Dan Gober

Dan Gober, a Philadelphia native who now makes his home in the Lehigh Valley, is becoming a familiar face on the local music scene, playing well-received shows at Bethlehem venues such as The Wildflower Cafe and The Funhouse.
His debut disc, ''little fish'' (Lunar Face), is an aural pleasure that mixes rock, blues and folk with Gober's personal style of singing and songwriting — it sounds like an experiment gone right.

Gober's guitar playing has a comfortable, easy feel even when handling tricky slide moves as on ''Quarter After Five.'' His voice can be rough-hewn and raspy. On ''Never Say Nothin','' he sounds like a bitter soul when he sings, ''I got the rock 'n' roll band/And all the people that you see/Yeah they're listening to me/But you never say nothin' nice to me anymore.'' Along with the recrimination, there is also a touch of humor.

On ''Everybody Goes To Sleep Now,'' Gober's voice takes on a Kurt Cobain ''Unplugged'' feel, and ''Portrait of a Lost Man'' has a slow, country twang and introspective lyrics that calls to mind the songwriting and vocalizing of Ryan Adams.

But the material is Gober's own, and in addition to his excellent guitar work, he plays drums, piano, Hammond organ and various percussion instruments, including bottles, sleigh bells and shakers.

Gober calls his style ''junk rock,'' but listening to ''little fish'' feels more like finding a hidden treasure. - Rosemary Pratka

Crafting a sound that is representative of his personal life and the experiences therein, Dan Gober mixes rock, noise, blues, country and acoustic music together to create what he calls, “junk rock.” (Gober is from Philadelphia and has been playing music down there for years.) Little Fish is his newest record and it contains 18 brand new original works. - Nick Rose

Dan Gober calls his music ''junk rock.'' It's not for lack of quality, but because of its raw, authentic sound. He says: ''I've been compared to Tom Waits for the raspy quality of my voice, but it's not anywhere near as raw. I've also been compared to Randy Newman for some things.''

Like those two, Gober writes prolifically about many different things. He says he has written ''hundreds and hundreds'' of songs, often using a portable digital recorder to save his ideas.
Last year he released his first solo CD, ''Little Fish,'' after 15 years of recording and playing in various bands and musical projects. The CD has 18 songs, ranging from the philosophical ''The Simple Ways To Die Around Here'' to ''Quarter After Five (I gots me a woman),'' a lighthearted look at a relationship. The title track is about ''being a little fish in the huge sea of life. Sometimes you just feel like a grain of sand.''

Gober is serious about his music, but he's got a lighthearted spirit - check out those angel wings.

He says of his art: ''Number one, I do it because I love it. Number two, it's got to be fun.''

Gober lives in Philadelphia, but plans to move here next year. He hopes to introduce his Little Fish Junk Band to the area in the next few months - with Mark Arbegast on drums and Nick Steranko on bass. Gober has another band for the Philadelphia area.

When not performing, Gober is in the studio of Lunar Face Records, which he owns with Buddy Sweets. - David Howell