That’s What He’s Here For

The Delta Blues of Dan Bliss

 

If you ain’t gonna shake it honey, why bring it?

~Dan Bliss

Photo by Steve Newell

There is a kind of music so authentic one can almost hear the peanut shells crunching beneath toes as the waitress slides a plate of Breton shooters and a frosty bottle of lager across the counter of the Louisiana roadhouse.

Dan Bliss’s music hails from this uniquely American musical tradition often called delta blues or acoustic blues. It is the sort of music that Alan Lomax criss-crossed the Mississippi Delta to record, and Bliss delivers it with the wry, spry scampering of fingers and tap of feet.

That’s What I’m Here For is Dan Bliss’s second CD, and the first to feature primarily original material. Absent is the flashy over production and gimmicky dubbing, leaving the listener with just the stripped-down honesty of a man and a guitar.

Seeded with narrative stories and instrumentals, one can hear echoes of Leon Redbone, Django Reinhart, Taj Mahal, and Catfish Keith. There is even the occasional tip-o-the-hat to the countrified blues featured by the Cohen Brothers in their film O' Brother, Where Art Thou?

Bliss is a creative arranger, and That’s What I’m Here For keeps the focus on the rhythms and narrative arcs of its stories. Without that ‘trying too hard-ness’ of a lot of modern releases, Bliss never lets the listener escape the immutable fact that these songs are the blues, pure and simple:

The money’s gone,
the rent is due
your’ lovely girl is walking out on you

Bliss likes to play, and it shows. A gifted finger picker and one of Kansas City’s hardest working musicians, Bliss keeps a grueling schedule of somewhere in the neighborhood of fifteen shows a month (that’s 180 shows a year, for those who are counting!).

While one can find Bliss performing duets with regional names like Rod Fleeman or Tom Hall, or on stage with his trio, the Bluetonium - my favorite way to catch Dan Bliss is solo, seated on stool, feet spread wide, tapping his feet and giving his vintage Gibson L-00 a workout.

…folks comin’ in, wanna have a good time,
they’ve all been working hard all day,
a few of them think that it’s all the same
sayin’ “turn it down buddy, we’re tryin’ to watch the game”
From where they’re sittin’ at the end of the bar,
it’s just another fool singin’ and playin’ guitar

but that’s what I’m here for,
yeah that’s what I’m here for…

~ Dan Bliss

Courtesy of www.danbliss.com

Jettisoning pretension at the door, a short-shorn, sandy-blonde Bliss wears unassuming grey Dockers and a neutral-colored, short-sleeve print shirt. Each performance is a mischievous delight. There is his ornery side-ways smile and just a hint of a nasal drawl infusing each tune with a muddy, crawfish authenticity.

On stage, Bliss usually mixes up his repertoire, incorporating devilishly insightful renditions of classics like "Caravan" and "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" (Ellington), "The Sunny Side Of The Street," "Sleepwalk" (Santos & Johnny), "Work Song" (Cannonball Adderly) or "Purple Haze" (Hendrix). One of the best covers I’ve ever heard was on a wintry, January late-night as Bliss delivered Hoagy Carmichael’s "Stardust" to a packed house at Prospero’s Books. It was simply as much music as can be churned out by one man.

Originally from upstate New York, Bliss has called Kansas City home for over twenty years. He continues to earn recognition, again and again winning competitions at Winfield and at the Kansas State Fiddling and Picking Championships. His first CD, Open for Business was released in 1999 and featured mostly covers sprinkled with a few originals.

That’s What I’m Here For hit the shelves in December 2007. Pick one up for yourself – set your soul free from all the dreary Midwestern ice and snow and point your ears south to where the river is slow and wide…

To order a copy of That’s What I’m Here For or Open for Business or to check out Dan Bliss’s performance schedule, visit www.danbliss.com.

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Dan Bliss will be performing:

February 9, 2008, 10:30 PM, Saturday
Prospero's Bookstore
1800 West 39th Street
Kansas City, MO
816.531.WORD
www.prosperosbookstore.com

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