Bob Delevante (from the album Valley of Days) – Bob Delevante resides in a world of art, and his globe has turned towards music for his recent release, Valley of Days. Bob’s talents are diverse, honed by his ability to let his artistic endeavors dictate his path early on, graduating from Parsons School of Design where he developed skills in design, drawing, and photography while touring as a professional musician. Bob has worked from his Nashville studio, Hillsboro Village, for two decades, combining techniques both old and new into his work, performing on guitar, vocals and harmonica as well as touring with Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, and John Prine. For Bob Delevante, there is little distinction for what his hands create, and he feels that ‘everyday I wake up and get to do something different, which is a fantastic challenge creatively. Some days I’m shooting, some days I’m designing and then others I’m writing and recording. In the end, it’s all art’.
The recording for Valley of Days took place at Nashville’s historic RCA Studio B and at the home studio of Dave Coleman. The players match the skills of Bob Delevante as he is joined on Valley of Days by co-producer Dave Coleman on guitars and pedal steel, Amanda Shires on fiddle and vocals, Garry Tallent (E Street Band) on bass, Fats Kaplin on fiddle/pedal steel, and Bryan Owings on drums. Valley of Days puts the top up on the convertible as it heads “Downtown Tonight” weaving through traffic with its foot pushing the gas pedal to the floor, sways gently to wave at “Caroline”, flexes musical muscles to tighten around determination in “Tomorrow We Go Again”, and acoustically rushes the rhythms as “Hey, Hey, Hold On (Valley of Days)” tumbles through memories. Bob Delevante has a masters touch with all of his artwork, polishing eleven gems for Valley of Days, and laying them out on colorful backdrops set against blue skies (“Kite on the Wind”), the red glow of hopeful passion (“(Can You Tell Me That) You Love Me Too”), the yellow promise of a new dawn (“See You in the Morning”), the dark corners of the past (“Farther Find Me Now”), and the bright lights of tomorrow (“The Girl Who Shines Down on Me).
-Danny McCloskey