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Sunday, August 1st, 2010 5:35 am CDT
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Home arrow Features arrow Scene Showcase: Vandaveer
Scene Showcase: Vandaveer Print E-mail
Written by Rob van Alstyne   
Sunday, March 30, 2008 at 04:53 PM
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Vandaveer
Mark Charles Heidinger clearly wants to have it both ways. On his debut album as Vandaveer, Grace & Speed, Heidinger plays both the optimistic strum-happy romantic and macabre-minor-key-loving-Tom-Waits-indebted-gutter-bum. The album’s first four tracks alternate swiftly between the two personas and depending on your tastes you may find one mode more compelling than the other (I myself have never been too big on murder ballads, but, hey, I’ve lived a sheltered life). With a clean and resonant tenor Heidinger’s voice is beguiling regardless of whether he’s working in a major or minor musical key and the crisp arrangements (generally consisting of an acoustic guitar and lightly brushed drum kit but with the occasional injection of dirt brass and rickety percussive delights) sound well-crafted but never belabored.


Listen to "However Many Takes It Takes" from Grace & Speed


It’s little surprise Vandaveer’s already garnering raves in his Washington, D.C. home turf and with a Daytrotter recording session slated for later on this tour expect the raves to spread. Vandaveer is also a client of Ripple Entertainment, the product of Minnesota music maven Paul Gillis who’s also the agent for Jeremy Messersmith, Chris Koza and Haley Bonar, Minnesota music fans enamored of those big time talents will find a similar level of quality here, Gillis knows how to pick ‘em.

Listen to "Marianne, You've Done It Now" from Grace & Speed

Vandaveer's Official Website
Vandaveer's MySpace

COMING UP: Vandaveer opens up the night at the Kitty Cat Klub on Monday, March 31, alongside stalwart local singer/songwriters Mary Bue and Jonathan Delehanty . 9 p.m. Free. 21+.
Last Updated: Sunday, March 30, 2008 at 08:18 PM
 
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