Caught in the Carousel

David Newbould

The Long Way Home: David Newbould & Friends Live from Austin
Self-released

David Newbould

David Newbould certainly knows his way around a melody. Penning Austin-flavored alt-country rock, Newbould's songwriting fits in a spectrum with Lyle Lovett and Ryan Adams—songs about home, Place, dreams and loneliness, full of rich emotion and sweet harmonies. Newbould came to Austin via New York, but they didn't hold that against him. Now his trajectory is sending him to Nashville, and The Long Way Home was produced as a send-off and a thank you card, with an impressive group of friends joining him onstage in Austin's ME TV Studios. Which friends, you ask? Megan Melara, Cindy Cashdollar, Wendy Colonna, Beth Garner, Danny Levin, Will Taylor, Redd Volkaert, and Steve Zirkel joined Newbould and bandmates Jeff Botta, Naj Conklin, Dave Madden, and Darwin Smith. Those are some damn talented friends bringing a wealth of dimension and talent to good material. And a very full stage.

I had a driveway moment with Long Way Home. Two days before the New Year, full moon overhead, I arrived at a party midway through the hauntingly graceful "Old Friend." I sat in the car through the end of the song, enfolded in the melody and the darkness and bubble of peace in my rapidly cooling car. Newbould is not a smooth crooner, but when all the right elements are together, there's alchemy. Highlights include the hymnal "Dakota" ("We had our chance, our one chance—didn't win, but we didn't fail"); the haunting "Old Friend," "Something to Lose," and "Love in Your Heart"; the up-tempo "Nobody Loves Me Like You Do," which has guest solos by Cashdollar and Volkaert; "It Can Always Be Worse" ("You can stay all night if you're lonely"); and "Goldmines" ("We curse the sky while we aim for the moon").

The Long Way Home includes both a CD and DVD from the show. The CD includes three previously unreleased songs: "It Can Always Be Worse," "Old Friend," and "Come What May." The DVD includes the film from the show, with three songs that didn't make it onto the CD: "Salvation," "Soul Is Inflamed," and "Lost & Found." There are a handful of bonus commentary segments and a video for "See You On The Other Side" produced by Steve Miller that reminded me of something out of Spinal Tap.

—Lyn Dunagan