Dwight d'Eon goes home and beyond on his own terms

By Michael Gorman

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

For Dwight d’Eon, the patience really has paid off.

It’s been a while since d’Eon, a native of West Pubnico, has played in front of a home audience. Truth be told, it’s been a while since anyone has heard much from d’Eon.

But that’s all about to change.

D’Eon and his band, The Nation, are now based in Halifax. On Oct. 27 the group, which includes Adam Driscoll, Quentin White and Aran Hill, drops their new album, Anthems for the Restless. They’ve got a lot going on in the near future, including an appearance at Nova Scotia Music Week when it hits Yarmouth, Nov. 5-8.

Things finally seem to be coming together for d’Eon. It’s been a long wait and a lot of work. For d’Eon, who resisted the pressure of cashing in on the fame he obtained from a top-four finish on Canadian Idol in 2007, the fact that things are coming together after all this time — and on his terms, no less — is rewarding. “For me it was really important that I distanced myself from the TV show,” he says. “Don’t get me wrong, I had a blast. I really enjoyed the opportunity, but at the same time, I wasn’t coming out of the gate going, ‘OK, now I’m going to ride the coat tails and the hype.’ I finally have some things in place to make a real career out of this.”

Those things in place include a national distribution deal for the new album and a publishing deal through an international independent publishing firm. They’ll hit the road in February and make various trips to Ontario and back, along the east coast and, if all goes according the plan, out west in the spring.

D’Eon says it was important to him to take the time to improve his songwriting as well as develop the band to the point where they were road ready and could also produce an album that he wanted to make.

He also wanted to be as hands on as possible. As developed as his musical skills are, an argument can be made that d’Eon is even better at the technical side of things and has a pretty good side gig doing production work for other artists. He engineered Ryan Cook’s first album, Sunny Acres, and is mastering and mixing Lennie Gallant’s new album.

So naturally, d’Eon’s fingerprints are all over Anthems for the Restless. “I knew I wouldn’t be able to do the album that I wanted to do I if just paid money, went into the studio and had somebody else turn the buttons,” he says. “I did all the engineering, did the bulk of the mixing, the whole thing . . . That’s why it took me so long. I had to find my place and find my sound and find what it is that we want to do as a band.”

That effort, despite its challenges, is paying off. D’Eon says the band is already writing new material and, as it progresses, is finding it easier and easier to discover their own sound and create a vibe that feels like their own. “We’re finally kind of finding our voice,” he says “It seems like ever song we write we’re sounding less and less like everybody else and more and more like ourselves.”

Getting to play at home during an event like Nova Scotia Music Week is a big deal for d’Eon. He’s a long-time veteran of the local music scene when his own band, Never, was popular and remembers growing up during the heyday of bands such as The Purple Helmets and Burnt Black. The area has always had a great music scene, says d’Eon, and he’s pleased to see the recognition finally coming for that. “They started the whole movement of the rock (scene) in Yarmouth and the underground alternative thing,” he says of the two local bands that inspired so many people in the mid 1990s. “It’s been such an amazing amount of talent that comes out of there; even the people that haven’t left are still incredibly talented. So I think it’s great that Yarmouth finally gets recognized in its own way for having contributed in a large way to east coast music.”

Win tickets to Nova Scotia Music Week

Nova Scotia Music Week is coming to Yarmouth Nov. 5-8 and The Vanguard is giving away tickets. For your chance to win a two-ticket package to the gala event, songwriters circle and showcase events, tell us the name of the single from Dwight D’Eon’s new album. Send your answer to info@thevanguard.ca by noon on Friday. The winner will be selected by a draw. Please include your name, phone number and e-mail address. Last week’s winner of a music week ticket package was Louise Surette.