Jason Dove is not your average rock and roller. You’ll never see him sporting big feathered hair or prancing across the stages of Baltimore clubs like the Ottobar and the Talking Head in pants two sizes too small. You’re more likely to find him stepping out for a night on the town in an almost-but-not-quite-cheesy bright orange grizzly bear sweatshirt and a huge grin on his face. This Savannah, GA flea market find is a fitting image for the man whom Wham City’s Ed Schrader recently compared to cartoon character Yogi Bear, calling him a “cuddly, bedazzled wall of rock.†With an obsession for retro arcade games, Dove’s only tattoo is an Atari symbol. But that doesn’t mean he plunks out electronica on his laptop or fiddles with racks of dials and blinking lights in some kind of alienated dystopian artistic statement. Anything but. Jason Dove’s music is a straight-ahead return to classic rock & roll song-craft and musicality, an uplifting unpretentious rock for a new era of climate change and economic downshift – a revival of music as it’s meant to be.
With his third full-length studio album produced by J. Robbins at the Magpie Cage, Dove has transcended the tragic romantic longing of his last record “We Should Be Together.†In his latest musical adventure, Dove turns his guitar heroics toward soaring coming-of-age anthems with a slew of radio-ready hits such as “Be Free,†“The Whisper,†and “Each and Every One of Us.†His genuine enthusiasm – and complete lack of hipster-era irony – is contagious and timely as he delivers such lines as, “We’re leaving it all in the past / We’re free to roam the world at last / there’s nothing resting on our shoulders / This complicated life is over.†Supported by lush arrangements and intricately-crafted harmonies, Dove’s writing is at times politically and socially conscious without being overly polemic or preachy: “There’s no real news on TV / Because information doesn’t make advertisers any money.†While deftly dismantling the hollowness of modern media and society, Dove throws open doors (and windows) with refreshingly hopeful, sincere and deceptively simple lyrical pronouncements like “Don’t live life in fear,†and “The world is in our own hands / We’ll find the problems and / Finally take command.†Culturally, Dove’s emphasis on freedom and hope couldn’t come at a better time.
Dubbed “indie rock nice-guy†by Michael Byrne, music editor of the Baltimore City Paper, Jason Dove is the cool, magnetic and totally goofy older brother you never had. Having split his time growing up between the Baltimore and Atlanta regions, Dove is a never-ending source of funny stories and hilarious observations. Joy-riding around the Baltimore area with Dove in his box-like Toyota Scion (featured prominently in several episodes of his hilarious internet TV series, The Jason Dove Diaries), you’re likely to be regaled with warm fuzzy memories of suburban locales like the Hunt Valley Mall’s old arcade Spaceport, which Dove haunted in his formative years. Dove’s aesthetic as an artist, in fact, is deeply rooted in nostalgia for a bygone Golden Era America, which he keeps alive through a total immersion in the music and culture of his rock and roll forefathers. Dove is practically a walking, talking Wikipedia entry for the history of groups like the Beach Boys, the Kinks, Zeppelin, Dylan & Springsteen – surpassed only, perhaps, by his vast knowledge of all things video game-related. Dove was once the proprietor of a bar/arcade in Atlanta, GA called ROM, currently holds close to a dozen documented world records in old school and modern video games, and is the proud owner of a full-size stand-up arcade cabinet of the Jungle Hunt game by Taito.
Whether he’s busy beating world records, starring in his own web TV show, releasing monster studio albums or manufacturing his own line of classic 1970’s era solid oak skateboards, Jason Dove is taking his own advice, “Be free / Right now,†he sings. As an artist, he challenges others to do the same and he isn’t taking “no†for an answer.
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Related Event Announcements:
The first ten episodes of the Jason Dove Diaries are being aired at a special event this weekend, Saturday December 13th, 2008 at the Wind-Up Space in Baltimore, MD. 12 West North Ave., Baltimore, Maryland 21202. Cost: FREE. It’s also Jason’s birthday, and we’ll be celebrating that night, so stop on by!
Jason also plays the Ottobar with Baltimore mainstays “Lake Trout” next Friday night, December 19th 2008 (Lake Trout’s CD Release Party) – 2647 Howard Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21218
Cost: 10.00.
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Related Links
- Jason Dove Official Website
- Jason Dove on MySpace
- The Jason Dove Diaries on YouTube
- Free Album Download: “We Should Be Together” (Dove’s 2nd studio album)
- Jason Dove at Center Stage’s Stoop Stories, 2007
- Jason Dove on the Ed Schrader Show, filmed live at the Metro Gallery in Baltimore.
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Related Studio Photos (Unreleased)
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