WDVE morning host Randy Baumann is releasing his first album in more than 20 years this week, and he said it worked out better than he could have hoped.
“Wanderin Fool,” which features an all-star cast of Pittsburgh musicians, will be available on all streaming platforms Thursday.
“I’ve done so much recording through the years with other bands, tracking piano and organ, but the last time I did a project of songs that I’d put together was right before I started at DVE in ’99,” Baumann said. “So it felt like I was way overdue to get something together. Also with the talent we have in this city and the friends I’ve made through the years, it seemed like a no-brainer.”
Baumann, whose annual Rambles spotlight area musicians, sings and plays all the keyboards. He’s joined by Brian Wolfe on drums, Anton Defade on bass, Chris Parker on guitars and Tracy Whorton on percussion, plus Addi Twigg, Anne Celedonia, Kenny Stockard and Josh Verbannetts on backup vocals. The Steeltown Horns (Reggie Watkins, J.D. Chaisson and Rick Matt) handle all the horns.
“Everybody had so many great ideas,” Baumann said, “and it really turned this into a really special project that I’m immensely proud of.”
The Damnwells releasing ode to Pittsburgh
The Damnwells may be an an indie rock band based in New York, but Pittsburgh holds a special place in the heart of singer/songerwriter Alex Dezen.
The band will be releasing “Pretty as Pittsburgh” on Wednesday, their third single from their upcoming album, “Bad at Beautiful,” which is slated for an Aug. 9 release.
Dezen called Pittsburgh “a special place,” citing visits with his sister who went to college here in the early 1990s. (His mother is also from Penn Hills, and his father is from the Pittsburgh area, too.) The lyrics make reference to the Youghiogheny River, Carrick, Beltzhoover, McKeesport and more.
“I had the title ‘Pretty as Pittsburgh’ in my notebooks for years,” Dezen wrote in a note about the song. “I wrote several versions of it before this final one, honing it into shape over 12 years or so, coming back to the idea again and again, often in the back of a van the morning after a show, heading out of town via the Fort Pitt Tunnel.
“When I started writing songs for the new Damnwells album, ‘Bad at Beautiful,’ I knew I had to drill down on what I wanted to say about Pittsburgh and how I wanted to say it. I made it a simple love story, a la Tom Petty, because he always knew how to say I love in the most simple ways.”
Mike Palm is a TribLive digital producer who also writes music reviews and features. A Westmoreland County native, he joined the Trib in 2001, where he spent years on the sports copy desk, including serving as night sports editor. He has been with the multimedia staff since 2013. He can be reached at mpalm@triblive.com.