Pousette Dart Band What Can I Say

It's been four and a half decades since Jon Pousette-Dart caught the attention of Boston-based music promoter Don Law while playing at the Chicken Box in Nantucket.

Law convinced the native New Yorker to move to Boston, became his manager, and in short order, singer-guitarist Pousette-Dart led a duo, then a trio, then a whole band. During the 1970s, the Pousette-Dart Band released four albums of harmony-filled, country-tinged folk-rock, and got plenty of radio play with songs including "Amnesia," "What Can I Say," and "Freezing Hot."

They toured relentlessly, and Pousette-Dart continued that practice after the band called it quits in the early-'80s. He'd still been at it, sometimes as a solo acoustic act, often dueting with singer-guitarist Jim Chapdelaine, until the pandemic put a stop to live concerts.

But he returns, in band format, to The Center for Arts in Natick on Aug. 27, with Chapdelaine, Eric Parker on drums, and Steve Roues on bass, for an evening of new and old, acoustic and electric music. The next night, Aug. 28, they're at the Narrows Center in Fall River

He credits some of his early tastes in music to his older sister's fondness for bringing home all sorts of records.

"She used to collect singles," said Pousette-Dart by phone from his home in New York's Hudson Valley. "First, she had Ricky Nelson and Elvis Presley, then she started getting blues stuff – some John Hammond, Muddy Waters. As soon as I started hearing that, and learning to play guitar by listening to it, the world kind of opened up for me."

He remembers watching the Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

"I think for everybody of my generation, a bell went off when they hit with 'I Want to Hold Your Hand'," he said. "And when Jimi Hendrix started the Experience, that was another wake-up moment; we realized that he was light years ahead of the rest of us. I ended up falling in love with the whole melting pot of music where rhythm and blues meets rock 'n' roll meets folk."

At the start of his performing career, and throughout the life of the band, Pousette-Dart was doing most of the songwriting himself, and the Capitol albums were recorded in Nashville, a place where he felt comfortable being around so many music people, and where he eventually began collaborating on songs.

"In the early-'90s the Asylum label asked me to come down there," he said. "So, I went and did a whole bunch of writing for them. But we didn't do a deal, and I kept all the songs, then put them out myself. But through that I met a tremendous number of really talented writers. I've written there with Darrell Scott, Gary Nicholson, Fred Knobloch, a whole slew of people. But I haven't been able to get down there much recently, so I've come back to writing on my own."

Though he hasn't made an album since "Talk" in 2015, the writing continues. But with so many changes in the way music makes its way into the market these days, he's more interested in putting out singles as opposed to albums.

"During the pandemic break, I've released three or four songs and videos," he said. "A recent one was 'Bound Away.' "

It's wry and insightful song about what it's like to constantly be on tour, as the band was throughout the '70s. But it's not one of his own; it's a cover of a song by the multi-genre (but mostly rock) band Cake.

"John Troy, my original bass player, sent it to me," recalled Pousette-Dart. "He said, 'PD, this was us on the road in the '70s. You should do this song.' So, we did, and it was like paying homage to exactly what our lives were back then. It's sort of a stream of consciousness about the road, where you're going from one place to another and you don't even know where you are. It's an observation of the life of a musician."

There's also a batch of his own songs, many of them not quite completed.

"The more you are a writer, the more critical you get of what you do and what you don't do," he explained. "I'm pretty critical of just throwing stuff out there until it really meets the measure. There are some, but I'm pretty particular about what I want to do and say because of the nature of where we are in today's world."

For the TCAN show, the band will be playing some deep cuts as well some old standby favorites.

"We'll be going all the way down the line," he said. "The show will have pieces from almost all of the early albums, then we go into the newer music. It spans a pretty wide swath all the way through, and we definitely pay homage to the songs people are familiar with from that period."

Of course, there will also be those harmonies.

"Jim and Steve sing," he said. "It's not the same blend we had when Troy was with us. We have great harmonies now but it's just a different flavor than the original band."

Ed Symkus can be reached at esymkus@rcn.com.

The Pousette-Dart Band

WHEN: 8 p.m. Aug. 27

WHERE: The Center for Arts in Natick, 14 Summer St.

TICKETS: $30 member, $35 nonmembers. Tickets from the postponed June 4 show will be honored.

INFO: 508-647-0097; natickarts.org

The Pousette-Dart Band

WHEN: 8 p.m. Aug. 28

WHERE: Narrows Center for the Arts, 18 Anawan St., Fall River

TICKETS: $31 advance, $35 day of

INFO: 508-324-1926; narrowscenter.org

Pousette Dart Band What Can I Say

Source: https://www.metrowestdailynews.com/story/entertainment/music/2021/08/17/jon-pousette-dart-band-still-road-tcan-aug-27/5484948001/

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