Here’s a track from NYC-based songwriter David Bronson. It’s “Songbird,” the lead-off track and first single from his upcoming album Questions (1/13/2015, Big Arc Records.)
The song opens with some impressive vocal aahs by Robin Clark. Jangly strums underly a sense of searching anticipation. The song builds into a medley of choral voices and then rolls into a show tune-like bridge.
Bronson’s solid songwriting is evidenced here with a wonderful hook, illuminating the role of the Songbird. “She is just singing, she is not asking why.” He clearly delivers that sense of searching for a purpose, and then just keeping on track.
Bronson shares, “There’s something about starting off the album with a voice other than mine that I really like. You would only do that if it’s something special, and you’re not going to get more special than Robin Clark.”
Besides being one third of the immortal backgrounds on David Bowie’s landmark “plastic soul” album Young Americans, Clark has lent her talents to recordings and performances by Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Al Green, Bruce Springsteen, and Beyonce, to name a few.
Following up his double-album epic The Long Lost Story, Bronson’s Questions also features Clark’s husband, Carlos Alomar. In addition to more than twenty-five years on Bowie’s most commercially and critically adored work (including co-writing“Fame” with Bowie and John Lennon), Alomar can be heard on records by Iggy Pop, Paul McCartney, and Alicia Keys, among many more.
As it was with The Long Lost Story, production for Questions was handled once again by Lou Reed producer Godfrey Diamond, who is also the man that turned the Alomars on to Bronson’s work. “When I mentioned Young Americans to Godfrey, I didn’t actually expect him to bring in the actual singers from the record!,” Bronson exclaims.
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In the two years since anyone first heard anything of David Bronson, he's established a national touring regimen and growing fan base both in the U.S. and abroad, performed at some of the most highly regarded indie venues, music programs and festivals in North America, released an abnormally large catalogue of artistically-driven and critically lauded music videos, and been hailed by hundreds of music writers and publications both in the US and across Europe as one of the most heartfelt and emotionally raw new artists in music.
But the heart of Bronson’s endeavor has always been the songs and the albums. Questions reaches new levels of artistic certainty and songwriting, with melodies and lyrics that are as thought provoking and penetrating as they are immediately memorable.
Laura B. Whitmore is a music industry marketing veteran, music journalist and editor, writing for Parade.com,Guitar World, and others. She has interviewed hundreds of musicians and hosts the She Rocks Podcast. As the founder of the Women’s International Music Network, she advocates for women in the music industry and produces the annual She Rocks Awards. She is the Senior Vice President of Marketing for Positive Grid, making the world safe for guitar exploration everywhere! A guitarist and singer/songwriter, Laura is currently co-writing an album of pop songs that empower and energize girls.
