Gothic Theatre
Dana Glover
There is a distinctive southern lilt in singer-songwriter Dana Glover’s voice, but that voice is blue-eyed soul, not big-hat country. “I do want my music to show I’m from the South,” she says. “But I was raised on the sounds of gospel and old-school soul.”
This musical heritage has naturally found its way into Glover’s debut album, Testimony (released Oct. 15, 2002, on DreamWorks Records). As for the themes explored therein, they are suggested by the disc’s title: giving testimony, telling the truth, expressing just who Dana Glover is. “I had a dream that Testimony was the name of the album,” she remembers. “It was very vivid and very specific and when I woke up I thought, ‘I don’t really know what the finished product is going to sound like, but that’s the title.’” In addition to its soul-baring and legal connotations, the word “testimony” here also reflects the testifying of a believer. To be sure, a gospel-like fervor bursts from the title song, for one; “Rain,” too, seems heaven-sent. “I considered writing ‘Rain’ as a kind of cornerstone of believing that I was going to do this album—I knew that when I wrote it. It felt inspired.”
As those who meet her may guess, Glover is a small-town girl, but her life experiences have bestowed a certain worldliness and sophistication that also inform Testimony. By the time most kids are learning to drive, she was living in New York City, working as a model with a solid career ahead of her. But Glover always knew her true path lay in music.
Though she’s also lived in Nashville and Los Angeles, she has never strayed far from her roots in Rocky Mount, N.C. “We grew up in a real southern way, where church was simply a part of life,” she attests. Contrary to what some may expect, however, services weren’t always sedate. “Our church was what people think of when they think of southern Baptist—more people were playing instruments than were in the congregation. Sometimes, it was as if we were all playing for ourselves.”
She had very little formal training as a musician, taking piano lessons on and off but mostly playing by ear. “I think I could have been much better if I’d studied,” she admits, “but playing by ear was much more fun.” She also took up the saxophone.
