{"id":12616,"date":"2026-04-17T12:27:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T03:27:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.museonmuse.jp\/?p=12616"},"modified":"2026-04-17T12:27:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T03:27:26","slug":"vol-151-francis-dunnery-april-2026-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.museonmuse.jp\/?p=12616","title":{"rendered":"Vol.151 Francis Dunnery \/ April 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Francis Dunnery <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Childhood memories, complicated family relationships, and the \u201cordinary\u201d realities of everyday life in Britain\u2014on his latest album, England\u2019s Tales Of The Council House Kid, Francis Dunnery paints a deeply personal portrait of his life with a level of honesty more candid than ever before.
\nBuilt around the warm textures of acoustic guitar, piano, fiddle, and mandolin, the album gently embraces memories that are at times painful, leaving the listener with a lingering sense of quiet reflection. What lies at the heart of the record is not flashy technique or elaborate musical architecture, but Dunnery\u2019s pure creative philosophy: transforming emotion directly into music.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s important to believe in what you are singing about,\u201d he says. Through this album, Dunnery not only revisits the landscapes of his own past, but also reaffirms something essential about music itself.
\nIn this interview, Dunnery speaks in depth about England\u2019s Tales Of The Council House Kid\u2014the emotions behind the songs, the reasons for embracing a simpler sound, and the perspective on life that shapes where he stands today.<\/p>\n

Interview \/ Text\u00a0 Mamoru Moriyama<\/p>\n

Muse On Muse : Your new album England\u2019s Tales Of The Council House Kid is said to be a very personal work. Could you tell us what inspired you to create this album, and why you felt this was the right time to release it?<\/span>
\nFrancis Dunnery : I think all my work is personal. I always try to sing meaningful songs that make reference to my own life. If the rappers can sing about their neighborhoods, Bruce Springsteen sing about his then I see no reason why I can’t sing about mine. It’s important to believe what you are singing about.<\/p>\n

MM : This album candidly reflects your past memories and experiences. What did you keep in mind when translating those into songs? Also, how did you shape those emotions through melody and arrangement?<\/span>
\nFD : There are things about ordinary British living that don’t get written about too much. I lived a very ordinary British childhood. I notice that many British artists throughout the years sing in an American accent about people and places in America. It seems crazy not to sing about ordinary British life when I spent all of my childhood there. I always had this in mind when I was writing the songs.<\/p>\n

MM : In your songwriting for this album, what tends to come first\u2014lyrics, melody, or chord progressions? Could you walk us through your creative process in detail?<\/span>
\nFD : I think the feeling comes first for me. I always try to recreate feelings into music so that when you listen to the music you experience the same feeling. Songs always tell you when they are finished and usually with me it is when I have successfully recreated the feelings I have when you play the song. The melody and the lyrics are always aimed at making people feel a certain way. The strange thing is that I am starting to believe that I don’t actually write my albums. They just come into my head and I write them down. Sometimes I see lyrics on my albums and I know that I’m not intelligent enough to write it. The words and tunes just appear in my head and I write them down. I’m not capable of writing something that poetic. I’m really starting to believe that they come from somewhere else.<\/p>\n

MM : The warm instrumentation\u2014acoustic guitar, piano, fiddle, mandolin\u2014really stands out. What were the key ideas or directions you focused on in terms of sound production for this record?<\/span>
\nFD : I wanted to explore simplicity on this collection of songs. Nothing complex. Simple chords, simple melodies, simple arrangements. I think it’s important to constantly change your comfort zone otherwise you’ll write the same song over and over. It is creatively smart to change instruments, format, style. It’s like having a picture that you constantly change the picture frame. I am at my creative best when I am uncomfortable, not in my comfort zone so I always change style r to challenge myself and make me more creative. It also keeps me interested in music.<\/p>\n

MM : Could you introduce the musicians who participated in this album? We\u2019d also love to hear any memorable moments or stories from the recording sessions.<\/span>
\nFD : Todd Evans plays keyboards and banjo and mandolin. He’s a very versatile player. Amy Chalmers is also a fantastic music and both of them are amazing singers. There aren’t many stories from the recording sessions. I simply send them the songs and tell them to be creative and free. When they send me the parts back I sift through it and choose the parts I like.<\/p>\n

MM : Instead of releasing the full album at once, you chose to release two songs per week on Bandcamp. What led you to adopt this approach, and how did it feel to present the work in this way?<\/span>
\nFD : I was producing a young band called The Hopeless Romantics who are all in their early 20s and they told me that in today’s musical climate, artists release their music in sections. I don’t know if this is true but I decided to do it this way to change things up, do something new, take a risk.<\/p>\n

MM : Did the listeners\u2019 reactions to the early releases have any impact on the subsequent songwriting or recording process?<\/span>
\nFD : No. I don’t usually pay any attention to what audiences want. I always just write whatever I want to write whenever I want to write it. Sometimes my audience likes it and sometimes they don’t. I think it’s important for artists like myself to remain true to their artistic vision. Unless of course Taylor Swift calls me up and then I’ll sell my soul in 5 minutes and make a million dollars. If your ACDC and you are making $50,000,000 per album why on earth would you want to change. The music industry was never really a business to me. I’ll take cash from anyone but that’s not the reason I make music. I wished it was. I would be able to go to the moon with Elon Musk.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

MM : On Bandcamp, each track is accompanied by commentary, lyrics, and striking black-and-white photographs. What was your intention behind combining these visual and textual elements with the music?<\/span>
\nFD : It’s just a new way to approach an album release. I love to try new things. I’m all about risk and trying something different. I think it is an interesting concept to sing and play music that represents Britain in the 60s and 70s, The artwork and the lyrics reflect that.<\/p>\n

MM : The album opens with \u201cIt’s Christmas Day on Tuesday Night.\u201d Why did you choose this track as the opener, and what role does it play within the overall narrative of the album?<\/span>
\nFD : I think it was a very brave and honest song about my early life growing up in a home where lots of alcohol was present. It was the inspiration for the whole album. It was the first song I wrote for the album. It was approaching Christmas time and I wanted to challenge myself and try to write a Christmas song. I’d never done that before. It’s not an easy thing to do without sounding really cheesy! So that is how Christmas was for me. People write all sorts of Christmas songs about reindeers and romance and merry Christmas, my Christmases’ were more like my song.<\/p>\n

MM : You included \u201cI Am Weary,\u201d originally written by Pete Roberts. What drew you to this song, and what did you hope it would bring to the album by covering it?<\/span>
\nFD : It’s a beautiful song about Mother. I had to give up the ‘dream’ of mother early on in my life. I realized that no one was ever going to come a save me so I better figure something out. I once read that English soldiers would scream for their mothers when they were blown to pieces and shot on the battle fields of WW1. We cry for our Mothers at the end. We wish they were there beside us. I never had Mother in the classic sense of the word. I became my own Mother.<\/p>\n

MM : In \u201cThrow Me a Rainbow,\u201d you mention\u2014through an astrological perspective\u2014that you have \u201clet go of the image you once held of \u2018mother\u2019\u201d.<\/span>
\nFD : I was one of the kids in the town that other children had to stay away from. I was dangerous to them because of the household I was brought up in. That sort of rejection takes its toll on children. It took its toll on me. I just wanted to fit in but God didn’t have that in store for me. In adulthood, you can learn how to express these things and come to terms with your own life. But as a 10-year-old boy you don’t really have the intelligence or the means to make it better so you have to endure being rejected.<\/p>\n

MM : Having completed and released such a deeply personal work, have you experienced any sense of emotional release or inner transformation?<\/span>
\nFD : I am in a constant state of transformation. I never stop. For the next two weeks I am taking a college course in drug and alcohol counselling. It’s fascinating. I have 35 years living clean. I like helping people discover how fantastic they are. It makes me happy to see people celebrate their own unique life.<\/p>\n

MM : Could you tell us about the guitars you used on this album?<\/span>
\nFD : I only have one guitar. It’s a nylon string classical. I used it for all the reasons I mentioned above. It’s not really a guitar album. It’s more of a simple album with simple tunes and simple themes. I have grown tired of complex arrangements and virtuoso guitar parts for now. I find the whole ‘guitar’ solo thing boring and old. Young Guitar players today should challenge themselves more. We all know they can play Berkley school of music guitar scales at 300 mph. How about a nice tune for a change that we can whistle or sing along to.<\/p>\n

MM : Regarding your acoustic guitar playing, were there any particular approaches to touch, dynamics, or phrasing that you focused on for this record?<\/span>
\nFD : Rhythm guitar is a lost art. When you hear people like Glen Campbell and those boys play rhythm guitar, you realize that it’s a dying artform. Guitar has been demoted to fast scales and pointless showboating. I love rhythm guitar. I prefer playing rhythm guitar to solos. I think there’s one solo on the record where I play at 300 mph for a joke. I can actually play pretty good rhythm guitar. I’m better at rhythm that I am at solos. Simpler rhythm guitar. I love that.<\/p>\n

MM : At present, the album is primarily available in digital format. Are there any plans for physical releases such as vinyl or CD? Also, how do you view the differences in sound between formats?<\/span>
\nFD : Not right now. I may release it on vinyl if I can find the time. I only have about 20 or 30 years left to live so I want to make sure that if I decide to spend time on a project it is worth it. If you give me the choice between spending 6 days preparing an album for vinyl release or six days hanging with my children, I will pick hanging with my children every time. My children are everything to me.<\/p>\n

MM : Could you share your plans for the future?<\/span>
\nFD : I don’t have many plans right now that involve music. I am going back to school to finish my degree starting on August 31st and as I said earlier, I am currently attending a two-week drug and alcohol counselling course so that I can learn how to help others. I have a house concert tour of Britain in May and June www.francisdunnery.com#tour<\/a> and I have our annual Charity event in St Bees Cumbria at www.ckdcf.org<\/a> to raise money for children’s health and education. There is so much more to living than the music industry. I can play music all day, every day if I want, but I will do it at home. I don’t have to be in the music industry to play music.<\/p>\n

MM : Finally, do you have a message for your long-time fans, as well as for new listeners discovering your music through this album?<\/span>
\nFD : I really hope you all enjoy my latest album and I look forward to seeing you all sometime in the future in the beautiful country of Japan. I love Japan. It gives me hope. I always feel peaceful when I am there. I love the people and the culture. See you soon.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
\nFrancis Dunnery \/ England\u2019s Tales Of The Council House Kid<\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/francisdunnery.bandcamp.com\/album\/englands-tales-of-the-council-house-kid-2<\/a><\/p>\n

1.It\u2019s Christmas Day on Tuesday Night
\n2.Threw Me Away
\n3.I am Weary
\n4.The Council House Walls
\n5.Hungry For A Bigger Piece Of You
\n6.The Journey Of My Soul
\n7.Throw Me a Rainbow
\n8.We\u2019re All Going Down The River
\n9.Worry, Leave My Mind
\n10.Lost My Money On a Council Place<\/p>\n

Francis Dunnery \u2013 Guitar & Vocals
\nTodd Edwards \u2013 Piano & Backing Vocals
\nKate Ronconi \u2013 Fiddle & Backing Vocals
\nPaul Brown \u2013 Bass<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Francis Dunnery Childhood memories, complicated family relationships, and the \u201cordinary\u201d realities of everyday life in Britain\u2014on his latest album, En […]<\/p>\n

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