Dan Reading

Acoustic Soup

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Blues outside the box

tracks

: 1 I'm A Blues Man
: 2 Wild Thing
: 3 Uncle
: 4 B.B. King Medley
: 5 Uncle (acoustic)
: 6 12 Oz. Curls
: 7 Lonely Life

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USA: North Carolina

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Dan Reading is an exciting new blues artist from Southern Maryland currently residing in Florida. He has spent the last 12 years of his life polishing his art and making honest blues music. While living in Nashville he worked on his commercial songwriting skills and decided that blues was where his heart was. Dan started out playing drums, eventually picking up the guitar and never putting it down. On all of Dan's studio recordings he plays the drums, the guitar, and does all the vocal work. Dan writes all the lyrics and 95% of the music as well. Dan blends his humor and personality into as much of his music as possible.

Acoustic Soup is a collection of songs both covers and originals. Some of Dan's favorite songs from artists like ZZ Hill and BB King, as well as a blues version of Tone Loc's classic "Wild Thing" are all mixed into the Acoustic Soup. Dan's covers are always extremely refreshing and always come with his own personal stamp firmly placed on top! Original acoustic songs like "Uncle" and "Lonely Life" show a side of Dan's music that you may not have heard before. Round out the CD with one of Dan's specialties...a song with his unique brand of humor..."12 Oz. Curls." Mix it all up and the soup is ready ta eat!

If the "Hambone Way" CD is the only thing you've been exposed to....prepare yourself. Dan's branching out and growing in all directions!! Don't think this is an all acoustic album either...it's not!! Dan wrote all the songs on his acoustic and plays solo acoustic shows. He wanted to record a CD that would hold up and maintain the acoustic integrity of his solo performances...while at the same time crankin up his strat, playing some mean grooves on the drums, and bringin in some amazing musicians to help his cause even more!! This CD has 2 acoustic songs...the rest is Dan Reading as you know and love him, ONLY BETTER!!! Thus the concept of Acoustic Soup!!! Taste it for yourself.....

Read What Mary4music.com said about Acoustic Soup -

I was so impressed with HAMBONE WAY, the first CD by DAN READING that I personally told him that I thought it might be a tough CD to follow up with other releases. Well, I am sitting here right now listening to DAN'S latest release ACOUSTIC SOUP and it seems that maybe I was wrong and underestimated this young mans talent.

One easily noticeable difference between the two CD's is that where HAMBONE WAY was mostly originals, ACOUSTIC SOUP is mostly covers. However, with his clever style of play and his unique, bordering on bizarre interpretation, even DAN makes covers sound original. His vocals and the way he delivers a song seem to be a blend of two of my early influences into the the blues - DAVID BROMBERG and BUZZY LINHART. I am sure that he is way too young to even know who those men are, but as I sit here listening to ACOUSTIC SOUP, DAN READING has certainly brought those names to mind.

Again, on ACOUSTIC SOUP, DAN READING does all the vocals, plays the drums, the lead and rhythm guitar and provides auxiliary percussion. Joining him musically are RONNIE SMITH on keys, GENE QUAID on bass and MIKE STACEY on slide guitar.

DAN READING'S sense of humor again shines on this CD especially on 'WILD THING' and 'TWELVE OUNCE CURLS' an obvious follow up the hilarious 'BEER GOGGLES' which appeared on his last CD.

If you'd like to get a copy of this CD, go to http://www.danblues.com/ and tell DAN that the BLEWZZMAN said to give you a package deal on both of his CD'S.

Read what the Missouri Blues Society said about Acoustic Soup......

Although this CD is entitled Acoustic Soup you should know there is some electric mixed in, (just in case you are a purest). As the first track suggests, Dan is a blues man, but you will hear a lot more than blues here. This CD ranges from I'm A Blues Man to Wild Thing (remember Tone Loc?), to a real fine & smooth number Uncle. Dan seems to be influenced by many styles and they all come out in his music. From Blues to Funk, R&B, Jazz and even some newer "today" sounds . You get serious music with serious lyrics, but also some humorous lines on 12 Ounce Curls.

As always with Dan's music you get some surprises as you listen. I think Dan may be the first to do an acoustic version of Tone Loc's Wild Thing, I must say he did a great job with it. You normally wouldn't think of funky and acoustic together but it works. Blues Man has a big sound, it's got a real modern feel. This song has lyrics that echo old blues lines, yet it has music that is fresh. Uncle really impressed me, it's not even "my kind of music" (blues), but I like it, it's a great song with a smooth sound. Uncle should get some air play on FM commercial radio. The BB King Medley is a jazzy song with a nice sound, lots of good guitar work on this one, it's a nice tribute to the king of the blues. You get a good example of Dan's writing on Lonely Life, a song with real meaning and a message, well done lyrics with only guitar for accompaniment, real nice. There is also a second mix of Uncle, it's the same fine song with a more basic and raw acoustic sound.

As always with Dan's music, every track is a surprise. You will hear something unique and different with each track. Dan writes and plays well, he is also able to play songs written by others in his own style, and makes them his own. Board with the usual? Give Dan a spin.

Chris Puyear - moblues.org

Read what Indie-Music.com said about Acoustic Soup:

By Jennifer Layton

Straight out of my hometown comes a 20-something white boy who belts out the blues with both respect for the greats and his own strong dose of humor. When he's singing with BB King-like intensity about working out at the gym, he's hilarious. When he's singing quiet, heartfelt acoustic blues/rock songs about life getting the best of him, he can make a grown man cry.

While Reading is quite impressive on both percussion and guitar, his voice is what steals the show. Growling, sexy, funky. Tossing off the occasional laugh, groan, and James Brown-style exclamation until you want to just hose the boy down.

And it's all done with a sly smile. The proof is in the second track, which had me wondering where I'd heard this song before, before I suddenly realized I was listening to an old-school blues version of Tone-Loc's "Wild Thing." I got a huge kick out of that one. I think Tone-Loc would too.

Read What Blues on Stage said about Acoustic Soup -

Information about Dan Reading seems fairly hard to come by. Although his latest album, "Acoustic Soup" was recorded in Waldorf, MD, it appears that he currently resides in North Carolina. The album reflects Reading's penchant for listening to all kinds of music, with shades of soul, funk and pop being the most readily identifiable influences.

The album opens with a cover of ZZ Hill's "I'm A Blues Man." The combination of Reading's guitar and Ronnie Smith's fine work on keyboards add a nicely understated funky New Orleans flavor to the tune. Reading has a pretty good voice too, not quite, but almost blue eyed soul. The funky theme is maintained for the cover of Tone Loc's "Wild Thing."

"Uncle," the first of three originals, opens with some simple acoustic chording from Reading. When the band join in, there's an almost pop/soul groove to the tune. The immediate comparison that came to mind was early Wet Wet Wet, then Paul Weller (in one of his more soulful moods), and finally Train. The song reappears as an acoustic version, which is pretty much the same, only the band never jump in.

The "BB King Medley" combines three songs closely associated with the great man: "Every Day I Have The Blues," "Rock Me Baby," and "The Thrill Is Gone." Rather than try to copy King's style and arrangements, though, Reading puts his own slant on the tunes, in a style reminiscent of the highly rated Aussie blues guitarist Geoff Achison.

Reading and Smith slip back into funky mode for "12 Ounce Curls" a paean to the various schemes for dieting and working out. The album then closes out nicely with Reading back in Paul Wellerish mode, for "Lonely Life (Acoustic Mix)"

"Acoustic Soup" is pretty solid stuff (no pun intended!). Clocking in at a shade over 30 minutes (including two versions of "Uncle") it will be considered by many as half an album, rather than a full album. There is nothing particularly outstanding about "Acoustic Soup," but nothing particularly bad about it either. What there is, however, is well played and sung.

- Gordon Baxter mnblues.com

Read what people are saying about Dan Reading:

"You got some funky ass groovalistic thangs goin' on! Quite refreshing, especially with your humor and white boy cracks!" - Blues Sensation Hamilton Loomis

"Here's what impressed me most about Dan Reading after I listened to Hambone Way. He's real. He's one of us. His songs don't need flashy adjectives to convince you. They're the kind of songs you make up in your own head but never get around to writing down. They're the kind of songs that don't need a sales pitch - they just need your ears. After your first listen, you know that Dan's the kind of guy you'd meet in a bar and immediately connect with.

Another thing that has impressed me is how he's taken the personal time to interact with listeners on the Whole Wheat Radio webcast. It's a rare musician who takes time to chat with an audience that isn't physically in the same room. But it's that kind of approachability, that kind of 'dirt under the fingernails' attitude that let's listeners really connect with Dan and the stories he tells in his songs. Hambone is more than just another great blues CD ... it has a real guy - Dan Reading - inside."

Jim Kloss
Whole Wheat Radio

"Dan is a great talent that has recently moved to NC. His approach to the blues is sometimes traditional, sometimes modern but always uniquely Dan. His CD, Hambone Way is a collection of well written, well sung songs that draw from a deep well of emotions. Easily the best blues CD of 2002, Dan Reading is a force in the Blues today and we can expect more exciting things from Dan in the future." --

Carolinamusic.net

reviews

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So good I ordered another one!
author: Rachel Krech
This is the best Dan Reading cd yet. It can be listened to over and over again. I have thoroughly enjoyed my cd and feel it was worth the money spent; so much I bought another one to give as a gift.
HE'S GOOD, REALLY GOOD
author: WITHAY
I JUST LIKE THE SOUND

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