A stirring concept album filled with personality and wit, Dave Gutter’s The Music Industry is Trying to Kill Me chronicles the journey of a starving musician — within a gritty industry that often dismisses the artist’s own well-being. Gutter has an accomplished career as a professional songwriter and frontman of the band Rustic Overtones for over two decades. The Music Industry is Trying to Kill Me represents his debut full-length solo album, following many years of success as a collaborator and band frontman.
A variety of star-studded collaborations have featured in Gutter’s previous discography. Rustic Overtones’ fourth album, 2001’s ¡Viva Nueva!, was a major label output that featured guests such as David Bowie, Imogen Heap, and Funkmaster Flex. Gutter has also written a variety of successful songs for other artists, winning a Grammy in 2023 for the song “Stompin’ Ground,” which he wrote for New Orleans singer Aaron Neville.
Gutter’s ample industry experience and success contribute to the gripping introspection within, also prompted by conversations he had with Dave Godowski and Evan Smith — while they were all working to lobby for musicians’ rights in Congress. The album’s creative process arose thereafter, culminating in a stirring conceptual success whose poignant perspectives ring true within an industry where cutthroat tendencies can have a significant impact on an artist’s mental health, ego, and the unforgiving temptations within the world of rock ‘n’ roll.
Referencing the infamous musicians’ curse, “The 27 Club” opens the album with a live-type setting, complemented by audience reactions as a melodic mixture of twangy guitars, bouncy keys, and vocals arrive — conveying the need to survive within a world of temptations. “We got so high … I’m alive…” and other sentiments invigorate, alongside admissions like “thought I’d be dead when I was 27.” The brief yet impactful title track comes thereafter, amidst laments that “they took my royalties / they took my dignity.” Even within those warranted gripes comes the truth that there’s always another artist willing to take one’s place — prompting feelings of necessity in living with the industry’s tumults.
“I need spiritual healing,” Gutter lets out on the fantastic “This Might Be Crazy Enough to Work,” where buzzing guitars and soaring organs meld with powerful vocal layers. A more reflective, spaghetti-western entrancement takes hold on “Stoned and Lonely,” where brassy intrigue and galloping percussion expand into a personal folk-forward setting. “Just smoking to forget,” Gutter sings amidst twangy guitars. “I’m stoned and lonely, that’s better than drunk and driving.” The darkly humorous wit compels, musing on the lulling qualities of intoxicants within an industry whose tough existence — and often resulting loneliness — is made easier by the calming haze of marijuana.
A memorable album finale, “Gold Records” is a stirring send-off — moving seamlessly with guitar twangs, light keys, and perspectives on how selling records isn’t always a fulfilling culmination. “500,000 I sold, and all for what? Got a couple of bucks, and one for the road,” Gutter sings. From-the-heart lyricism — simultaneously clever and confessional — enamors on this closer and throughout The Music Industry is Trying to Kill Me, which is a triumphant conceptual success from Dave Gutter.
The Music Industry is Trying to Kill Me will be released on June 9th.
