One of our favourite musicians and one of the hardest working men in showbiz, Dave Gunning, finally returns to The Carleton on Thursday, May 4th. Australian Mark Lang will be opening on the night. Show time is 8 PM and tickets are $22.50 advanced or $25 at the door.
Eleven albums in, Dave Gunning has become a truly masterful songwriter, one who has earned real peer respect from such Canadian folk songwriting legends as Ron Hynes, David Francey, and James Keelaghan. “I grew up listening to people like Ron Hynes,” says Dave. “I look up to them but then it hits me sometimes that I’m their peer and they like my stuff too. It’s a weird headspace, flipping from being a fan to being a peer.”
Gunning’s recording career is now approaching a full two decades in length (his debut album, Lost Tracks, came out in 1996). Along with richly-deserved peer respect, he has also earned a shelf full of music industry awards. That tally now stands at eight East Coast Music Awards and two Canadian Folk Music Awards, plus a 2012 Juno Award nomination in the Roots & Traditional Solo Album of the Year category for his album …a tribute to John Allan Cameron, a compelling homage to another of Dave’s Maritime musical heroes.
His songwriting skill has also been internationally recognized, with earlier tunes scoring victories and high placings in some major international songwriting competitions. As a fervent hockey fan, Gunning was also thrilled to win the CBC’s hotly-contested Hockey Night In Canada Song Quest in 2014 with “A Game Goin’ On,” a co-write with David Francey.
“Gunning is the next big thing in the True North of Song, an artist as compelling, as assured and attentive to every nuance of the writing process, as Lightfoot, Cockburn and Stan Rogers before him.”- Toronto Star
Mark Lang is a celebrated Australian singer/songwriter. A renowned lyricist and storyteller, he has released three critically acclaimed albums making many album of the year lists. Thrilling audiences from the main stages of Australia’s premier festivals including Bluesfest, PortFairy Folk, Splendour In The Grass… Mark was invited by legendary Canadian songwriter Ron Sexsmith on his Australian tour before launching his own immersive solo show at the National Theatre in Melbourne. Mark’s work has received extensive airplay on TripleJ, ABC and US college radio with 7 weeks in Top 100 CMJ charts. This is his Canadian debut.
“Tracks roar with Lang’s lyrical strengths on show” ★★★★ ROLLING STONE