Longtime Redding singer-songwriter Jim Dyar and his wife, Keli, known as A Dyar Situation, recently released their seven-song album, Glad to be anywhere. “It’s a bit of a post-pandemic album where we genuinely feel ‘glad to be anywhere’ making music and performing it live for audiences,” Jim Dyar said in an email interview with the After Five.
Pops is pleased to host A Dyar Situation for a patio concert on August 26 at 7:30 with a $10 cover. (Weather permitting). Pops has a great selection of beer and non alcoholic drinks.
From After 5 Interview:
Dyar said if anything unites all the songs on this album, he thinks it’s the idea “that we have to appreciate — to the best of our ability — the positive elements of life. Keli and I need to keep moving, both physically and artistically. Moving forward always motivates us, which is why I hope this is a great road-trip album.”
Performing live in the area for more than 15 years, Dyar’s previous band incarnations included the Jim Dyar Band and Muletown, during which he recorded three albums: Magical Land by the Jim Dyar Band (2009), Muletown by Muletown (2011) and Rembrandts on Red Walls by the Jim Dyar Band (2013). Among his other musical accomplishments, he has a co-songwriting credit on north state country music legend Merle Haggard’s song “Christmas in Cabo San Lucas.”
Dyar said the latest band incarnation is scaled down to just he and Keli, “with our musician friends helping us form the ‘band’ you hear on the album.”
In addition to the title track, the album features an ode to “plugging out” from the daily grind of work and stress, which Dyar said he tried to capture with “Slow Lane” (their first single).
“There are also a pair of songs that we package together in our live shows (and on the album), “Red- Eyed Nights” and “Love Song Too,” a breakup song followed by a song about finding new love.”
The song “Whiskeytown,” he said, represents those who chased fortune, like in the 1800s gold rush, but had to alter course when they came up empty.
“And ‘To The Sea’ is a jolly-old pirate song I wrote with songwriters Jonathan Foster and Morgan Hannaford that closes out the album,” he added.
The married duo sing on all the songs while Jim plays electric and acoustic guitars, and Keli plays a variety of instruments, including mandolin, guitar, piano and even guitalele.
