(KGMP) Americana singer-songwriter David Luning is set to release his highly anticipated new album Lessons on September 6, 2024, before embarking on a 20 date Southeast tour following his upcoming appearance at the AmericanaFest conference in Nashville. This is Luning's third studio album.
In the years following the release of his sophomore record Restless, things were really starting to ramp up in David's trajectory. His album was met with critical acclaim, and he was touring with acts John Hiatt, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Chris Isaak, Jay Leno, Crystal Bowersox and Donovan Frankenreiter. Then the pandemic hit, and everything came to a sudden halt. As with many people, Luning went inward. For him, this was a time of deep introspection and exploration, both in music and in life. In the music side of exploration, he built himself a modest recording studio at his house and dove deep into the world of synth and electronic music. While life introspection ended up producing songs that were much more autobiographical and sometimes painfully honest. It was during this time that the sparks began for his next album. And as a result, Lessons is the most personal album Luning has recorded yet.
When it came time to record "For some reason, I got it into my head that I wanted to record this next one in a barn, as some of my favorite records ever made were recorded in barns." So, the search for the prefect barn began. "Turns out however, most barns are actually quite noisy. I must have checked out a dozen locations, but too often road noise was inescapable," he explained. Eventually, he got a call from a friend, letting him know about this beautiful recording studio in a barn of his dreams in Petaluma, CA just 30 minutes away from where he grew up.
Damien Paige Lewis (The Wood Brothers, Larkin Poe, and Lizzo) produced/ recorded and mixed the album. "I was referred to him by a friend of mine, and he was perfect for this record," Luning stated. "He was really chill, but incredibly fast, and he had a great ability to bring out the true essence of every song."
The songs on Lessons range from the echoing poignance of "Out of My Head", to the infectious rhythms of "The Way It Goes" and the ethereal strains of "The Moon Looks Cool Tonight." "A lot of these songs derive from a place of introspection, which can be both challenging and therapeutic. I believe many, if not most artists have some dark inner challenges and many of these songs have been a commentary on that."
The chorus for "Lessons" came to him a couple years before he wrote the rest of the song. "I guess I didn't feel ready to write it yet. Finally, in a bumpy period of self-reflection, the song said, 'ok now it's time.' It was one of those rare, wonderful moments that I sat down, and it just spilled out."
On "You Like the Rain," Luning weaves his raw baritone vocals around his circling fingerpicking and gentle strumming, as he delivers this touching love song that reflects on the simple things that draw lovers together. "My girlfriend would get so excited when it rains. It's incredibly endearing. I pretty much hated the rain before I was with her, but I can't help but like it now."
On "The World Goes Around Again" the instrumental bridge carries the song into the sonic stratosphere, conveying the swirling eddies of certainty and confusion we experience in the world. "As I've been getting older, I've been thinking a lot more about life and how the world works... It's a wild realization that no matter what happens, whether people live or die, do right or wrong, the world keeps going. It keeps changing, it keeps turning, it keeps moving. So, it really comes down to your outlook. You can interpret it all as something heavy; like you will never be able to catch up with the world, and tomorrow will just be another struggle. Or you can look at it like every tomorrow is a new opportunity to find beauty."
On the first single, "Down Below", Luning states, "Sometimes there are things in life you regret to the extent you feel like you are a lost cause." "The Way It Goes" is an up-tempo song with crunchy guitars and a piercing lead line that resembles Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. "I wanted it to reflect on what it takes sometimes to get back on your feet and keep going." "Ain't Easy to Love Me" might be the quintessential musician's love song, for it's an airy folk rocker about the difficulties of loving a musician who's gone all the time.
For Lessons Luning sits down at the piano again. "In college and most of my life I've played piano, and yet, for my career I rarely play it. The music that I've written on the piano is and always has been much more instrumental cinematic music. It wasn't until I wanted to be a singer-songwriter that I really picked up the acoustic guitar. So, when I was working on Lessons, I was stoked to sneak a little piano and synth onto the record."
All of the songs on Lessons hold deep personal meaning for David. "I think my perfectionism really came into play when writing these songs. Most of them took quite a while to write and went through various changes and iterations. I really wanted to get it right, to do the songs justice, and I think I did, which makes me very proud of this album."
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