David Dondero

Singer/songwriter David Dondero's musical career began in 1993, when he released the first of three records as a member of the alt-rock band Sunbrain. But since he split the band and headed out on his own, his music has been more comparable to such American folk music/troubadour greats as Woody Guthrie and Townes Van Zandt. The year 2001 saw the release of his solo effort Shooting at the Sun With a Water Gun, an album in which Dondero assumes the role of different characters for nearly each song (while some were biographical, such as "Analysis of a 1970's Divorce," which recounts his parents' split). The album was produced by Billy Konkel, and was recorded in Konkel's living room. In 2003 he released Transient, his second full-length for Future Farmer records, and the next year the album Live at the Hemlock, taken from a February 2003 performance in San Francisco, came out. In 2005 the singer moved to Team Love, the label run by Brighteyes' Conor Oberst — who lists Dondero as an influence — and South of the South was issued later that year. In 2007, Simple Love was released, followed by 2010's # Zero with a Bullet.