Dan Tedesco Sings ‘American Darkness’

When Dan Tedesco plays at SOhO Restaurant & Music Club’s Singer-Songwriter Night on Tuesday, June 11, he’ll be singing songs from his new album, American Darkness. Released in May of this year, the album was mostly written during the latter half of 2016, a tumultuous period of time that hardly anyone remembers fondly. Fittingly, Tedesco’s album is replete with alternative rock numbers, a melting pot of somber, wistful, and hopeful, evoking artists such as Tom Petty and R.E.M. 

American Darkness is largely a letter to future generations, both entrusting and cautionary. Songs like “Before You Were Born” were directly inspired by “the birth of my daughter, and the perspective switch that happens when you become a parent,” Tedesco said. “It’s addressed to the youth, the kids, in our country. A huge theme on not just this song but the whole record is youth. The promise of youth. The future they represent and our responsibility to them.” Raising her, he said, “provides me with a regular reminder of the positivity in the world, and of the possibilities that are always around us if we’re willing to look at them.”

While American Darkness delves into certain American destitutions and sadness, Tedesco finds a lot of light there still. “It is certainly not something to be overwhelmed by, or to allow it to overshadow the really incredible things about America,” he said of America’s shadow sides. “I think it’s crucial to maintain a healthy, informed perspective. An awareness of what’s going on.”