Out Of State"
Episode 6:
"Long Long Night"Lyrics: Long Time Ago
There was a time when I believed this world was mine
And all I knew was all I'd know
I was too smart to let it all just fall apart
But that was a long time ago
I once thought I could do what I want and never get caught
And my mistakes would never show
Never afraid cause I knew the way the game was played
But that was a long time ago
I was young and I thought I was invincible
Bullet proof and never slow
I was so clever so sure that I would live forever
But that was a long time ago
And I don't know what's left for me
I'm afraid to open my eyes and see
Here and gone and the memories they still lives on
Still so much I'll never know
There was a time when I believed this world was mine
But that was a long time ago
That was a long time agoLyrics: The Man From Out Of State
He was walking on the roadside
When the rain began to fall
So when the cop turned on the red light
He didn't mind that much at all
His pictures in his wallet
But there's no name
It's easier when you get picked up
Cause a name can always change
He don't know where he's goin'
He aint saying from where he came
He's been walking for so long
And these cells all look the same
(chorus)
It don't matter where he's been
He aint from round these ways
Thirty days and he's out again
He's the man from out of state
He lost his wife and daughter
In that fire long ago
He just started walkin'
Watched his house burn from down the road
He knew they'd want to see him
And they'd ask him where he's been
There were things he couldn't tell them
Like why he had to sell her mother's pin
(chorus)
It's best to just keep walkin'
And to keep your head down
Listen close when folks are talkin'
And you'll know if it's a friendly town
(chorus)Lyrics: Spinning My Wheels
Nobody knows what a mess I've been
Or at least they never mentioned it
And all the precious time I spent
Spinning my wheels
I've been up for days doing nothing
I've been so afraid I might miss something
Just listening to my heart pumping
Spinning my wheels
I've been telling lies to everyone else
I've been telling lies to myself
No I really don't need any help
Spinning my wheels
A little is a lot- but it never is enough for me
A little is a lot- but it never is enough for me
There's nothing like that first time
An hour's rest and I'll be fine
Maybe if I just had one more line
Spinning my wheels
A little is a lot - but it never is enough for me
A little is a lot - but it never is enough for meLyrics: Need Me
For the past few months it's like you've been ashamed of me
I don't even get to meet your new friends
I married you young so you wouldn't try changing me
And I guess it's only fair
This is how it all ends
It won't be long until you're gone
A blind man could see that for sure
You don't need me anymore
You don't need me anymore
You don't need me anymore
I'm just a ghost that walks these halls
And slams these doors
After work you don't come home
You're out with him and I'm alone
You have a drink and I can't help but think
That I'm the punch line to a joke
It's plain to see
You're leaving me
Let me surrender before I lose the war
You don't need me anymore
You don't need me like before
You don't need me anymore
I'm just a ghost that walks these halls
And slams these doors
You say you didn't tell me for my own protection
Did you really think I wouldn't make that connection
It's more than him and it less than me
It's just the way we used to be the way we used to be
And I hear all the things you say
And the way you say all the things you say
I asked you to be
Straight with me
I didn't mean to be so mature
You don't need me anymore
You don't need me like before
You don't need me anymore
I'm just a ghost that walks these halls
And slams these doors
You don't need me anymoreLyrics: The Seventies
Percosets and percodans
She was looking for the perfect man
He was the only other person in the bar
The lights went on at two
Like they always do
So she got up and walked outside and into his car
And they fucked - and they fucked
It was back before the big disease
It was quaaludes and the Seventies
There was club hopping pill popping wife swapping
Parties on every block
And some people never ever got over
That culture shock
All the vans - all the vans
People would just pack up and leave
It was the end of love it was the Seventies
There was disco and funk new wave and punk
There was skinny ties
So she bought the hype picked up the pipe
And got those sunken cocaine eyes
One more line - one more line
It was never over till you feel that freeze
It was nothing new it was the Seventies
There was moon rocks pet rocks pop rocks tube socks
And platform shoes
There was rhinestone and glitter there was denim and leather
It was all confused
Pick a side - pick a side
You had to get down on your knees
It was her turn to come it was the Seventies
It seemed like no matter what you thought or believed in
You were probably wrong
So nobody ever seemed to hold onto anything
For very long
All the lies - all the lies
You had to learn to forget to believe
It was the beginning of the end it was the SeventiesLyrics: So Naturally
She was the kind of girl who couldn't stand to be on her own
He was the kind of boy who was better left alone
So naturally they fell in love
So naturally that would be enough
So naturally so naturally
> he led the kind of life that would drive a person crazy
He stayed out all night - he didn't work he was lazy
So naturally she'd make things right
So naturally she'd save his life
So naturally so naturally
A man sees a woman
And that's all he sees
A woman sees a man
Sees all the things that
She can help him to be
Then one day she says I don't know you anymore
What happened to the boy that I loved before
So naturally they fell apart
So naturally he broke her heart
So naturally so naturally
So naturally they fell in love
So naturally that would be enough
So naturally so naturallyLyrics: Kitchen Window
There they go again
It happens without warning
Don't they understand
People gotta get up - in the morning
And it keeps me up all night
Tryin' to make it all make sense
Listening to a neighbor's fight
Coming over - the backyard fence
I watch that couple
Through my kitchen window
They seem to fight all night long
Make's me wonder what thet've been thru
Wonder if they ever got along
My memory goes long
To when we cared enough to fight
It was never bout who was wrong
It was always bout who was right
And it just goes round and round
The way a record does
Till it gets stuck in a groove
Til you get stuck - in a rut
I watch that couple
Through my kitchen window
They seem to fight all night long
Makes me wonder what they've been thru
Wonder if they ever got along
There they go again
It happens without warning
Don't they understand
People gotta get up - in the morning
And I bet when they calm down
And they forgive what they've said
They'll lay their bodies down
And they can just - go to bed
But I watch that couple
Through my kitchen window
They seem to fight all night long
Makes me wonder what they've been thru
Wonder if they ever got alongLyrics: That Easy
World's turn - people learn - in the matter of a minute
Sometimes you can't see the picture - cause sometimes you're in it
I know what you'll say - I know what you'll say
That there's nothing you have to finish - if you never begin it
people go - people grow - and then move on
By the time I caught up with you - you were already gone
I know what you'll say - I know what you'll say
That there's nothing to be won - once the game is done
( chorus )
It's just that easy
It's just that hard
Never seen two people mean so well
And still end up so scarred
It's just that easy
It's just that hard
Lights shine - she went blind - from the glamour and the glitter
All the time - she was mine - she just grew more bitter
I know what she'll say - I know what she'll say
That she really tried to love me right
But it just never fit her
( chorus )
Worlds turn - people learn - in the matter of a minuteLyrics: When I Was A Drunk
When I was a drunk
All I did was drink
Pity the fool who'd ever try
To make me think
And I fell down
And I fell down alone
And I knew that I'd have to pay
For the seeds I'd sowed
When I fell in love
I fell so deep
Pity the fool who tests the water
With both feet
And I fell
But I fell alone
And I knew that I'd have to pay
For the seeds I'd sowed
I could give you a hundred excuses
For the way that i've behaved
But I could never give you the truth
Cause I was never that brave
I could give you a thousand excuses
For the way that i've behaved
But I could never give you the truth
Cause I was never that brave
When I hit the wall
You know I hit so hard
That they never did find all the pieces
When I fell apart
And I broke down
And I broke alone
And I prayed that I'd finally paid
For the seeds I'd sowedLyrics: Always
Always looking for home
Always looking for home
So afraid that you'll be alone
Always looking for home
Always looking for love
Always looking for love
Every now and then you just might get enough
Always looking for love
Always looking for more
Always looking for more
All you ever do is just cry poor
Always looking for more
Always looking for a fix
Always looking for a fix
Anything so you don't get sick
Always looking for a fix
Always looking for home
Always looking for home
So afraid that you'll be alone
Always looking for home
Always looking for homeShaun Dale - Cosmic Debris Magazine
Dan Montgomery's ability to spot people you'd never notice and turn them into characters you can't resist is uncanny. When he turns his attention inward, he's powerfully, sometimes painfully, honest about the life that's produced such a collection of songs. Songs about sexual revolutions lost, opportunities discarded, hopes retained if not fulfilled.
The notes attach each song to a place, tracing Montgomery's path from New Jersey to California, Arizona to Tennessee. His presentation, straightforward guitar behind a strong voice, offer hints that there may have been a little streetsinging along the way and puts Montgomery and his songs front and center, regardless of who might be playing along. He's enlisted a strong supporting cast, though, adding the texture of accordion, violin, keyboards and steel guitar to his own acoustic guitar and harp.
All that's just primer, though, a surface coat to carry Montgomery's stories, and those stories are reason enough to seek this one out and add it to your personal playlist.
Track List: Long Time Ago * Man From Out Of State * Spinning My Wheels * Need Me * The Seventies * So Naturally * Kitchen Window * That Easy * When I Was A Drunk * AlwaysMemphis Commercial Appeal
Dan Montgomery performs about 10 times a month, continually writes songs and
is recording a CD. "The story in my family is that I could sing Soldier Boy
by the Shirelles before I could speak," said Montgomery, 43.
He realized music was going to be his life back in the '60s. "I knew it from
the night the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan. I remember my sisters screaming
and my father complaining, and I just went, 'Oh, this is it.' "My mother used
to say if she took me to a mall when I was little, she never worried about me
wandering away. All she had to find was the record store or the piano store.
I'd just be in there bothering somebody. Like, 'If you work in a record store
you're in the music industry and you must know the Cowsills.' " A native of
Philadelphia, Montgomery, who grew up in New Jersey, was in numerous bands,
beginning when he was 15. "We very quickly became known as the Below Average
White Band," he said of one of his first groups. "We basically only had three
songs, which were the theme from SWAT - our big opener, Heat Wave and Right
Back Where We Started From, even though there wasn't a girl singer. We kind of
ran out of songs and the bass player would turn around and go, 'Did someone
say, 'Heat Wave?' And we'd just start all over again."
Another band was Drugs Before Breakfast. "It was really kind of the Stones
or Flaming Groovies kind of thing. It would have been more of a glam band if
we would have been a little thinner. But those clothes just weren't gonna fit
us." Montgomery traveled to Memphis many times as road manager, sound man and
backing vocalist for the Ben Vaughn Combo. He moved here last summer after
meeting photojournalist Stephanie Sweda. "I've always loved Memphis. It's
funky, but not dirty. I'm living proof that there's lots of work you can do here
if you want to."
Crowds weren't receptive to original songs in some other cities. "When I
used to do gigs, I would say, 'Oh, here's a song by Santana,' and I'd just play
one of mine. Nobody ever notices except the club owners." His first solo gig
in Memphis was at Earnestine & Hazel's. "People see you go up there with a
harmonica and an acoustic guitar and they go, 'Oh, it's gonna be Bob Dylan
Lite' or something." Montgomery now plays nearly every Tuesday at Murphy's. "I
call it 'The Lab.' It's not a big bar night, so anything kind of goes. People
come out and play along with me or I can work out and do new material." His
song themes used to be the same. "They usually broke down to two categories,
which were either 'dysfunctional relationships' or 'substance abuse.' " Now,
they're about travel and relationships. In addition to playing music,
Montgomery worked at other jobs. "I've been a teamster, a meat cutter, a truck
driver, mental health worker, a mental health patient, almost." Being in the music
business helped him land a job working with the mentally and physically
challenged at the Bancroft School in Haddonfield, N.J. "I went through this long
interview process and the woman's like, 'I'd really like to hire you, but I
just don't see anything on your resume.' She looks at it again and says, 'Well,
what does a road manager for a rock band do? I said, 'Well, you wake people
up against their will and get them dressed and in a van.' She said, 'Oh,
you're hired. That's the whole job.' "Memphis Flyer
After years of traveling, Dan Montgomery is finally home. "I feel more comfortable here than where I grew up [in Pennsauken, New Jersey]," the musician says, reflecting on the two years that have passed since he moved to the Bluff City. "There's such a great local music scene with so many good bands," Montgomery says. "People here are so nice, and there's a different pace. I feel like I fit in here."
Montgomery spent the last decade in search of that feeling, relocating from New Jersey to Michigan, then Arizona and California, before deciding to move south. He'd passed through Memphis dozens of times as Ben Vaughn's soundman, and after a brief visit here a few years ago, he decided to stay. Or, as he puts it, "I fell in love with a girl [photographer Stephanie Sweda], and I fell in love with the town."
Montgomery's latest solo album, Man From Out of State (released on his own Fantastic Yes label), looks back on that journey. "It don't matter where he's been/He ain't from around these ways," he sings on the title track. When prodded, Montgomery merely says that his lyrics "distill 10 years of traveling. When I was out in the desert, I just started writing songs and pulled others together. They cover what I refer to as 10 years, 3,000 miles, and almost as many sleepless nights."
Once he moved to Memphis, Montgomery recorded the tracks at Easley-McCain Studios with a full band, including Vaughn, steel guitarist John McDuffie, and accordion player Gus Cordovox. It's a fuller sound than Montgomery's fans, used to his solo acoustic gigs at Murphy's and Kudzu's, might expect. "It's funny," he says. "For years back home, I was always the singer in loud rock bands, but when I started moving around I had to shift to doing everything solo. I fit in with [the singer-songwriter genre] fine, but I forget that's how people perceive me."
Admitting that his biggest problem is "trying to describe what I do," Montgomery asks, "Am I a singer-songwriter, or Americana, or Triple-A?" He places his style "somewhere between Dave Alvin and Alejandro Escovedo." Laughingly noting that most singer-songwriters are "lazy bastards" who play sitting down before a (hopefully) rapt audience, Montgomery claims that his job is "just to entertain." But with his subtle musicianship and flair for storytelling, he's clearly raised the bar for local performers.
Don't miss Montgomery's CD-release party at Earnestine & Hazel's this Friday, June 25th. He'll be fronting his new band, which includes bassist Maggie Vesey and drummer Angela Horton. Special guests Holly Cole, Okraboy, The Ruffin Brown Band, Melissa Dunn, and Harlan T. Bobo will also perform. The show starts at 8:30 p.m.
Drink up, because the next round is on Stout: The local-band-turned-road-warriors is making a hometown pit stop at Young Avenue Deli this Friday night. "We've had a mad string of gigs," drummer Robert Kamm says, calling from a hotel room in East Tennessee. "For only being in this game for a short while, the accolades are coming fast and furious."
Last spring, the Southern-rock jam band was one of a handful of Memphis groups tapped to play the prestigious South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas. "We already had everything in place with our tour, because we figured we wouldn't get invited," Kamm says. "We got the call for a big gig [at SXSW], playing after the High Times party, but we had to turn it down. Things got a little tense, but they rescheduled us. We stuck to our original plan, played a smaller show in Austin, and then went on to Oklahoma City."
Stout was chosen for the festival before their debut album, On the Rocks, was even recorded. "We didn't have anyone pushing us," Kamm says. "Somebody happened to really like us."
Even before recording On the Rocks at Young Avenue Sound, Kamm, vocalist/guitarist Matthew Oliver, keyboard player/vocalist Craig Schuster, bassist Rory Gardner, and percussionist Tony Walsh decided to devote themselves to the band full-time. They quit their day jobs, hired a manager, and hit the road. "We realized that there's no way to build anything [touring] Thursday to Saturday, so we lowered our living standards and committed ourselves to the band a hundred percent," Kamm explains.
Originally, Kamm handled booking and publicity duties, while the band wrote its own record contract, negotiating $3,000 off their studio fee by painting a room at Young Avenue Sound. Now, Kamm says, "[our manager] J.D. Dehart is the key to the whole operation. He's definitely the sixth member of Stout."
When the conversation shifts to their upcoming gig, Kamm is off and running. "We've got Jack Ashford [from The Funk Brothers] coming out with us," he says. "We really dig his vibe, and he gets a kick out of these white boys trying to lay it out."
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