Rome's Featured Artist
Dave Cantrell
- Dave's current musical projects include performing as a solo artist and as vocalist/guitarist in CPR, a Contemporary Christian rock band.
- You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive
- They Don't Make Country Music Like They Used To
- Go Rest High On That Mountain
- You Don't Know
- Aragon Mill
Dave Cantrell's Music
Montage of Songs
Dave lives in Wilmington, Ohio, but his music is borne from the music-rich area of Sandy Hook/Paintsville, KY. Dave's current musical projects include performing as a solo artist and as vocalist/guitarist in CPR, a Contemporary Christian rock band.
Dave's first CD project at Rome is entitled Take Me Back. The CD was tracked, mixed, mastered, and duplicated in its entirety at Rome in 2003. It's a distinctive recording, yet flavored by the early "brothers" guitar/mandolin/vocal duet recordings of artists such as the Monroe Brothers and the Louvin Brothers. Take Me Back features Dave's beautiful, unique vocals, as well as Dave on guitar and bass, and his friend, Steve Ison, on mandolin.
Here are some of Dave's comments about his five original songs on the album…
- "Young Like You Again" is a gospel song that speaks of how we age and get stuck in our own ways, but that God does not.
- "They Don't Make Country Music Like They Used To" laments the state of modern country, with a brief mention of early country icons.
- "Year Of 35" is a song of my parents' birth year, upbringing, love of the times, without any desire to repeat them.
- "You Don't Know" is a dark little song with spiritual connotations.
- "Faraway Land" is a Celtic-type gospel song in which the wanderer finds the way.
Longtime Rome engineer Dean Inboden tracked and mixed Dave's album on 2-inch 24-track analog tape and mastered it digitally. It was Dave's eye for detail and sense of history and Rome's ability to accommodate it that allowed Dave to record this album in a "classic bluegrass" fashion. Dean used a vintage Neumann U-47 tube mic and Tectronics LA2A tube compressor for vocals, AKG-451s for guitars, and an ElectroVoice PL20 for mandolin. To further reflect traditional bluegrass recording, the track "How Mountain Girls Can Love" was recorded with a single vintage RCA 77DX, in a live take, as Dave says, "Like they used to do it."
Dave's work has received national and international notice. Bluegrass Unlimited in February, 2004, called Take Me Back "a prime example of musical artistry that will bolster the rising star of Dave Cantrell."
Fred Bartenstein, bluegrass historian and DJ whose program is carried on WYSO and WBZI in Ohio, stated "Dave Cantrell has an excellent voice, writes interesting songs, and has achieved an excellent sounding recording."
Dave's work has also received positive nods on bluegrassworks.com and on the Slovakian website, bluegrass.sk/blueweb. If you visit the Slovakian site, be sure to click the American flag in order to read the English translation of their review.
For booking information, you can contact Dave at PO Box 14, Wilmington, OH, 45177, home (937) 584-4924 or cell (937) 527-1161, or email . Also check out his website at http://www.myspace.com/davecantrell or http://www.cdbaby.com/davecantrell