Singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Christman recently unveiled his debut album, First Name, Memory, inspired by the ways people remember and reinterpret their memories. The album was recorded over a year and a half in studios proximate to New York City.
Musicians on the album include Christman (vocals, guitars), Fred Pratt (bass), Robbie Kondor (keyboards), Karen Lloyd (backing vocals), and Larry Saltzmann, who played 12-string guitar on “House of Cards.” Tony Conniff, who contributed bass and keyboards on certain tracks, produced and mixed the album.
Before going solo, Christman played with and was the primary songwriter for Delroy Rebop, a band that shared the stage with The Motels, The Rockats, and Blotto. Christman returned to songwriting not long ago, after taking a hiatus to raise his daughter.
Christman explains, “I got back into songwriting about a year before the pandemic hit and that really became an anchor for me in an otherwise rocky world. When I came up for air, I had written a bunch of songs and, since a lot of people were still sticking close to home, I decided that, if I wanted anyone to hear them, I was going to have to get into the studio and start recording them. And that’s what I did.”
In 2021, he composed and performed music for Jonathan Silver’s PBS film Tulsa: The Fire and the Forgotten. At the beginning of 2024, he released his country-rock EP, Afterimage.
Encompassing 11-tracks, First Name, Memory begins with “Alice,” a retro-flavored song drenched in gleaming ‘60’s pop-rock tones, highlighted by glowing harmonies that enhance the tune’s feel-good zest.
Entry points include a personal favorite, “House of Cards,” vaguely reminiscent of R.E.M. because of Christman’s phrasing and tonal inflection. At once wistful and slightly melancholic, the lyrics tell the tale of a relationship that’s falling apart; yet neither partner can bring themselves to end it.
The dreamy, almost ominous, flow of “Little Lies” reveals the self-deception people succumb to in rationalizing remaining in an ill-fated relationship. There’s a wicked sway to the harmonics, a motion underscoring fraudulent thoughts and emotions.
The title track travels on tints of bluesy country surfaces, as Christman’s melodic vocals slide overhead, imbuing the lyrics with the anguish of sadness. Whereas “Already Blue,” another favorite because of its persuasive rhythm and gentle melody, sees the narrator contemplating the eventual failure of his present relationship simply because that’s the pattern of all his relations.
The floating, dreamlike “You’re Still Gone” ties the album off, allowing Christman to reveal the exquisite tenderness of his expressive voice.
First Name, Memory finds Dave Christman exploring impressions of memory, reaching deep into his emotions and laying them out for scrutiny. This is a wondrously evocative collection of songs.
