ll Dana Fuchs has to do is sing. All it takes is one note from those celebrated lips and clocks stop, crowds snap to attention, hearts beat like bass drums and neck-hair tingles. It’s often been said that the Florida-born front-woman could sing the phone directory and still hold her listeners spellbound. True enough, but in 2013, when Dana applies that extraordinary voice to the classic songs from her third album Bliss Avenue, you’ll realize that you’re in the presence of once-a-generation greatness.

Released in July 2013 on Ruf Records, Bliss Avenue is the most honest and unflinching studio album in Dana’s back catalogue. Co-written with her long-time wingman and guitarist, Jon Diamond, these songs weren’t simply tracked in box-ticking fashion, but wrenched from the depths and laid down to tape without gloss or polish. “If there’s one line that sounds thrown away or dialed in, it has to be redone,” says Dana. “Every word needs to express the emotion of the song or no one will get it and it leaves me cold.”

The resulting album is a window into the singer’s worldview, drawing on everything from the tragic loss of her beloved brother to the loneliness of life on the road. “I’m excited for people, especially those fans who have stuck so close with me, to hear Bliss Avenue,” says Dana, “because I really purged my soul in a starker, more naked way, both lyrically and musically.

“I got so emotional, to the point of tears,” she admits, “singing several of these tunes that are so close to home, like So Hard to Move, Bliss Avenue, Long, Long Game and Vagabond Wind. I want this album to reach people in a way that’s meant to be inclusive. Not like, ‘Here’s my world and my story,’ but rather, ‘Here’s my story, can you relate…?”

Safe to say, you will. It’s impossible not to be reeled in, both by the songwriting and execution of Bliss Avenue. Led from the front by Dana’s smoke-and-honey battle cry, these twelve new cuts are also a canvas for some of the best musicians on the US scene, with Diamond’s powerhouse guitar offering intelligence and groove, Jack Daley delivering seismic bass, keys wizard Glenn Patscha working the Hammond, Wurlitzer and piano, drum god Shawn Pelton keeping the train on the track – plus atmospheric background vocals from the incredible Tabitha Fair and Nicki Richards.

Locking in with Dana and Jon’s self-production, this musical dream team flew across tracks that take in flavors including soul, roots, blues and southern rock. “I realized that you have to hire the best musicians to help you reach your vision,” she nods. “It’s such a collaborative effort.”

It’s been a long road to Bliss Avenue. The youngest of six children, Dana was raised in rural Florida in a family home that rang out with music. Back in those formative days, influences were around every corner, from the rumble of heavy rock played by her siblings in the garage, through the Ray Charles and Hank Williams platters on her parents’ turntable, to the strut of ’70s and ’80s funk that ruled the schoolyard.
By age 12, she’d added another ingredient to the melting pot, joining the First Baptist Gospel Choir in a small black church on the outskirts of town to sing, shout and holler the Lord’s praises.

Even then, Dana’s musical appetite was insatiable, and when fronting a local band at a roadside Holiday Inn no longer scratched the itch, the singer informed family and friends in Florida of plans to become the latest aspirant star to take on New York. It was a brave move – and briefly seemed a foolish one, as 19-year-old Dana found herself scrapping for survival on Manhattan’s Lower East Side – but the tragedy of her older sister Donna’s suicide had a galvanizing effect, and she duly hit the city’s blues-jam circuit like a freight train.

It was at one of these jam nights that fate smiled, instigating Dana’s first meeting with Diamond: an established NYC axman who had already toured with the chart-topping Joan Osborne. Sensing musical sparks, they formed the Dana Fuchs Band, and quickly built a buzz, drawing punters to the Apple’s blues clubs and holding their own on bills that featured titans including John Popper, James Cotton and Taj Mahal. With the band rocking until 3am four nights a week, this was an apprenticeship at the sharp end, and it was here that Dana honed both her astonishing vocal power and built the loyal following who identified her nascent brilliance.

And yet, it wasn’t until two years later – when Jon and Dana extended their live chemistry to a fruitful writing partnership – that the band achieved true lift-off. Armed with a solid body of original material, they drew packed houses at hot-spots like Arlene’s Grocery, The Mercury Lounge, The Stephen Talkhouse and B.B. King’s Blues Club, while sharing bills with such national acts as Little Feat, Marianne Faithfull and Etta James.

Word of Dana’s talent even spread to off-Broadway, and when she was invited to audition by the producers of the hit Janis Joplin musical “Love, Janis,” a few bars of Piece Of My Heart, plus her industrial-strength charisma, confirmed they had their lead. Playing Joplin four nights a week proved an effective shop-window, catching the eye of renowned director, Julie Taymor and leading to a subsequent turn as Sadie in Sony’s highly acclaimed Beatles movie, Across The Universe. With her vocals featured prominently on the platinum-selling soundtrack, this was a project that saw Dana Fuchs Band shows bolstered by a whole new audience, who duly left to spread the word.

Riding high, the band released its debut CD, Lonely For A Lifetime, in 2003, and found both press and fans receptive to a sound that drew on vibes from ’60s Stax/Volt R&B, Lucinda Williams and the Rolling Stones, while hinting at the lyrical eloquence of Tom Waits and Bob Dylan. She might have belted it out in a voice inspired by Etta James, Otis Redding, Bobby Bland, Aretha Franklin and Mavis Staples, but on songs like Strung Out, Lonely For A Lifetime and Bible Baby, Dana was handling sensitive topics. “These tracks are about addiction and religious hypocrisy,” she noted, “and like all the tracks on the album, deal with subjects that I have a deep personal experience with.”

It was one hell of an opening gambit, but Lonely For A Lifetime was topped by Dana’s sophomore release, Love To Beg in 2011. Tightening the songwriting and raising their performance through the roof, this second release from the Dana Fuchs Band made international waves, with the UK’s Classic Rock crowning it ‘Blues Album of the Month’, R2 magazine noting that she has “talent simmering towards detonation”, and global fans recognizing that in a world of clinical TV talent shows and corporate pop, here was a band that meant every word.

So how do you follow that…? Quite simply, with Bliss Avenue: a third album that shoots for the stars, runs with fans’ expectations and channels the blues while simultaneously defying them. “While the album’s content may seem dark,” explains Dana, “I’m not in a dark place at all, but rather a very hopeful place for music, spirituality and mankind. It often takes looking into the dark soul to see the light…”

 - Henry Yates, Classic Rock Magazine UK

Keep On Walking

Special thanks to Rich Flaig for all the fine guitar work and CJo Gough for backing vocals. Short Street Ramblers are Rich Flaig, Nick Chiulos, Brandon Swanson and  Mark Whittington. ©Mark Whittington 2023

I Can't Believe It's Christmas

www.openlab.fm | 106.4FM in Ibiza & Formentera

Next up on our OpenLab Selectors series is Paula Juana from Soundway Records, live from our studios in Ibiza. With over a decade at the label, she currently serves as Creative Director of Soundway Publishing and Business Affairs Manager at Soundway Records. Her deep industry experience and intuitive dancefloor sensibility make her sets a rich, worldly musical journey.

Download our App:
IOS: bit.ly/OLappApple
Android: bit.ly/OlAppAndroid

OpenLab Selectors [with Paula Juana]

“Bury Me In Key West” is the lead single from my upcoming album Blessed & Broken, arriving June 20, 2025. It’s a road-trip anthem driven by warm acoustic guitars, wandering harmonica, and lyrics that wrestle with the pull of new horizons versus the comfort of home. Whether you’ve ever chased a sunset across an endless highway or carried your roots with you on the open road, this one’s for you. Hit play, let it roll through your speakers, and tell me where it takes you.

Bury Me In Key West

Crazy Mama 2025 wav

gaza versie 3  - 21:10:2023, 21.29.m4a

Kaskade & PYFER - if only is out now on all platforms: https://monster.cat/undux
Get new music weekly - subscribe to Monstercat Instinct: https://monster.cat/instinct

Follow Monstercat for new music content, news, merch, and more: https://ffm.bio/monstercat
Join the conversation on Discord: https://discord.com/invite/monstercat

▼ Follow Kaskade
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6TQj5BFPooTa08A7pk8AQ1
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/kaskade/2827464
Instagram: https://instagram.com/kaskade
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kaskade
Facebook: https://facebook.com/kaskade

▼ Follow PYFER
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0BkJ9NocSp5F1U7ODnW687
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/artist/pyfer/906253217
---
Monstercat is one of electronic music's most influential independent record labels. With five releases a week across its Uncaged, Instinct, and Silk labels, we've topped radio and streaming charts worldwide, offering a diverse range of genres across bass, dance, pop, house, chill, electronic, and more. Backed by passionate employees, driven artists, and the dedication of fans worldwide, Monstercat proves that independent labels have the ability to reshape and reimagine the music industry landscape.
---
#deephouse #monstercat #instinct #kaskade #pyfer

undux

If Only

🎧 Stream / Download

Kaskade & PYFER - if only

Kaskade & Finnstagram - can i surrender is out now on all platforms: https://monster.cat/undux
Get new music weekly - subscribe to Monstercat Silk: https://monster.cat/silk

Follow Monstercat for new music content, news, merch, and more: https://ffm.bio/monstercat
Join the conversation on Discord: https://discord.com/invite/monstercat

▼ Follow Kaskade
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6TQj5BFPooTa08A7pk8AQ1
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/kaskade/2827464
Instagram: https://instagram.com/kaskade
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kaskade
Facebook: https://facebook.com/kaskade

▼ Follow Finnstagram
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3kc83ki33FJgDhU49UcVNI
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/artist/finnstagram/1420169363
---
Monstercat is one of electronic music's most influential independent record labels. With five releases a week across its Uncaged, Instinct, and Silk labels, we've topped radio and streaming charts worldwide, offering a diverse range of genres across bass, dance, pop, house, chill, electronic, and more. Backed by passionate employees, driven artists, and the dedication of fans worldwide, Monstercat proves that independent labels have the ability to reshape and reimagine the music industry landscape.
---
#ambient #experimental #monstercat #silk #kaskade #finnstagram

Can I Surrender

Kaskade & Finnstagram - can i surrender

Kaskade & Cop Kid - heart worth breaking is out now on all platforms: https://monster.cat/undux
Get new music weekly - subscribe to Monstercat Instinct: https://monster.cat/instinct

Follow Monstercat for new music content, news, merch, and more: https://ffm.bio/monstercat
Join the conversation on Discord: https://discord.com/invite/monstercat

▼ Follow Kaskade
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6TQj5BFPooTa08A7pk8AQ1
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/kaskade/2827464
Instagram: https://instagram.com/kaskade
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kaskade
Facebook: https://facebook.com/kaskade

▼ Follow Cop Kid
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/57yzfidR1Sr8ETxIf3Imc7
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/artist/cop-kid/1368226462
Instagram: https://instagram.com/copkidlives
Facebook: https://facebook.com/copkidlives
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@copkidlives
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@copkidmusic
---
Monstercat is one of electronic music's most influential independent record labels. With five releases a week across its Uncaged, Instinct, and Silk labels, we've topped radio and streaming charts worldwide, offering a diverse range of genres across bass, dance, pop, house, chill, electronic, and more. Backed by passionate employees, driven artists, and the dedication of fans worldwide, Monstercat proves that independent labels have the ability to reshape and reimagine the music industry landscape.
---
#dance #pop #monstercat #instinct #kaskade #copkid

Heart Worth Breaking

Kaskade & Cop Kid - heart worth breaking

Kaskade & Lissa Lohner - where's my wedge is out now on all platforms: https://monster.cat/undux
Get new music weekly - subscribe to Monstercat Instinct: https://monster.cat/instinct

Follow Monstercat for new music content, news, merch, and more: https://ffm.bio/monstercat
Join the conversation on Discord: https://discord.com/invite/monstercat

▼ Follow Kaskade
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6TQj5BFPooTa08A7pk8AQ1
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/kaskade/2827464
Instagram: https://instagram.com/kaskade
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kaskade
Facebook: https://facebook.com/kaskade

▼ Follow Lissa Lohner
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5SIhV3PlcLFWKbNG0oo2kf
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/artist/lssa/1516565759
Instagram: https://instagram.com/gone.flisshing
Facebook: https://facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564070044817
---
Monstercat is one of electronic music's most influential independent record labels. With five releases a week across its Uncaged, Instinct, and Silk labels, we've topped radio and streaming charts worldwide, offering a diverse range of genres across bass, dance, pop, house, chill, electronic, and more. Backed by passionate employees, driven artists, and the dedication of fans worldwide, Monstercat proves that independent labels have the ability to reshape and reimagine the music industry landscape.
---
#dance #pop #monstercat #instinct #kaskade #lissalohner

Where's My Wedge

Kaskade & Lissa Lohner - where's my wedge

Kaskade & Winn Winn - like that is out now on all platforms: https://monster.cat/undux
Get new music weekly - subscribe to Monstercat Instinct: https://monster.cat/instinct

Follow Monstercat for new music content, news, merch, and more: https://ffm.bio/monstercat
Join the conversation on Discord: https://discord.com/invite/monstercat

▼ Follow Kaskade
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6TQj5BFPooTa08A7pk8AQ1
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/kaskade/2827464
Instagram: https://instagram.com/kaskade
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kaskade
Facebook: https://facebook.com/kaskade

▼ Follow Winn Winn
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6phOEeDRkUk7sH3mwTq2xh
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/artist/winn-winn/1522412423
Instagram: https://instagram.com/winn___winn
Facebook: https://facebook.com/winnwinnmusic
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@winnxwinn
---
Monstercat is one of electronic music's most influential independent record labels. With five releases a week across its Uncaged, Instinct, and Silk labels, we've topped radio and streaming charts worldwide, offering a diverse range of genres across bass, dance, pop, house, chill, electronic, and more. Backed by passionate employees, driven artists, and the dedication of fans worldwide, Monstercat proves that independent labels have the ability to reshape and reimagine the music industry landscape.
---
#drumandbass #monstercat #instinct #kaskade #winnwinn

Like That

Kaskade & Winn Winn - like that

Dana Fuchs is one of the most admired blues-rock stars in the world today. Her hypnotic voice and presence have led critics to compare her to Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, and Mick Jagger. Born in New Jersey and raised in Wildwood, Florida, the raspy-voiced blues-rock-soul singer-songwriter found inspiration in her parents Ray Charles and Hank Williams record collection. Upon leaving high school, Fuchs had no choice but to follow her muse to New York City finding herself as the toast of Broadway when starring in the Janis Joplin musical, Love, Janis. Soon thereafter, she did another star turn in Julie Taymor's romantic musical drama Across the Universe, which was nominated for Best Picture at the Golden Globe Awards.
 
Dana's latest effort, Borrowed Time, finds her revisiting her Southern Rock roots with a deliciously dangerous collection of her incredible songs and lyrics. Producer Bobby Harlow (Detroit Cobras, Samantha Fish) managed to capture the tornado in a bottle intensity, urgency, power, restraint, and passion of Dana's live show on a studio album. Borrowed Time is the rawest, most rocking, musical offering of Dana's career, and is due out April 29, 2022, via Ruf Records.

Keep On Walking

Dana Fuchs

Recent comments

Andreas Rogall

hobo51

Related tracks