Dirty Doves Take Flight
The Dirty Doves is a new duo featuring Syracuse axemen, Jamie Cunningham and Anthony Saturno – who began their collaboration with the onset of the pandemic. While the industry went into hibernation the Doves took flight and got busy with writing and recording.
The group considers their musical journey to be one of virtuosity and it is evident in their release this past summer of “Pure & Simple.”
I caught up with Anthony to tell us about it.
Chuck Schiele: You have a new project. Dirty Doves. Tell us about it.
Anthony Saturno: Chuck, thanks for the invite to chat again! Your questions always help me dive deeper into any project I’m working on, much appreciated! The Dirty Doves consists of myself and Jamie Cunningham. A blend of Jamie’s acoustic tones and my electric rig with fun effects and spacey-ness. Every live show is a new experience, even for us sometimes because we hardly replicate the same song the exact same way twice. It’s quite a musical journey.
CS: How did you and Jamie Cunningham come to initiate the project?
AS: Well, about 5 or 6 years ago, I needed some coffee down in Armory Square, Syracuse, and stopped into the Freedom Of Espresso before heading to the original
Ish Guitars’ location downtown to shred some really cool guitars. I got talking music and guitars with the barista, known best as Jamie Cunningham. We originally started as completely separate musicians in very different bands in the Syracuse music scene. After consistently crossing paths we decided to join forces and make some music (Maxwell’s open mic was a great starting point). We started passing riffs and songs back and forth for fun and kept evolving from there, writing new music and having a blast doing it.
CS: This is somewhat of a departure…an aside…artistically speaking from the way Syracuse music lovers might have come to know you.
AS: I love playing music and I love diving into various genres. It’s a challenge and an adventure. Playing in a variety of different groups whilst writing original music definitely keeps me on my toes. Always learning a tidbit here and there, it’s a great experience.
CS: What was the inspiration for the project?
AS: We wanted to incorporate more original material into our setlist. We both had songs that needed a “home,” and they happened to find themselves on the album. The only song we didn’t write but came up with a different arrangement for, is “Barcelona.” Originally written by George Ezra and Joel Pott. The music being written is an amalgamation of our two very different playing and writing styles and difference in live tone, guitarically.
CS: As a musician who writes and composes, what do you think about the scope of writers and the original material that comes from the area?
AS: In Syracuse? Dude, yeah! This city is filled with wickedly awesome and talented artists, writers, composers, and performers all over. I wish I could have the chance to listen and collaborate with more of them much more frequently. There are some beast players around here that I love and respect the hell out of. It’s like Syracuse is a melting pot of its own and tends to be a really unique place where you will most likely be exposed to a ton of different music genres and sounds that you might have never expected you’d listen to. For example, the Syracuse University students leaving a mark before they head out to wherever it is they travel to next,the people from NYC and other larger cities in relatively close proximity who pass through for a few days, and of course, all of the music lovers who come into town when a really hot act is playing at a notable club or venue in the area.
CS: “Pure and Simple.” Please tell us how you came to write it? Is there a story behind it all?
AS: As we were adding songs to this list of an inevitable “album” we came across the title of one of Jamie’s tunes and agreed that the process of recording, mixing, mastering, etc… was rather organic and say, pure & simple.
CS: What’s coming up for the Doves?
AS: As far as the next moves, we are actively writing new material, consistently playing shows in the greater Upstate region, and working on a tour or two for 2022 so stay tuned!
CS: How do we stay in touch with the Dirty Doves?
AS: Absolutely!
https://linktr.ee/thedirtydoves
Thanks, man.
Music & Events Calendar
