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Reviews (Under Construction)

 


excerpted from - Utah Music Review June - 2015

An Ogden Gold Strike Within the Laws of Biology and Physics – Dan Weldon in Performance

"Dan Weldon is a freaking electrical musical force of nature. And I mean “electric” in any conceivable fashion you wish to consume. The Owl Bar, located in the gorgeously scenic land of Redford’s Sundance Resort, especially and colorfully appreciated during this May Memorial weekend Saturday night, held host tonight to this local legend-in-the-making. Mind you, one had to hear over a lot of suffering noise, chatter, dinner orders, clinking glasses, drumming fingers, and laughter in order to possibly try to consume the music being presented. The Owl Bar is a small and rustic establishment and requires a considerably ascendant drive to get to it. But drive I did, and happily so.

Why? Dan Weldon, that’s why. His guitar playing. His unstoppable smile. His authentic warm charm. That persuasive gravelly voice so easy to overcome. And the music he brings, and has been bringing, to the lucky collective table of live music enthusiasts in this state for so many years now. In short, Ogden gold got displayed in Sundance tonight for those bothering to pay attention. I happily bothered. And it is always nice to strike gold, especially of the electric variety.

Mr. Weldon is a most deceptively simple yet deft musician; there simply is no theoretical artistic danger of fraud being presented here. From what I can gather the man must play close to around 200 shows a year. He’s entirely relentless and ruthlessly deeply passionate in his pursuit of music playing. He’s also a “gear hound” as can be easily evidenced by one look at his unique six-string arsenal onstage. Onstage? This joint doesn’t have one except for the slightly northeast-elevated corner of the room. No matter, Dan uses that interesting deficit to his advantage and immediately connects with his given audience. If you were there and weren’t listening to his performance, then you weren’t actually there at all.

Mr. Weldon is a sublime musician. His guitar work is perfectly infused with a balance of technique and emotion, all of which is complimented by his vocal delivery. He makes the rough sound smooth and the smooth sound rough. Melodically his position is pure, direct, and ample. His music always has positive conviction and soul and yet still hints at a marvelous humorous humanity. He keeps things authentic always. You never feel as though you’re being conned. It’s just the simple relationship of a gifted and seasoned veteran musician passing along the artistic messages of the moment to others. And the message tonight was, “Dig this, folks! And you motherfuckers who weren’t smart enough to drive up here? Well that’s just too bad for you.”

Dan Weldon remains a consummate artist of rareness. How he isn’t being backed by a fiery eight piece band and taking no prisoners at blues festivals worldwide remains a pathetic mystery to me. I certainly wouldn’t recommend him for the clean-shaven or the swank Madison Avenue-types among us. I would, however, recommend him for the stalwart, the courageous, and the slightly but wonderfully dirty among us. Because that really is the only way to uncover this large gold nugget coming from Ogden’s salty dirt."

 

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