Two talented local musicians have recently dropped new CD releases that offer listeners a wealth of highly listenable material that is at the same time intimate, yet very expansive. Newtown Bee readers who still utilize compact discs can order Darryl Gregory’s Fact from Fiction or Jim Allyn’s Backyards of the Brave from cdbaby.com or download the musical content from iTunes or amazon.com.

While Mr Allyn’s CD and content will be available for purchase on or after September 1, they are available now at Avance Day Spa, 32 Church Hill Road. Mr Gregory’s current and previous releases are available now.

Both local artists are accomplished songwriters, singers, and multi-instrumentalists, contributing heavily to their respective projects.

According to an advance from Mr Gregory, Fact From Fiction is a collection of songs “from inside the middle-aged white guy radio station of my mind.”

“The songs are the type that I like to play and listen to — and thus roll out in an eclectic hodge-podge that seems to make sense to me,” Mr Gregory states. “Hopefully not only me, because I want you to sit and listen along with me. This is the station that you get out on I-80 in the middle of Pennsylvania. Some low-watt college underground station that plays Hawaiian folk songs, Mississippi John Hurt, Waylon and the boys, Springsteen, and a little Satchmo.”

He says the album covers the past, future, and the now in stories that are at once made up, yet hold the truth in plain sight: the fact from the fiction.

Not only a performer and recording artist, Mr Gregory also produces other songwriters in his studio (Blue Cave Studios) and is gifted at finding a “personalized sound” for each of his clients. By day, he teaches middle-schoolers the finer points of playing in a band and orchestra.

He lives with his wife and son in the backwoods of Connecticut.

Mr Gregory can be seen in various musical configurations. He performs on his “big red bass” with Brother Maynard, doing primarily cover tunes from popular acts like Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, REM, Springsteen, Mellencamp, ZZ Top, and others of that genre. He is also half of the acoustic duo The Dirt Road Pickers.

He invites all his Newtown and area friends to hear The Dirt Road Pickers performing at Note Kitchen and Bar in Bethel on September 22, at 8 pm, and at The Abbey in New Milford on September 28, from 7:30 to 10:30 pm.

Something Else Reviews says listeners will find Fact From Fiction, “Boasting an Americana twang but also a rough moral sensibility and a cutting way with an image…,” while Jamie Anderson at indie-music.com raves, “Darryl Gregory is like Bruce Springsteen, with great story, songs, and aptitude for rockers as well as softer ballads.”

A Few Backstories

Reflecting on a couple of the album standouts, Mr Gregory said the tune “Still Life Painter” reflects his own observational style of songwriting.

“It’s a song about just sitting back and observing — being a people watcher,” he said. “You go through your day and some of the people you see all the time and you kind of paint pictures of them in your head. And sometimes it’s just a quick sketch that you intend to revisit and flesh out later.

“But I think there’s a line in there somewhere that goes, ‘...if you get too close, things don’t look all that great.’ So sometimes relationships are best kept at an arm’s distance,” he said.

Mr Gregory said he keeps an “inconsistent journal” that he consults for ideas.

“These are things I’ve done during the day that can be consequential or inconsequential,” he said. “But sometimes going back and re-reading something ignites a creative spark later on. It could even mean something completely different than when it was taken down, depending on how long you wait to read it again.”

He said the song “Dear Hollywood” was an epistolary number created during a group songwriting exercise.

“I don’t even remember writing that song specifically,” Mr Gregory said chuckling. “But I think over the course of time between when I started and got it down on tape, I rewrote the lyrics three or four times because the theme can get really cliche — here’s this actor who’s leaving Hollywood because he’s getting burned out. It’s like a goodbye love letter.”

While he has not touched alcohol in more than 13 years, Mr Gregory said “Can’t Come Drinkin’ With Me,” came to life as he thought about the hardcore bar patrons he has encountered over the years while playing out in bands.

“It’s funny when you play bars and you’re a non-drinker; you really notice the people who drink,” he said. “As the nights wear on, there are people at the bar who just lay their money down and the glass just keeps getting re-filled — the serious drinkers. So this song is from their point of view, and they don’t want any casual drinkers hanging around with them, so if you can just sit there on the bar stool, watch the TV, and shut your mouth, you can’t come drinkin’ with... well, you get the idea!”

Photographic Memories

Mr Allyn said he was moved to name his latest project after discovering an old photo from the summer of 1968, which also inspired the melancholy title track.

“The title track sums up a theme that runs through the whole album: traveling the “backyards” of America, as seen and recalled through different times and places, from World War II (“Priority Gal”) to the coal mines of West Virginia (“Lindytown”) to the delta and southwest (“This Old Guitar”) through the suburbs of Boston and Cleveland in the Vietnam era, the backyard of the White House, and into the present day struggles and hopes across the country (“Hear the People”).

“There is a love song called “Honeybee,” written mostly as I mowed our own backyard, and also a gospel duet with Francine Wheeler called “Train Calling Your Name,” he added. “One of my favorites is the concluding track, “Lighthouse,” which is also a duet with Francine.”

The song is dedicated to the local nonprofit Ben’s Lighthouse and to the memory of the late Benjamin Wheeler, who loved lighthouses and was tragically killed on 12/14.

“Having Francine on the song means more than I can say,” Mr Allyn said of his musical collaborator.

Backyards of the Brave features Sofia Chiarandini, Rick Brodsky, Teah Renzi, Cameo Delia, Nick Werden, Walker Russell, a song written with Richard Neal, plus additional percussion from Dennis Stratford and Jimmy Buck.

Wayne Warnecke mastered the album, and it was co-produced by Robert Miller and Dennis Hrbek. The album is dedicated to the late David Shugarts, who co-wrote “This Old Guitar,” and Mr Allyn’s friend David Delia.

“I am so proud to have David’s daughter, Cameo Delia, on the title track playing flute, and Newtown resident Robert Miller, who provided tremendous technical support and was involved in all the mixes,” he said. “Thanks also to the Connecticut Office of the Arts for their support of this project.”

Tom Snow, musician Jonathan Edwards’ long time bandmate, recently raved about the album on his website, saying, “This album is a treasure. The amount of sonic and compositional variety is really quite incredible. One of the many wonderful attributes of this creation is that it stands up to multiple listenings. There is so much richness on many levels that I find myself hearing new things on successive listenings. ‘Priority Gal,’ ‘Lindytown,’ ‘This Old Guitar,’ and ‘Jazzbo’ are real standouts for me. I love the subtleties that inform the songs, especially [the] chord choices!”

Members of Flagpole Radio Cafe Orchestra appear on Backyards of the Brave, and Mr Allyn’s group is opening for Sam Bush at the Charles Ives Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, September 21.