Jude Davison - Bread & Bones

Jude Davison's reflection on life & death - an eclectic mix of acoustic originals and covers including songs by Bowie, Dylan, Radiohead and Dire Straits. This is Jude Davison's seventeenth CD release and third in his popular acoustic series. Most of the original songs evolved out of Jude's recent experiences with death, having lost both his father and good friend, Blake Parker, to cancer. Songs such as Oh Astronaut and Empire of Dust speak directly to the experience of singing songs and baring witness around his friend's bedside in his final days.Musically the album is a pared down mellow-sounding recording with the arrangements mostly based around Jude's acoustic guitar playing and augmented with various other instruments: mandolin, ukulele, and percussion. The album also includes an eclectic sprinkling of cover songs chosen to balance the life & death theme. Bowie's song, Kooks, for example is a whimsical song about his new-born son, and the Dire Straits' song, Why Worry, has a nice life-affirming message while the rest of the album includes songs by Bob Dylan, Radiohead, Tracy Chapman, and the Mavericks. The album provides the listener with a mature, beautifully executed meditation on life and death from the perspective that only mid-life can provide.