“It’s this kind of musical range and lyrical brutality that makes an artist—someone who can find,
and then articulate, something beautiful in the wake of destruction.” – Paste Magazine
Accomplished singer and songwriter Dave Simonett, who performs under the pseudonym Dead Man Winter, will perform at Nashville Earth Day Festival on April 22 in support of his sophomore release Furnace (January 27, GNDWIRE/Thirty Tigers). Furnace is a highly revealing and deeply personal offering that reflects a man coming to terms with a painful divorce and the heartbreaking separation from his two children. The new album has received high praise from critics, with Associated Press declaring “You’d have to go back decades to find a more cathartic breakup album — perhaps as far as Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks, the gold standard for such things.” Noisey called Furnace “uplifting and intensely emotional,” and American Songwriter gave it 4/5 stars, saying it’s “a worthy musical addition to the ‘breakup album’ society he is now a member of.”
Widely known as the lead vocalist and songwriter for the acclaimed band Trampled By Turtles, Simonett has touched legions of fans with his thoughtful lyrics and warm tenor. However, the Minnesota native had some recent life-altering experiences to contend with and realized that he had to utilize a completely different vessel to do so. After 14 years of leading the successful progressive bluegrass outfit, Simonett chose to put the band on hold, and for the first time, dedicate an entire album to one topic. Listen to the powerful album opener “This House Is On Fire” via Relix HERE.
While the 10 songs that comprise Furnace are deep, introspective and at times, venomous, this is not at all a morose sounding album (hear “Red Wing Blue Wing” via Rolling Stone Country). Simonett recorded it live to tape at the historic Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, MN, where Nirvana’s In Utero was recorded, and with longtime friends from the Minneapolis rock scene — drummer JT Bates, guitarist Erik Koskinen, bassist Tim Saxhaug, and keyboardist Bryan Nichols.