Street music or busker music has been a fabric of society since the beginning of time. It takes a special type of person to create a stage out of nowhere and perform for anyone who will listen. The 1970s busking scene of Seattle, and the whole Pacific Northwest for that matter, was led by busker extraordinaire PK Dwyer. What started on the campus of UCLA and Pike Place Market led to a long career exploring the style.
Sadly, the ultimate busker has now left this realm. PK Dwyer’s last busking performance was at the Burien Trader Joe’s on March 2, 2024. He passed away on April 15, 2024 after an intense 8 month battle with cancer. His ashes were released into Puget Sound at Redondo Beach, WA so he will forever be part of the aura there.
As an honor, we would like to introduce you to the final album of PK Dwyer entitled Loud & Clear. The 9 song collection highlights his raw journey of emotions and distinctive voice and playing style on guitar, harmonica and autoharp.
PK Dwyer’s Loud & Clear isn’t a polished, radio-ready affair. It’s a raw, visceral blues experience, a gut-punch of emotion delivered with grit and unwavering authenticity. This album feels like it was recorded in a smoky backroom, the kind where the whiskey flows freely and the stories are etched in the lines of a well-worn face.
The weathered and full of character vocals are the album’s centerpiece. It’s a voice that’s seen some things, felt some things, and isn’t afraid to lay it all bare. He growls, he whispers, he howls, and every note rings true. The man lived and breathed the blues busker life.
The instrumentation is equally stripped-down. Dwyer’s harmonica cuts through the air like a rusty blade, while his guitar work is raw and untamed. There’s a primal energy to the music, a sense of urgency that’s both captivating and unsettling. This isn’t about technical proficiency; it’s about conveying raw emotion with every note.
From the opener “The End of Time” we are welcomed to the close proximity storytelling style that has built the career of PK Dwyer. Guitar picking along and harmonica fills paint the full picture of a tough journey where he holds nothing back. The bluesy “Never Had A Chance” shares more of this raw emotion without pulling any punches. He tells it how it is whether you are ready to hear it or not.
There is some fun too like on “Half Naked Woman” with a twisting tale that we are not sure is going to end in joy or pain. Loud & Clear isn’t an album for the faint of heart. It’s a journey into the darker corners of the soul, a confrontation with the blues in its purest form. Dwyer doesn’t sugarcoat anything. He lays it all out, the pain, the regret, the longing, and the occasional flicker of hope.
“The Message” is perhaps the highlight of the album with its complete revelation that PK Dwyer knew exactly who he was and was perfectly satisfied with that. Something we can all aspire to. Raw authenticity and emotional intensity. PK Dwyer embodied that with every fiber of his being.
Learn about and hear more from PK Dwyer on his WEBSITE.
