When the original It Bites lineup decided to call it a day, frontman Francis Dunnery was handpicked by Robert Plant to tour the world and record. After a successful sold-out tour of the UK as The Tombstone Dunnery band, Francis is delighted to announce the release of the group’s debut album, The Blues of Tombstone Dunnery Vol. 1.
Words: Sara Harding
“Robert was my introduction to the Blues,” Francis said in an exclusive chat with MetalTalk. “On tour, he would buy records and play them to me. He would say, ‘Have you heard this?’ I was blown away by the authenticity of the Blues, so I decided to record a Blues album and came up with the name Tombstone Dunnery for this new incarnation.” 
The Tombstone Dunnery debut album will contain 12 original blues tunes, all written and arranged by Francis Dunnery. Having seen these songs live and loud at Nell’s, they took us on a real journey via the Cumbrian Delta to the Chitlin Circuit. It’s authentic and packed with all those blue notes and Dunnery’s carefully crafted lyrics.
“I’m seriously proud of it,” Francis told us of this new collection of the blues.”I hope you love listening to it as much as I enjoyed creating it. It’s all about the blues, blues and more blues.”
Dunnery is a musicians musician, an educator, a master songwriter, a mentor and a storyteller. In fact, the legendary Robert Plant famously said, “Francis Dunnery should be a public service”.
There will be a UK tour to support the new Tombstone Dunnery release, and below is all the information you need for this full-on blues explosion.
Watch this space for an exclusive chat with Francis about Tombstone Dunnery and “That other band, It Bites.”
The Blues of Tombstone Dunnery Vol. 1 is available to pre-order from here.
Tombstone Dunnery
Guitar/vocals – Francis Dunnery
Bass guitar – Paul Brown
Drums – Phil Beaumont
Rhythm guitar – Quint Starkie
Keyboards – Nigel Hopkins
Brass and Woodwind – Neil Yates
Backing Vocals – Deanne Blazey
The Blues of Tombstone Dunnery Vol. 1.
01. She left me with the blues
02. Poison Woman
03. Boys running wild
04. Take my joy away
05. Don’t you cry
06. The town where nobody feels
07. Danglin man
08. My whole life
09. Blues falling down like weather
10. It’s hard to love another woman
11. The comeback boy
12. Riding on the blues train
