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Full Bio/Media Kit/Downloadable photos online: http://www.davidolney.com (Press page)

OLNEY IMPRESSIONS:

"As the title track notes, it's not just one tough town, but a tough planet. I saw Olney playing at a festival this spring and thought he looked like a FEDORA-SPORTING, fiftysomething HIGH-SCHOOL PRINCIPAL who'd SUDDENLY GONE BERSERK and was using his acoustic guitar like it was a weapon. Love this crazy guy, LOVE THIS RECORD."
-- Rochester (NY) Democrat & Chronicle

"Olney stands out LIKE A JALAPENO IN A BOWL OF VANILLA PUDDING in Nashville. One Tough Town, A BRILLIANT SAMPLING OF AMERICAN MUSIC from blues and rockabilly to New Orleans swing and NOIR FOLK, adds another top-notch effort to a prolific string of fine records. "Sweet Poison" is a shot of rockabilly so stout it should make most of the current crop of pompadoured fakers sell their instruments and go back to 40-hour weeks at Burger King. ... a TRUE GENIUS of American song."
-- Houston (TX) Press

"One Tough Town shows Olney at his lightest. As usual, though, darkness runs through much of the Nashvillian's work, from the BLUESY RAWNESS of 'Sweet Poison' to the biblical gravity of the GOSPEL-FLAVORED 'See How the Mighty Have Fallen.' And his version of Townes Van Zandt's 'Snake Song' positively DRIPS WITH MENACE. He has written some audacious, in-character songs over his distinguished four-decade career, but David Olney has perhaps outdone himself with 'Who's the Dummy Now?'"
-- The Philadelphia Inquirer

"Few are capable of spinning such colorful and multi-layered yarns with so little excess fat. On this fine new release, Olney spans the gamut from OBSTREPEROUS GLEE to NAKED TERROR. He hits the mark consistently throughout the album."
-- American Songwriter Magazine (July/Aug 2007)

"Previously, with his gruff voice and GUTBUCKET ARRANGEMENTS, Olney has recalled the later Tom Waits; on One Tough Town, that comparison remains valid, although one also should mention Leon Redbone as a model. In his songwriting, OLNEY CONTINUES TO DELIGHT in imaginative explorations of historical and invented characters and situations."
-- AllMusic.com

"He's a little bit country, a little bit folk and quite a bit raw passion. He can grab an audience's attention like a bolt of lightning or exude tenderness in heart-tugging love songs."
-- The Philadelphia Inquirer

"David Olney resembles an old-time road bard who will, and can, do virtually anything to rivet strangers under his one-night tent....Olney's traveling show can mesmerize."
-- Geoff Gehman, The Morning Call

"David Olney is astounding... gave one of the most magnificent solo acoustic shows I have seen and that includes concerts by Bruce Springsteen, Guy Clark or anyone else you'd care to name. He can break your heart but he can also chill your spine."
-- Ft. Worth Star-Telegram

"David Olney is nothing less than a twisted American treasure - a booming narrator of dark topics usually spoken about only in hushed tones. He also wields a mighty wicked guitar."
-- Mountain XPress, Asheville, NC

"Anytime anyone asks me who my favorite music writers are, I say Mozart, Lightnin' Hopkins, Bob Dylan and Dave Olney. Dave Olney is one of the best songwriters I've ever heard - and that's true. I mean that from my heart."
-- Townes Van Zandt

DYNAMITE DAVE: A MUSIC CITY MASTER: "During his three decades in Nashville, Dave Olney has gone from being one of Music City's most exhilarating rock 'n' rollers to being one of our town's best respected songsmiths. Even when stripped down to a guitar and vocal, though, Olney's songs and performances retain unusual intensity and impact. All this goes to say that...well, he's awfully good. For songwriters and performers, an Olney concert offers an opportunity to learn by observing a great one in action. For everyone else, it's just an opportunity to be entertained by a uniquely masterful artist."
-- Peter Cooper, The Tennessean

"David Olney tells marvelous stories, with characters who cling to the hope of enduring love, all the while crossing the deep divide into that long dark night of the soul. They are saints and charlatans, gypsies and thieves, the ordinary and extraordinary."
--Emmylou Harris

"Writing from the point of view of historical characters has become one of Mr. Olney's most distinguishing talents, whether he's singing from the mind of a donkey that carried Jesus or imagining Jesse James's last bragging words before being shot by Robert Ford..." "But he stresses: 'Anyone who sits down to write a heavy song is a jerk. It's more like paleontology, when you find a bone of a song sticking up and do everything you can to get the rest of it out without breaking it.'"
-- Neil Strauss, The New York Times

“Olney's deep, hard-nosed voice remains as clear and unforgiving as a punch to the face, and, as always, it's his songs of love, with their focus on tenderness and redemption, that do the most lasting damage.”
-- Michael McCall, Nashville Scene