Dan Bern at the Raccoon Motel -- May 20.
Saturday, May 20, 8 p.m.
Raccoon Motel, 315 East Second Street, Davenport IA
Lauded by NPR for his "witty and insightful songs" totally more than 1,000 to date, Americana singer/songwriter Dan Bern headlines a May 20 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, suggesting why, as NPR continued, many consider him "the next Bob Dylan," adding the the artist is "rapidly becoming the voice of a new generation of folk music."
Born in 1959 and a native of Mt. Vernon, Iowa, Bern has toured with Ani DiFranco, and is known for his sardonic, literary lyrics, range of musical influences, and folk-music style paired with rock instrumentation. Between 1997 and 2003, many of his tours and recordings featured a regular cast of backup musicians which he began calling the International Jewish Banking Conspiracy or IJBC, and featured Bern producer and collaborator Wil Masisak on keyboards, drums, guitar and bass; Eben Grace on guitar and pedal steel; Brian Schey on bass and guitar; Paul Kuhn on cellocaster; Anna Phoebe on electric violin; and drummers Colin "Spanky" Mahoney and Jake Coffin. Although a vein of social and political humor runs through even his earliest work, Bern's songs became more explicitly political during the 2004 presidential election campaign, with songs such as "Bush Must Be Defeated" and "President" highlighting his sometimes surreal political takes. In early 2007, Bern's Breathe won in The 6th Annual Independent Music Awards for Best Folk/Singer-Songwriter Album.
Bern's songwriting skills were employed for the 2007 biopic parody Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, in which he helped write 16 songs for the movie, among them the Dylan-esque "Royal Jelly" and the melodic "(Have You Heard the News) Dewey Cox Died." Bern has continued to write songs for films, including Get Him to the Greek and Father's Day, and his song "One Dance" was also included in Jake Kasdan's first film Zero Effect. The artist also wrote "Swing Set," a duet with Emmylou Harris, for the off Broadway production of Family Week directed by Oscar winner Jonathan Demme, as well as the title song for Demme's documentary Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains.
Dan Bern plays his Davenport engagement on May 20, admission to the 8 p.m. concert is $20, and tickets are available by visiting TheRaccoonMotel.com.
