at the Press Room July 1

Dave Gerard jokingly thanked folk legend Tom Rush for opening for him on July 1. Rush had played a show under the tent at the Prescott Park Arts Festival, finishing his set about an hour before Gerard kicked off his solo gig at The Press Room. Gerard regrettably confessed that he did not know any Tom Rush songs and could not pay tribute to the fellow New Hampshire resident. Instead, he dove into a fresh and energetic set of mostly original songs from his new CD, “The Zoomy Trail.”

A veteran Seacoast performer with unmitigated passion for his craft, Gerard meshes blues, rock and bluegrass into a distinctive guitar and singing style. When he’s not gigging as a solo artist, he can often be found fronting his Portsmouth-based rock band Truffle, which has been together since 1986. That experience all comes to bear on “The Zoomy Trail,” his fourth solo album.

Gerard’s acoustic guitar expertise was on full display at The Press Room, where he often indulged the Wednesday night crowd with extended instrumental interludes. He strummed chords easily and proficiently, complementing his own playing with his often guttural vocals. His voice, similar in pitch to Eric Clapton but with a slight Louis Armstrong growl, invokes the spirit of New Orleans music on the Seacoast.

“The Zoomy Trail,” recorded at Thundering Sky Studio in South Berwick, Maine, includes eight original songs by Gerard and two covers. He roped in a number of area musicians to help him on the album, including his Truffle band mates Ned Chase on mandolin, David Bailey on bass and Mike Gendron on drums. Chase’s mandolin contributions on the opening tracks “You May Be Gone” and “Everyman” lend a wistful bluegrass tint that reaches emotional depths.

But a couple of the CD’s tracks—the love song “Faith” and the disc’s closing cover of “What a Wonderful World”—feature Gerard by his lonesome on guitar and vocals. “Faith” was included in the set list at The Press Room, acquainting listeners with Gerard’s intimate songwriting. “Don’t let go, keep things anew / And I’ll do my best for us too,” he sang. 

Gerard also played the new tune “Write a Letter” and explained the song’s genesis. He said he was playing a gig somewhere when he noticed a man and woman having dinner together at a nearby table. The couple did not exchange a single word, he said, but spent the evening typing rapid-fire text messages.

The set also included the peppier New Orleans-style romp “30 Robins,” which features six musicians on the CD but sounded equally compelling when performed by Gerard alone. He later played the meditative country-grass number “Everyman,” followed soon after by David Bromberg’s “Diamond Lil.” Gerard even threw in an absorbing cover of Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon.”

Gerard is not a shy performer. As a solo act, he has shared bills with the likes of Arlo Guthrie, Richie Havens, Toots & the Maytals and others. Truffle has shared the stage with such starlit titles as Phish, The Band, Little Feat, Blues Traveler and the Dave Matthews Band, among others.

His comfort onstage is obvious, and he engaged in joking banter with the audience, often deriding his own brown, polyester, dragon-patterned shirt. He supplemented his two solo sets with a few quirky percussion instruments, occasionally running the neck of his guitar across a tinkling set of chimes. He jammed alternately on acoustic and electric guitar, always with an infectious smile and a near continual bobbing of his body, as if engrossed in the steady groove he generated.

Demonstrating the type of patience that comes after decades of bar gigs, Gerard even dealt admirably with an inebriated guest who sporadically shouted requests for Paul Simon, Jethro Tull and Eric Clapton (the man later denied requesting Simon).  

Gerard has a number of other solo shows booked through July, including gigs at Three Chimneys Inn in Durham on July 9, 16 and 30, and at The Dolphin Striker in Portsmouth on July 21. Truffle has upcoming shows at Swasey Park in Exeter on July 18, The Governor’s Inn in Rochester on July 19, and Rudi’s in Portsmouth on July 23.

“The Zoomy Trail” is available at Bull Moose locations and other select stores. For more information, visit www.gerardtruffle.com or www.myspace.com/gerardtruffle.