Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05
April 19, 2007 issue
David Childers and The Modern Don Juans
Return to Black Cat
Charlotte-based Alt. Country Quartet Plays Friday, April 20
Story by David Brewer
A plainspoken man in his mid-50s who doesn’t mince words when it comes to music or seemingly anything else, North Carolina native David Childers’ booming Southern drawl sounds near perfect when howling over the pulsing din of his band, The Modern Don Juans. Pumping out a sound akin to Bakersfield barrelhouse country via Seattle grunge sung by a gruff Elvis, Childers and company are a force to be reckoned with.
Childers and The Modern Don Juans will return to Black Cat Burrito this Friday, April 20, for a show with blues-flavored punk band The Flat Tires. The show will start at 10:30 p.m.
Comprised of Childers on acoustic guitar, his son Robert on drums, Mark Lynch on bass and Randy Saxon on guitar, the Don Juans have coalesced into a tight and versatile music machine during their four years together. Writing and recording together, the band is able to switch gears from rockabilly and country to grinding rock and lightly picked folk with ease.
“As far as I’m concerned, this is the permanent lineup,” said Childers. “If this band breaks up, I might just hang it up. Every record we’ve been able to make has been a gift.”
Playing music since his days as a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Childers feels that the Modern Don Juans are the final pieces of a musical puzzle he’s been assembling for decades, calling them the best bunch he’s ever played with.
“It seems like I spent years just trying to recruit people that believed in what I was doing artistically,” said Childers. “Right now we’re all really focused on the same thing. It really is a team.”
In recent months, Childers and company’s most recent release, Burning In Hell, has not only been in constant rotation on WNCW, but has also seen considerable action on both XM and Sirius satellite radio networks, also topping the critically acclaimed Euro Americana Chart.
“The whole thing of getting on satellite radio is a big deal with me,” said Childers. “It’s going around the world.”
On the blog section of the band’s MySpace page, Childers gave a detailed account of the band’s last trip to Boone; a raging success according to the artist.
“There’s a bunch of kids at Appalachian State University in Boone and they know how to rock. From the start, the vibe was great. People were going crazy, letting the music seize them and drive them. It’s the vibe we travel far and wide to find,” wrote Childers in his blog.
“We like going to the mountains,” said Childers. “The people there just seem freer and are more able to have a good time.”
The Modern Don Juans have not only been to Europe courtesy of radio, but the band is also on the verge of embarking on yet another trip to Holland, where the group has developed a loyal fan base. Asked why he thinks Europeans have such affection for American artists and music, Childers attributes it to the quality of the product.
“It’s good music,” said Childers. “People in the rest of the world love our culture. I think maybe it’s just the honesty of it.
“They hate our government, but they seem to put that aside for American artists. They see past the sins of our politicians.”
Though Childers and the Modern Don Juans’ fans are a rabid bunch, they are not extremely large in number. “We have a good, loyal fan base, but it’s not anything gigantic,” said Childers. Fortunately, Childers supports himself for the most part as an attorney, having received his law degree from Campbell University.
“I have to do the music because I love it; I wouldn’t feel right without it,” said Childers. “I can do what I want to do musically, but if it don’t catch on, I’ll survive.”
With any luck, Childers and his talented band of like-minded thinkers will be making music together for years to come. To hear Childers and The Modern Don Juans, click to www.myspace.com/davidchilders.
Want To Go?
Date: Friday, April 20
Time: 10:30 p.m.
Location: Black Cat Burrito
Cost: $5