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Release Date: July 1, 2009 Label: Bobby Long Related Sites: · MySpace: Bobby Long Grade: B

Picture yourself in a dark coffeehouse. Tom Waites is the barista, and Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan are in a back corner taking nips of absinthe when nobody is looking.

The music you hear in this imagined environment is Bobby Long's, the young man on the stage with the mic and acoustic guitar. There's an essence of the protest song in his tunes, a certainty that there's a gravitas in the dense and obtuse lyrics, and you nod affirmation as you sip your coffee (unless Bob and Lenny have passed you some of their nectar) while the notes wash over you.

Here's the thing with Bobby Long's "Dirty Pond Songs" -- they're musical poems, not stories, and the more you try to make sense of what's actually being said, the more your head hurts. At places, the words come together in strings that would leave Tori Amos going, "Huh?"

 

And yet, even (mostly) devoid of literal meaning, the songs nonetheless exude an ethereal timelessness, a sword forged of fog that pierces the precuneus and demands you enjoy it. Little wonder that Long's "Let Me Sign" (not on this release) was picked up as a favorite by "Twilight" actor Robert Pattinson, who performed the song on the film's soundtrack.

In fact, it was the "Twilight" film that made for Long's breakthrough, making it feasible for the artist to release this ten-song collection (recorded in his bedroom in London -- "You can even hear traffic sounds from outside my bedroom window on some of the tracks," Long says) to sell at shows and over the Internet. "Left to Lie" has already held the #1 spot on the iTunes Unsigned chart.

Bobby Long's luck continues with his Dangerous Summer tour of the United States, bouyed by fans of "Twilight" who have found a new musical artist to love.
 

Dangerous Summer Tour Schedule:

August 7—Elbo Room, San Francisco
August 9—Berbati’s Pan, Portland
August 10—El Corazon, Seattle
August 11—Backstage Lounge, Vancouver, BC
August 12—Hi-Dive, Denver
August 13—The Loft, Colorado Springs
August 16—The Firebird, St. Louis
August 17—Neil’s Music Room, Memphis, TN
August 19—3rd & Lindsley, Nashville
August 20—The Earl, Atlanta
August 21—Andrew’s Upstairs, Atlanta
August 23—Dunedin Brewery, Tampa
August 24—One-Eyed Jack's, New Orleans
August 30—Small’s Bar, Detroit
August 31—Double Door, Chicago
September 1—Gastof zur Gemütlichkeit, Minneapolis
September 2—Club Passim, Boston
September 5— L’Hemisphere Gauche, Montreal
September 6—Revival Bar, Toronto
September 9 & 10—Arlene’s Grocery, New York
September 11—Drew Hall, New York
September 12—The Bitter End, New York City

Additional fall dates will be announced shortly.