Dana FuchsSongs From The RoadReleased 11/11/2014 on Ruf RecordsThe road has led Dana Fuchs everywhere. But when it came to choosing alocation for Songs From The Road, it had to be New York. The singer and thecity have history.

Almost two decades have passed since Dana left her homein rural Florida and beat a path to the Big Apple. Stepping onto the meanstreets of the Lower East Side aged 19, she was an unknown singer with avoice and a dream, ready to slug it out on the city’s bearpit jam-circuit.

Since then, New York has been the backdrop to Dana’s meteoric rise.There were the early buzz-sets in the city’s late-night sweatboxes. The off-Broadway musical Love, Janis, which saw the multi-talented performer playthe iconic Janis Joplin.

Followed by the endless shows and sessions all acrosstown. No wonder, then, that for Songs From The Road, the Highline Ballroomon West 16th Street was the perfect fit – and the singer was received like alocal hero.

Released in 2014 on Ruf Records, Songs From The Road is the latest inthe German label’s famous series of live albums, with Dana following in thehallowed footsteps of legends including Luther Allison, Jeff Healey and theRoyal Southern Brotherhood.

As ever, the Songs From The Road concept isn’tabout overdubs, Auto-Tune or opulent production, but the honest bottling ofthe two-way energy that only occurs when great artists go nose-to-nose withtheir fans.

It’s hard to imagine a performer who deserves the treatment morethan Dana: a vocalist who means every note, every night.A live show by the Dana Fuchs Band is an assault on all the senses. Assuch, comprised in Songs From The Road’s two-disc pack, you’ll find an audioCD capturing the soul power of that classic set on March 14th, 2014, plus aDVD, directed by Kevin Mackall.

Prowling the stage, pouring her heart intothe microphone and owning every song on the setlist, you won’t question thewisdom of the UK’s Classic Rock Magazine, who famously declared Dana’sonce-in-a-generation voice as “juke-joint dirty and illicit, evoking Janis Joplin,Mick Jagger and a cigarette butt bobbing in a glass of bourbon…”You won’t take your eyes/ears off her, but Songs From The Road is farfrom a one-woman show.

At the Highline Ballroom, Dana’s performance wastaken to even greater heights by her stellar cast of players. On guitar andbacking vocals, give a big hand to long-time wingman and co-songwriter, JonDiamond: the former session ace who gave the singer an engine-room shortlyafter her arrival in New York.

Matt Beck (guitars), Jack Daley (bass), PeteLevin (keys) and Joe Daley (drums) provide the thrilling musical canvass,while the so-called Screaming Sirens (aka. Elaine Caswell, Nicki Richards andBette Sussman) dovetail with Dana’s lead vocal to create a wall of sound thatrattles your speakers.

Yet it’s the songs that are the true stars on the night. By this point, threestudio albums into their writing partnership, Dana and Jon have amassed asolid-gold back catalogue, and Songs From The Road mines some of their verybest nuggets.

Long-term fans will be delighted to get reacquainted with TellMe I’m Not Drinking and Sad Salvation: formative songs that date back to theDana Fuchs’ Band’s 2003 debut album, Lonely For A Lifetime.

Film nuts whocaught Dana’s feted turn as Sadie in Julie Taymor’s highly acclaimed Beatlesmovie, Across The Universe, will adore the closing cover of Don’t Let Me Down.Those who came onboard with 2011’s Love To Beg, meanwhile, will bethrilled to find cuts from that album including Set It On Fire, Summersong anda cover of Otis Redding’s I’ve Been Loving You Too Long.

And of course, theHighline setlist had to have a healthy smattering from 2013’s Bliss Avenue: thecareer-best third album that Dana once noted “really purged my soul in astarker, more naked way, both lyrically and musically”.

You won’t disputethat after hearing the band’s powerhouse live readings of those classic songs,which include Livin’ On Sunday, Handful Too Many, So Hard To Move andVagabond Wind.Since the noisy birth of rock ‘n’ roll, New York has hosted hundreds ofwere-you-there concerts by a roll-call of favourite sons, from The Ramones atCBGBs to The Velvet Underground at The Factory.

Now, with Songs From TheRoad, Dana Fuchs has chalked up another entry in the NYC annals and stakedher claim as the city’s most exciting adopted daughter. So start spreading thenews. You’ll want to be a part of it…-Henry YatesClassic Rock MagazineExternal Links:http://www.

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