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Daren Hess not clowning around on solo debut
For the past 11 years, Daren Hess has played drums for James McMurtry, but it was former Faces bassist Ronnie Lane, living in Austin in the ’80s, who helped establish Hess as one of the more musical drummers in town. Lane tapped a relatively green Hess to play in his band in 1987. Dan Stuart of Green On Red heard Hess play with Lane at the Continental one night and recruited him for a European tour and Hess, nicknamed “Clownie” by his former Loose Diamonds bandmates, has been steadily working ever since.
It’s fitting that Clownie, Hess’ singing alterego, ends his first solo album with Lane’s “April Fool.” His voice is unsteady at times, but Hess taps into the essence of the song’s nostalgic gauze. There’s a daydreamy quality to most of the layered songs on “What’s Left To Do?”, as Hess comes off as the disenfranchised son of a Beach Boy.
Though Clownie is on a mission of expression, this is not the usual self-indulgent sideman solo project, but more of a band record, with Jon Dee Graham’s screaming guitar leading the way. A former member of Poi Dog Pondering and the Silos, Hess pulls from past associations to collaborate with Bruce Hughes, Scrappy Jud Newcomb, JD Foster, Carey Bowman and more to make a record that sounds like it cost more than it probably did.
If you want to sample a couple songs, start with the title track in the third slot and let it go from there.
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