T
he lesson[s] here: You can go home
again…Things are indeed better
the second time around…Some
people listen to the band after all.
Before there was a television show
called The X Factor, it was a term used by
those in the entertainment industry to describe an artist that had that "thing" – that
special, noteworthy talent or spark of electricity that draws people to them. It’s nearly
impossible to describe or quantify. The original Damnwells were one of those artists.
Anyone who may have heard, seen, or
been a fan of the band from 2007 through
the present hasn’t had the privilege of
knowing the magic of the original foursome
that formed in Brooklyn back in 2001. It’s
"Americana" or "alt-country," for sure. It’s a
touch of Midwestern rock, haunting but
playful, sincere but also cynical… but the
"X" is so much easier. The story that unfolded for frontman Alex Dezen, bassist Ted
Hudson, guitarist David Chernis, and
drummer Steve Terry was one of discovering their collective magic, figuring out how
to share it with fans, navigating the rough
road of the music business, being tattered
and broken by that journey, only to heal
enough to recognize the lessons learned
and come out the other side strong enough
to try it again.
Regardless of when you may have
hopped on the Damnwells bandwagon,
you may have seen or at least heard about
the award-winning documentary about the
band called "Golden Days," which was
originally supposed to be about the band’s
success. Instead it ended up revealing the
band’s (and representatively many artists’)
struggles, and foreshadowing its ultimate
destruction under the weight of being
signed to a XZ