| Alex DePue |
Alex DePue’s new CD "Stages" opens with a recording of the Bowling Green-bred violinist at age
15 playing a piece by Tomas Antonio Vitali in 1982 in Bryan Recital Hall on campus.
Back then he was a student.
The CD also includes several tracks recently released tracks featuring him now in the role of mentor as
he plays fiddle competition duets with 16-yer-old Sedra Bistodeau.
The "Stages" of the title refers not only to the venues DePue has graced over the years, but
also the stages his music has gone through.
Gone through, though, isn’t precisely the right phrase, since, DePue never leaves anything behind.
Instead he incorporates lessons from one style into the performance of another. The flair for
performance honed in his earlier classical competition phase and then in fiddle contests is just as
evident on the second track of the CD, "Cliffs of Sober," in which he uses a wah-wah with his
amplified violin drawing on the inspiration his current employer rock virtuoso guitarist Steve Vai.
DePue shows off his own acoustic guitar chops on two of his own tunes "Weaver," which he says
dates back to his middle school days, and the more recent "Alex’s Aria," first conceived on
the bus while traveling as a member of country star Chris Cagel’s band.
The CD is notable for DePue’s showcasing of his own compositions, rather than bluegrass and rock covers
on more recent projects. Those original compositions cover a range from the sentimental waltz "San
Diego," which started out as an exercise for Bistodeau, to the all-out rocker "Bruiser,"
that has DePue making a band of it by overdubbing himself on fiddle, electric guitar, electric bass and
drums.
DePue also steps up as a lead vocalist on his own "The War Song," a plea for unity –
"right and left both turn out wrong. It’s in our union that we are strong," he sings.
He’s joined here by his brother Wallace on vocals. His brother Jason also makes a couple appearances as a
vocalist including on the melancholy closer "Dark Flight," giving the session just a touch of
the DePue Brothers flair. That, of course, is yet another stage in DePue’s career.
Online:
thefiddlerllc.com
