"Dave Olson's 'No October': My absolute favorite album of the year, Olson's songwriting is conversational, original, and inventive. The title track is inescapably buoyant despite its loneliest-lover narrative and 'Magnolia Tree' is the rare folk song with a ringing emotional climax. The album has 12 tracks, and not a one is wasted."
Tanner Kent, Mankato Free Press - Best of 2012
Olson’s mix of effortlessly economical songwriting and polished performances makes No October a wonderfully compelling listen each time. While Olson may have no October for himself, he perhaps has provided the perfect soundtrack of the coming falling leaves for the rest of us. Read more
An absolute must for lovers of comforting, warm, and soothing music. An understated blend that is melodic, poetic and heartfelt..."No October" is like creamy honey. Read more
“No October” is moody, clever (without being coy) and evocative. It’s everything contemporary folk music can be when put into the hands of a musician who is unafraid to strike an original note in a genre that is all too often saddled with a sort of nostalgic stasis. Read more
Tanner Kent, Mankato Free Press
The writing is first-rate. Olson’s voice is smooth and evocative. The musicianship is exemplary and always serves the song. “No October” is better than most things from major labels, such as they are these days. Read more
"I've found myself coming back to this one again and again. Being a huge fan of Pieta Brown, I love the reworking of Tom Waits' "Georgia Lee." Dave says "This was one of the hardest songs for me to record, and getting my performance just right required a lot of coaxing from Richard Medek, my producer. His hard work paid off – the end result is a song that is at once spooky & atmospheric and emotional & plaintive. We started thinking of it as a modern-day ghost story set to music." Like many indie musicians in the new world order, Dave did a Kickstarter campaign to help fund this album. I love that he themed it “Bad luck is bound to fade”...and I sure hope it does. Read more
Released earlier this month, Olson’s third CD is a gorgeous, generously appointed set featuring stylish input from My Morning Jacket’s Carl Broemel, The Pines’ Benson Ramsey, The Honeydogs’ keyboardist Peter Sands and — on a shimmering duet arrangement of Tom Waits’ “Georgia Lee” — the sublime Pieta Brown. Drummer/producer Richard Medek assembles a rich aural canvas, and treasures are many, but don’t miss “So Long Blues,” the Freedy Johnston-worthy “Heart Breaking Down” and the heartland rocker “Before You Made Me Say Goodbye.” Read more
On his new album, Dave takes the Americana-folk genre and puts a different, yet simple spin on songwriting. Collaborating with Pieta Brown, Benson Ramsey, and Carl Broemel on No October, his is substance over style, leaving you pleased in ways that you can't quite put your finger on, but will love all the same. Read more
"…there's a self-effacing Woody Guthrie quality here that's hard to deny. The results feels something like a sturdy, well made fence that just had to be built. From the shivering empathy of 'The Workin' Life' to the Sun-era Orbison shake of 'Candy' to they hypnotic inward spiral of 'Alien Song' and beyond, Olson creates compelling side roads that make it worth taking the green-signed off ramp."
"[#80]…is an acoustic amalgam of country, rock and blues, featuring Olson's driving guitar and smoky vocals, plus a vigorous rhythm section. His songs of farms, factory towns, lovers faithful and faithless…are written and played with skill and conviction."
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