John Dunnigan | Jack’s Guitar

Published: November 17, 2008

For at least 30 years, Whitefish musician John Dunnigan has been doing what bunches of other musicians have been unable to do: make music for a living. The northern California transplant made roots in the Flathead Valley a generation ago and never looked back. He’s been entertaining ever since, regaling skiers, college students, cowboys and kids with his soft and clear baritone voice and songwriting style, and raising a family along the way.

His latest CD, Jack’s Guitar, proves why he’s been able to carve out a niche in Montana-made music. It’s chock-full of catchy homemade tunes (Dunnigan wrote all but two), and some of them are gut-busters. Country inflections and wisps of old ’50s tunes crop up here and there. It’s also laden with the efforts of a talented core of backup musicians, most notably ultra-instrumentalist David Griffith, who helped produce the album.

Dunnigan’s comedic way with words hooks us from the get-go: in “Them Checks Keep Rolling In,” he talks of Daddy’s girl living the high life (“you’re lactose-intolerant but milking your Dad”). In the country-rocker, “Growing Up So Fast” by John Smith, Dunnigan opines about how quickly children mature and move on.

The title song is an ode to Dunnigan’s uncle, a soldier who wanted to be a singer, but never came back from war. Dunnigan plays his uncle’s guitar on the song.

“Sandy in the Ditch” is a bluegrass loper with squiggly lap-steel licks by Griffith; “See Ya Tomorrow Night” is a jazzy finger-snapper that romanticizes the local watering hole and the camaraderie it provides. And the duo Storyhill penned the sweet-sounding paean to a river, “The Stillwater.”

The wacky “The Real Real Estate Song” is trademark Dunnigan. The Flathead funnyman is in his element here, poking fun at the wealthy “come-latelys” who are gobbling up acres of Montana and imposing their lifestyles. Dunnigan’s tongue-in-cheek take is knee-slapping – especially as he sings about those who want “a wild-tame herd of elk … and a barn full of pasteurized milk.”

His wit, coupled with great musicianship and impeccable production, is vintage Dunnigan. Visit the artist at www.johndunnigan.com.

– Mariss McTucker