AUK viewers will be treated to a little change of pace from acoustic guitars as Dillon Warnek performs his mini-gig while accompanying himself on the piano. The set was recorded at Bomb Studios in Nashville, the very place he also recorded his superb album As the Neighbors Tried to Sleep last year (Soggy Anvil Records, 2025), aided and abetted by a couple buddies: his producer Drew Carroll (recording) and “one of the greatest songwriters on planet earth” Jeremy Ivey handling cinematography. Much has been made of Ivey and his wife, Margo Price, bestowing the seal of approval on Warnek’s music. They will get no argument from me or from AUK, where this album was reviewed.
Comparisons have been made to the usual piano-playing suspects, Randy Newman and Warren Zevon – and they are not wrong. You can hear a little Harry Nilsson in his delivery as well. Like Peter Parker/Spiderman (“newspaper photographer by day, web-slinging superhero at night”), Warnek also has an alter-ego to bear – “a construction worker by day, piano balladeer at night.” Years ago, burned out, he moved to Nashville to quit music. In an interview, he noted, “Some very dear friends of mine didn’t think that was a good idea and forced me into a studio to record my songs. And it was the best worst thing anyone has ever done to me, and it was the right thing.”
Warnek offers us three songs from the album. He is firing on all cylinders on Pretend You Miss Me, a reclamation of joy and seizing agency and control. He sounds like he’s going through a hair-raising rapture on the track, quaking and aching through strained vocals, tear-drop lyrics and a wounded piano accompaniment as he advises Muriel to, “Dress in red and show a little leg and pretend that you miss me.” On Flowers, Warnek cries out over incongruous piano chording in a song that pillows your soul like a lullaby after waking up in a cold sweat. “You want to know what something’s worth? Just treat it like it’s worthless.” The opening song is Bad Accordion, another tale about folks on life’s margins, which he manages to make sound effortless yet breathtaking. “This song is about self-destruction as sung by the last living arsonist from El Dorado, the city of gold. People spend their whole lives trying to get there. He was born there and tried to burn it down.”
For those uninitiated to Warnek’s skewered worldview and tall tales, you can find his music on Bandcamp and Spotify, among other outlets and follow him on Facebook.
