Bands we love: David Luning

David Luning, photo by Will Bucquoy

Back in April, the Mystic Theatre hosted a special music video shoot for David Luning, one of their local regulars for setting the opening tone for headlining concerts with his organic Americana musical acts. Performing “Whiskey Bottle”, he invited anyone who had ever heard his music to come and sing along for a free, all ages concert.

It’s just one of the ways Luning has gone all out to market his music and get the word out that he’s the semi-new kid in town, and isn’t going anywhere. As a result, he’s won numerous awards for “Best Song” and “Best Performance”, is often nominated in local music and songwriters competitions, and is booked out for many large performances – including the Rivertown Revival on July 21st, The Woodie Guthrie Tribute Celebration on July 29, and Earle Fest coming up September 22nd. And when he’s not in the spotlight, he’s known to perform private concerts for folks and all their friends right in their own living room.

A pure entertainer with a voice you can hang your hat on, many of Luning’s songs hold inside jokes to illicit more than a few chuckles. ‘Whiskey Bottle’ sings of a dude who finds solace in the bottom of the bottle after the ladies see him as a guy to leave, ‘A Little Bit Bad’ is of down and out animals (think snakes, snails, lions, etc) who’ve run out of luck, and ‘Rocky Rock Bottom’ is about when….things just go bad.

Luning will give you a song you can hold your drink up to.  And then he does something sweet and tender like this, a cover of Bon Iver’s ‘Stacks’ with Brodie Jenkins in their duo Ghost and Gale (with frogs on harmony, almost as if it were planned).

For more information on performance schedule or music downloads, visit davidluning.com.

Band: David Luning
Band Members:  When not performing solo, David Luning plays with the David Luning Band, consisting of Linden Reed (drums), Dave Sampson (lead guitar, slide, lap steel, mandolin), and Ben Dubin (bass, harmoninca, vocal harmonies).  Other musicians he plays with are Terry Ann Gillette (violins), Andy Tester (bass, harmony), amd Zac Sumner (bass).  He is also a part of Ghost and Gale, a duo with Brodie Jenkins.
Home Stomping Grounds: Forestville, CA
Self Described Style: Modern Americana
Albums + Release Dates:
- ‘Northern California’, All songs written, performed, and produced by David Luning; recorded at Shack Records, April 2009.
- ‘So It Goes’, All songs cowritten and performed by David Luning and Brodie Jenkins; recorded and produced at Shack Records, August 2009.
- ‘Mother’s On Fire EP’, All songs written by Your Name in Lights (David Luning, Adam Rosenthal, Mike Godbe, Peter Lushington, Josh Renkow, & Wade Nielsen), recorded at Grizzly Studios, 2005.
Band Website: davidluning.com
Facebook Page: facebook.com/davidmluning
Regular Gigs: See Luning’s online calendar at davidluning.com