Accomplished singer-songwriter Dave Whitty discusses his new release Talkin’ Back Fool, crafting a more relatable album and capturing his trademark sound
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Instead of aiming to be the next Paul McCartney, St. John’s singer-songwriter Dave Whitty is more than happy to be the first Dave Whitty.
“It’s one of the things I’ve always taken a lot of pride in,” Whitty tells The Herald. “A compliment people give me all the time is that your songs are so different and so complex, I can’t really put a genre on it, but it sounds like Dave Whitty. Dave Whitty is the genre to your music. I think that’s a good compliment, because that means you have a unique sound and have your own vibe.”
LSPU Hall Recreation
The well-travelled artist is set to release his new studio album Talkin’ Back Fool on June 10th at the hallowed LSPU Hall, and is doing so with a who’s who of special guests.
“We’re pretty much going to recreate the whole album that we did in the studio. We’ll play the album in full and do some songs from the last couple of records as well.”
Joining Whitty on the tour kickoff are accomplished local artists Peter Green, Jason Howard, Aaron Collis, Mark Manning, Jordan Thorne, Valerie Hewson, Curtis Peckham, Anthony Chafe, and Mike Boone.
“It’s a real blessing to call these people my friends and colleagues,” he says. “It’s real nice to be able to call some of these guys, not only in Newfoundland, but across the country. You reach out to them and ask them to perform on your record and they’re all about it. Not only to do that, but also be available to come and they want to partake in your show.”
Mixing Things Up
Whitty’s latest studio effort, his first since his acclaimed self-titled album in 2015, is a nine track collection that punctuates a more mature and refined style for the stalwart of Newfoundland’s music movement, but one aimed at reaching a wider, more relatable demographic.
“To me it feels like more of a refined writing,” he explains. “It’s just one thing that’s different to me than the last record. On the last one I had written the songs over the course of four years. This one I wrote almost all of them in the last year. They’re all kind of brand new songs, and all kind of feeling the same vibe, maybe a little bit more of the genre.
“With the last record I wrote more descriptive songs I found, they were almost puzzles. This one I tried to lay it out there a bit more where the obvious listener, who possibly doesn’t know me, can take something from it. I wanted to make it in a bit simpler terms, with the same style I always had, with catchy hooks. 
There’s nothing too crazy going on. It’s got the Dave Whitty vibe to it, but trying to make it a little more easy listening to the average person.”
‘Listen A Bit More’
As for Talkin’ Back Fool, there’s a funny link which many of us can relate to associated with the title and framework of the album.
“Talkin’ Back Fool, hilariously enough, comes from something your mom might say to ya. Don’t go talkin’ back to me, if you’re being a bit saucy. I found myself in some of those situations where I had caught myself and wished I had not spoke so much, maybe closed my mouth a bit and listened a bit more. There’s always times in your life where you find you need to maybe just hold back and listen to what’s going on. It kind of describes me as a person and gave the album a great theme. That’s kind of where it stems from, maybe learning to shut up a bit more than talk.”
Tickets for Whitty’s album release show are available at the LSPU box office. For more tour dates visit davewhitty.com