• Facebook
  • Youtube
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Mail
Contributor Login
  • 0Shopping Cart
FolkWorks
  • Home
  • Events
  • Features
  • Resources
  • About Us
  • Archives
  • Contact
  • DONATE
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
Album cover of "You Choose" EP by Bridger Dunnagan

Bridger Dunnagan Creates Introspective Folk Fusion With New EP “You Choose”

By Lindsey Terrell

CD Reviews
Album cover of "You Choose" EP by Bridger Dunnagan

Album cover of “You Choose” EP by Bridger Dunnagan

It’s no secret that the music I love best comes from musicians who ride that line between old time/bluegrass and Americana music. But what are labels and genres anyway, if not suggestions – if not tools to be used together and sources of influence to draw from? Bridger Dunnagan has taken that concept and blown it out of the water with his new EP “You Choose,” out now. This EP is a poetic bridge between his sources of influence and the direction in which he’s headed musically – a direction which feels promising and also mysterious in the best way.

Oftentimes when I’m reviewing singer-songwriter albums, the musicianship fades into the background. Even if it’s good, it may lose some of the spotlight when juxtaposed with great lyricism. This is not the case with Dunnagan’s EP. His lyricism and musicianship walk hand-in-hand to create a sonic experience that is deep and contemplative without being trite, and without trying to pack too much into an experience that could end up overwhelming. 

Coming off of the release of a more traditional album, Dunnagan demonstrates his prowess on guitar, octave mandolin, violin, banjo, Moog synthesizer, and electric bass in a new musical context. He pulls off a modern folky-Americana-singer-songwriter sound like he’s been doing it all his life.

 

However, I must be clear in saying that when I say he nails this sound, I do not mean he sounds like anyone and everyone else. Because he brings such a sincere, naturally flowing spirit to his craft, and pairs that with old time music influence and prowess, this EP has a special element of uniqueness.

I would be remiss not to mention the prominence of Dunnagan’s voice on this recording. It is solid and strong, yet calming and comforting. His is the kind of voice you find yourself attempting to harmonize with when you’re listening and inevitably singing along in your car.

From the sweet and soft “Chickadee” to the thought-provoking title track “You Choose” to “The World Is Burning” (which opens with some timeless banjo action), Dunnagan has nailed a sound that is reminiscent of peers such as Joseph Decosimo and Jake Xerxes Fussell while also echoing artists like Bon Iver and Penny & Sparrow. The talents of roots music staples Lyle DeVitry, Nicholas Falk, and Joseph DeJarnette are the ribbon tying this lovely package together.

This five-track EP packs the emotional punch of a full album. Featuring double exposure photography by Rita Kovtun, the aesthetics of the cover reinforce the message of the record – that we play the biggest part in our own happiness, and we should seize that power to create a better world for ourselves and the people around us. What will you choose, and what effect will that have? Put this record on and ponder.

“Was it the day, maybe the season?

Double thought triple reason

You Choose, You Choose, You Choose, You Choose”

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail
https://folkworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/a1898158457_16.jpeg 700 700 FolkWorks https://folkworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/FolkWorks-logo-large.png FolkWorks2022-11-14 15:34:312022-11-14 15:34:31

Bridger Dunnagan Creates Introspective Folk Fusion With New EP “You Choose”

By Lindsey Terrell

  • Book Reviews
  • CD Reviews
  • Concert Reviews
  • Film Reviews

FolkWorks Partners

Join our E-mail Community

As a valued member of our e-mail community, you will receive updates on events, stories, performances and more in our monthly newsletter, along with the occasional special announcement to give you the latest news in folk/roots. We promise your e-mail is safe with us.  We don’t sell or share our database with any third-party vendors.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

  • LIKE US ON FACEBOOK
  • JOIN THE FOLKWORKS FACEBOOK GROUP
  • BECOME A FOLKWORKS DONOR
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
YOU TUBE INSTAGRAM TWITTER EMAIL PRIVACY POLICY

All Material Copyright © 2001- 2021 FolkWorks. All rights reserved. Website by: Integritive

Scroll to top

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website, analyze site traffic, and show event times in your timezone. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

Accept

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Privacy Policy