CD release review: Jaydub and Dino’s Hipster Burden

There is no denying it, Jeff Falconer is a thinking-man’s songwriter. House painter by day – and a pretty darn good one – musician by night (which he is also pretty darn good at) Falconer is releasing his sixth CD, the third as Jaydub and Dino. Jaydub is of course Falconer, with Dino being Dennis Cordellos, guitarist with the Jami Jamison Band. (We had a stint playing with Cordellos years back, and Cordellos is one of the most talented lead and rhythm players with whom we’ve ever played.)

Falconer has a unique approach to songwriting. “I call my approach ‘loving satire’ because I am, or have been, guilty of all the human quirks and excesses I lampoon,” said Falconer. “It’s my hope to give each audience a full-spectrum experience, acknowledging our human predicament, but at the same time highlighting our remarkable ability to self-correct by embracing our imperfections and cutting ourselves and each other some slack.”

Friends since their Sonoma Valley High School days – lets just say a few years back – Cordellos and Falconer have been performing musicians in their own acts over the years, with Cordellos spending a long time in the touring band Pacific Coast Highway and Falconer trying his hand in the south, with bands like Seymour Light and the old Glen Ellen act, Maurice Bleu. Both now rooted back in Sonoma, the duo started jamming together, coming up with a style of acoustic music they called “porch groove” – named for the kind of music you might listen to on a neighbor’s porch. It was then they decided to actually record some of their tunes.

Their third effort, titled “Hipster Burden,” picks up where the previous two releases left off, with songs that are easy to listen to, but will make you want to stop the player and rewind, thinking “What did he just say?”

“What’s It Like” describes the feeling one gets when confronted by that person that sees nothing around them but themselves, hence the line “What’s it like to be the only frickin’ person in the world?” The title track laments and talks about the trends of music over the years that many of his contemporaries jumped into – although Falconer wasn’t one of them, sticking to his roots – but the lyrics “I’m walkin’ so much lighter since I laid my hipster burden down” speak volumes. The disc features Cordellos on acoustic slide guitar throughout, and is a welcome addition to the standard leads he lays down. The instrument-only tune “Sugarloaf Strut” is also one of our favorites.

You can see the duo around town regularly, and can pick up the disc on Falconer’s website, along with his other releases, by pointing your browser to jefffalconer.com. Yes, that’s three f’s.