D.Gross
Welcome Home
self-released
The weeks before winter officially begins are not Maine’s best look. It’s dark, cold and sparse. The leaves are off the trees but snow hasn’t yet blanketed the brown grass. It’s a time when some of us Mainers daydream of faraway places where the sun is shining, the sand is warm, and only the tropical drinks are ice cold.
Portland singer-songwriter, guitarist and sax player Dana Gross (who performs as D.Gross) has released the perfect soundtrack to this daydream. Welcome Home, his fourth full-length as a solo artist (he’s also made music with the “Cosmic Americana” band Los Federales), was released in August and it’s awash in warm sounds, a welcoming mix of reggae and jam rock defined by rhythmic guitar riffs, bright horns, and lyrics full of imagery that tells stories.
“Breath & Bone,” the third track, has it all: call-and-response guitar licks, rolling percussion, and brass weaving in and out of the mix. “You will arrive / just look how we’ve grown,” Gross sings. “The road’s just like that river / till we’re only breath and bone.” The supporting cast on these songs includes vocalists Leslie Allen (Dead End Armory) and Angelikah Fahray, guitarists Chris Grigsby and Duane Edwards (of Los Federales), El Malo’s Ray Sapirstein on coronet and “flugabone,” and Federale percussionist Carson Lynch, among others, resulting in a rich, layered sound recorded and mixed by Todd Hutchisen (Crystal Canyon) at his Acadia Rercording Company studio in Bayside.
“Here & Gone” is the lone exception to the reggae/jam blueprint. It’s an acoustic number with some light, bluesy guitar plucking and D.Gross’ easygoing vocals. Tucked into the back end of the record, it provides a pleasant break before we wash out to sea on the island-flavored “Symmetry” and the dub version of the same that closes this most welcome release.
For music and more info, visit dgrossmusic.com.
