David Dondero is a modern-day troubadour, a minstrel, a bard, a rolling stone, a traveling wilbury -- he gets around, and wherever he goes, he makes music. He's been getting around to odd parts of America, making music -- of a primarily transient, narrative, and acoustic variety, in the tradition of great American troubadours of decades past -- since the early '90s. Originally he did it with a band called Sunbrain, with whom he recorded three albums, before opting to go it alone. Since that decision, Dondero has recorded three more.

Most striking about Dondero's music is his voice -- which isn't the most tuneful, but is confident, varied, emotional, and direct, nicely suiting his musical style -- and his great guitar fingerpicking, which sometimes sounds like it came straight out of the Appalacians, sometimes sounds bluesy, and sometimes even sounds vaguely classical. Other stark instrumentation -- lonesome accordion, harsh echoing percussion, and most of all, lots of fiddle -- connects Dondero further with the American folk tradition. Some songs are rock-minded, some desolate and hushed, some are detached, some extraordinarily confessional, some are twisted, some straightforward, some are happy, and some sad. But all bear the mark of a quality songwriter who knows a thing or two about living.

Started as a recording project in early 1998, freelance engineer at Type Foundry Recording, John Askew started Tracker as a loose collection of songs. Recording, writing and playing most of the instruments himself (with the help of Erik Herzog (Buellton) on some drums and Adam Selzer (Norfolk and Western) at the piano), Askew released the debut Tracker "AMES" in 2000. Without a proper band to tour, Askew created a handful of different live outfits to perform with. The result was often loose and spontaneous; the live set for Tracker varied from show to show. Following a couple of shows with friend and drummer Michael Schorr (Death Cab for Cutie), Askew and Schorr began to record together and soon established a working Tracker unit. With the endless help from bass-man Dave Harding (Richmond Fontaine), and Adam Selzer for guitar, Tracker toured and played as regularly as possible with the likes of: Giant Sand, Calexico, Black Heart Procession, Kingsbury Manx, and others.


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