Pre-Order now! Orders ship August 24th
Black Hen Music 2018
Red Parlor Records 2017
"If you like your musical heroes to rock out like the jackhammer of a rockabilly saint but also deliver song sonnets from a contemplative place, then David Olney is your man.” ( Acoustic Live! Magazine – New York, New York )
Produced by award-winning singer-songwriter Brock Zeman, this album of 10 new songs reunites David Olney with Red Parlor Records, which released 2007’s acclaimed “One Tough Town” album.
On the cover: “Hercules Battles The TVA” - Detail of original art by Gwil Owen
Produced and engineered by Brock Zeman at The Big Muddy Studios in Carleton Place, Ottawa, Canada. Mixed and mastered by Steve Foley at Audio Valley recording studio, Ottawa, Canada.
The Players: David Olney- vocals, harmony vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica Blair Hogan - electric guitar, bass, nylon string guitar, mandolin Brock Zeman - acoustic guitar, harmony vocals, glockenspiel, pads Dylan Roberts - drums, percussion Kelly Prescott - harmony vocals Michael Ball - fiddle Mike Yates - cello Steve Dawson - dobro Tyler Kealey - piano, accordion, keyboards Wayne Mills - saxophone
Deadbeet Records 2014
Master craftsman, acclaimed singer/songwriter and globe-trotting performer David Olney stacks the deck with his new “When The Deal Goes Down” full-length studio album. Produced by Olney and bluesman Mark Robinson and backed by some of Music City’s most creative players, the collection features Olney’s signature sharp storytelling, colorful narratives and trademark dramatics presented via a dozen tales of roots music mayhem and delight.
"Though he's best known as a masterful wordsmith, Olney [has a] knack for creating THE IDEAL ATMOSPHERE for his GOTHIC-NOIR TUNES.” ~ Acoustic Guitar Magazine
Strictly Music 2014
Live In Holland
Rootsy.nu/Deadbeet Records 2013
Two CD Set CD 1 - "Predicting The Past CD 2 - A David Olney Retrospective 2000-2012
CD 1 contains 16 new recordings…”from the first riff on opener ‘Girl Up On a Hill’, Olney’s in vocally raucous rock ‘n’ roll mode.” ~ Arthur Wood, Maverick Magazine
Featuring Grammy-award winner Dennis Crouch, Fats Kaplin, Jen Gunderman, Paul Burch and Sergio Webb, amongst others.
CD 1 - "Predicting The Past" Produced By Paul Burch
CD 2 - A David Olney Retrospective 2000-2012
Deadbeet Records 2012
This is not a fair world we live in. Deceit, chicanery and backstabbing are as present as beauty and grace. But beauty and grace do exist along with bravery and honesty that makes life worth living. That’s what I believe. I hope these stories in song convey that belief. Peace – David Olney
Produced by Jack Irwin.
Three CD Box Set comprised of:
David Olney presents Film Noir 1. Frank Is Gone 2. Blue Moon Hotel 3. $20 Serenade 4. The Blues Don’t Care 5. Sunset On Sunset Boulevard
The Stone 1. Jerusalem Tomorrow 2. Brays 3. Brains 4. Flesh and Blood 5. Barabbas 6. A Soldier’s Report
Robbery & Murder 1. Go Down Dupree 2. Another Place, Another Time 3. The Banks of the River (Interlude 1) 4. Betty And Dupree 5. My Family Owns This Town 6. The Banks of the River (Interlude 2) 7. Gold Diamond Ring 8. The Banks of the River
Deadbeet Records 2012
Two Love Stories – The story of Betty and Dupree is told from three different angles coming to three different conclusions. But the core of the tale is the diamond ring. It is the key to the romantic negotiating between the two lovers. No ring, no love. The second tale is one of love and treachery, abandonment and murder. We get the story first from Delia’s lover. Next we hear from her husband, and finally, from Delia’s ghost. The course of true love never runs smooth.
Produced by Jack Irwin
Deadbeet Records 2012
Something happened. Back there all those centuries ago. Something not easily believed or easily dismissed. Two thousand years of glory and horror, of love and hate, of beauty and violence have only made those long ago events more murky and more enigmatic. But nothing comes of nothing. Something happened. The Stone is an attempt to address those events. From varying points of view (a con man, a donkey, a murderer and a soldier), a story is told. A picture struggles to emerge. Nothing is proved. Nothing is denied.
Produced by Jack Irwin
Deadbeet Records 2011
“Questions remain. What went wrong? Who tipped off the heat? Where’s Frank? Beano says he’s in L.A. working as a private dick. Well, only a chump would trust anything that weasel Beano has to say. In the meantime, Gracie waits, convinced her Frank will come home. Wherever he is, he better watch his back…” Produced by Jack Irwin
Deadbeat Records 2010
“There are, maybe, 20 interesting people in the world,” says legendary Folk-Blues performer / songwriter, published author & rising YouTube star DAVID OLNEY. And, they all seem to exist somewhere within his music. On his new DUTCHMAN’s CURVE (Deadbeet Records, April 13, 2010) album, David continues to cultivate his own Great American Songbook featuring his multi-dimensional character studies with unparalleled perspective.
That perspective finds David Olney writing songs and prose about the OTHER characters who encounter these ‘interesting people,’ giving us yet another view of the extraordinary to the mundane and why it all matters. From a master painter’s subject (Mister Vermeer), a master painter’s style (Red Tail Hawk) and a famous French singer (Little Sparrow) to a sweet train robbery (Covington Girl) and the largest train disaster in early American history (Train Wreck), Olney is inspired by and finds insight worth sharing about each of these people and events.
Produced by Jack Irwin
Deadbeet Records 2009
“A folksy charm embedded recording, which baseball fans will doubtlessly find engaging and enlightening.” - Maverick Magazine (UK)
Based on a play by Ben Jones (a/k/a Cooter on Dukes of Hazzard), “Ol’ Diz: A Musical Baseball Story” is about legendary Hall-of-Fame baseball pitcher Jay Hanna “Dizzy” Dean and his rollicking journey from barefoot cotton picker to national renown. The music was written by David Olney & John Hadley and features 11 Americana-themed songs about the play’s hero and America’s past time. This album is being offered in May 2009 for purchase as a David Olney Fan Exclusive CD (only 200 copies made) as well as a digital download on iTunes, Amazon and other online digital download retailers.
Video and previews of “Ol’ Diz” online: davidolney.blogspot.com
Deadbeet Records 2008
Norm’s River Road House, the small listening room in West Nashville, TN, has become known for its electrifying music as well as killer live shows from regular performers David Olney & Sergio Webb. The boys are joined by percussionist-producer Jack Irwin on this FIRST-EVER self-released LIVE album recorded earlier this year. The NEW album – “Live At Norm’s River Road House, Volume 1″ – features the trio playing 76 minutes of soul-stunning music as never heard before, along with original artwork designed at Nashville, TN’s historic Hatch Show Print by Ms. Julie Sola.
"One Tough Town" Red Parlor 2007
The album gets off to a ROLLICKING start with a pair of tracks INSPIRED by both musical personalities of Memphis’ legendary Sun Records: ‘Whistle Blow,’ a gritty blues number on which Olney blows harmonica through a Wurlitzer piano speaker, and ‘Sweet Poison,’ a FIERCE rockabilly number propelled by one time Johnny Cash sideman Dave Roe’s slap bass. From there the album takes a turn into an amalgamation of pre-World War II as Olney stitches together BLUES, HILLBILLY and NEW ORLEANS influences. The latter shines through on ‘Who’s the Dummy Now?’ a song in which a ventriloquist is taken to task by his disgruntled dummy. With Olney’s guitar and ukulele backed by tuba, clarinet, trombone, piano and banjo, the track sets the tone for the rest of the album, sounding all the world like a jazzy combo from the 1930s. Tracks such as ‘Oh Yeah (Dead Man’s Shoes),’ ‘Sweet Potato’ and the mysteriously loopy ‘Postcard From Mexico’ display the same type of aesthetic, relying on UNBRIDLED ENERGY and the ensemble’s SENSE OF ADVENTURE.” – Jim McGuinness, Kingsport (TN) Times News
SCR Productions – 2006
Live In Holland
David Olney’s amazing originality as a writer is only equaled by his stunning powers as a performer, and LENORA his fourth and best live-album to date is quite simply, a major event. Recorded over the last two years in several intimate venues in Holland, the new CD captures this most versatile of artists at the height of his abilities. During the 2004 tour, Olney’s was backed-up by Thomm Jutz, and during the 2005 tour by Mark Sergio Webb, two of today’s finest acoustic, and electric lead guitar player in the scene.
Loud House Records 2005
David tells marvelous stories, with characters who cling to the hope of enduring love…saints and charlatans, gypsies and thieves, the ordinary and extraordinary. Here even the birds raising their voices in song reach for something unattainable, but David knows that the reaching is everything.” – Emmylou Harris
SCR Productions 2004
Live in Holland
“The latest in a series of superior live recordings from SCR Productions, Illegal Cargo is a collection of spellbinding performances showcasing Olney at the height of his songwriting and performance powers. Highly recommended.”
Loud House Records 2003
“The Wheel brims with the literate vividness that has inspired critics to compare Olney alternately to an author, painter, playwright and screenwriter…a broad palette of modes, moods and characters that crackle with the immediacy and emotional depth of reality transformed into music.” – Rob Patterson
SCR Productions – 2002
Live in Holland
“I can’t think of any artist who equals his uncanny ability to resurrect the past in song. …even the most flattering comparisons with fellow singer-songwriters of his generation are ultimately misleading. This man is in a league of his own.” – Theo de Jong
Dead Reckoning 2000
Inspired by The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, written in the Middle Ages, Omar’s Blues is a trilogy of song cycles set in biblical times, New England in the 1950s, Paris, the Mississippi Delta and Old Hollywood.
Barbed Wire Records 1995
Live at La Casa, Michigan
“I love this project. I like its attack and its hollowness. It’s honest and it’s rich in proclamation. One man; one guitar, and one pool of white light shining upon the face of a master tunesmith, set as one night, in Detroit’s on-going La Casa Music Series.” – Mark Germino
Rounder / Philo Records 1999
“This is what David Olney has always done — penned amazing songs about sometimes odd, sometimes vicious, sometimes tragic and, above all, always fascinating people, real and imagined. …he doesn’t just sing about them – he inhabits these people…” – Dave Ferman
Rounder / Philo Records 1997
“…a set of David Olney’s songs is like seeing your life pass before your eyes at the End. …Each random scene and feeling is accurate, intense and complete.” – Gordon Gilbreath
Rounder / Philo Records 1995
“Olney continues to expand upon conventional songwriting, stretching the song structures with two-way conversations and stories unfolding from different points of view.” – Michael McCall
SCR Productions 1994
“Olney is one of those rare guys…whose show is simply standing stock-still and singing one outstanding song after another. And he delivers them with a mixture of grace and good humor that places him in the company of the best of the very best of solo performers.” – Dave Ferman
Corazong Records 1992
“David Olney is a masterful storyteller, with a real ability to make the characters in his first-person songs sound believable. It sucks you in. And it’s always the right word. He’s a very exact wordsmith.” – Dave Alvin
Veracity / Roadsongs 1992
“Olney’s gritty, insightful songs are vivid journeys into the souls of some of the most amazingly delineated characters you’re likely to find in contemporary songwriting.” – Henry Koretzky
Rounder / Philo Records 1991
“This is the sort of world David Olney and his guitar give us. Mean people. Lustful people. Vain people. Very, very stupid people. And wonderful, vibrantly alive people.” – Dave Ferman
Rounder Records 1986
“…an uncommonly gifted songwriter. Always reaching for that edge, his lyrics go beyond the requirements of craft…” – Scott Alarik
Rounder Records 1981
David’s only commercial release with his Nashville-based rock and roll band the X-Rays. Featuring Steve Gibson, Tommy Goldsmith, Ken Moore, Bobby Ogdin, John Owen and Rick Rowell.
