Digney Fignus

Fignus emerged on the Boston scene in the ’90s as an accomplished pop-punk songwriter. In 1984, his “Girl with the Curious Hand” won MTV’s “Basement Tapes” competition and led to a major-label deal. Now, with this indie release, he’s rebuilt himself as a roots musician, riding roughshod on an easy-to-digest but sophisticated blend of blues, folk, Cajun, and old-time music with a rock-and-roll heart. The 12 songs, which tell the story of a protagonist whose life is tossed by a Louisiana flood, were in the works well before Katrina. Fignus’s clear-toned, flexible voice puts his story of loss, faith, and hope across with ease, and his ensemble’s playing is always dead on — precise, spare, yet loose enough to serve the backcountry spirit that the lyrics evoke. The central cut is “Trouble on the Levee,” where the rising water becomes a metaphor for life’s pains. But by the end of the disc — after we’ve had doses of Cajun swing and some barrelhouse boogie — Fignus’s Johnnie Boudreaux is on the road to personal redemption through love, sweet, love. - The Boston Pheonix

Metronome
Magazine
NOVEMBER 2008

DOUG’s TOP FIVE FOR NOVEMBER 2008

Digney Fignus has always been a colorful musical character upon the Boston landscape. From his MTV fueled popularity for the hit song “The Girl with the Curious Hand” in the 1980’s, to his about-face turn in the new millennium of chronicling the adventures of a young, fictitious New Orleans man named Johnnie Boudreaux. Fignus has always managed to stay well ahead of the curve in his songwriting and listening audience. On his latest offering, Talk of the Town, Fignus pens another chapter to his 2006 release Trouble on the Levee. That CD was so popular with listeners, that many people requested to hear more about the man “too good lookin’ for his own good,” hence this new album.

Sounding like Randy Newman in his heyday, digney wrangles up 12 new songs that bubble with grooves so infectious, you’re going to need a good liniment to work them out. His voice is gnarly and familiar as he scripts out ingenious plots only Boudreaux could find himself in. Digney also employs an A-list of musicians that feature Chris Leadbetter (mandolin, guitar, vocals), Wolf Ginandes (bass), Dave Mattacks (drums), Tom West (piano, organ), Perry James (drums), Ian Kennedy (violin), Russell Jewell (trombone), Scott Shetler (clarinet, saxophone), Steve Burke (keyboard), Doug Dube (B-3, keyboards), Yahuba Garcia (percussion), PJ Adamson and Katrin Roush (vocals). Collectively this group turns in a qualified country offering that could easily make country’s Top 10 best list.

If you’ve never heard of Digney Fignus (you’ve been lying under a rock haven’t you?). I highly suggest you check out Talk of the Town. You’ll hear a seasoned Boston musician operating at the top of his game. Good stuff!

By Douglas Sloan
- Metronome Magazine

If the name's familiar, you most likely are steeped in mid-1980s music trivia. Digney Fignus had a modest MTV hit in 1984 called "The Girl With The Curious Hand" (beating out author David Foster Wallace's short-story collection with its similar title by a few years). This new record has nothing to do with that, as somewhere along the line, Fignus morphed into a country singer-songwriter with toes in virtually every roots form you could name.
Two years ago, he released Trouble On The Levee, a set of songs inspired by a fictional scenario in Louisiana. In the liner notes to Talk Of The Town, he continues this short story (which reads more like a movie treatment), with new twists and turns regarding love, parenting, and even a murder mystery. But, honestly, you don't have to read the eight-page tale to enjoy the music. Aside from a couple of character names, the connection is fairly tenuous, anyway.
Fignus and his supporting musicians (including former Fairport Convention drummer Dave Mattacks, as brilliant as ever) cover territory ranging from Cajun to honky-tonk to blues-rock to country balladry to old-time jazz and even a pseudo-Calypso beat. Each stylistic foray matches nicely to the melodic hook and the lyrics, the general nature of which are fairly evident from titles such as "Party Down In Hell" and "The Girl's Gone Ga-Ga". On a more somber note, "Letter From The Line" could sit next to the Kinks classic "Some Mother's Son" in the way it looks at soldiers and the people at home who miss them.
- No Depression

If the name's familiar, you most likely are steeped in mid-1980s music trivia. Digney Fignus had a modest MTV hit in 1984 called "The Girl With The Curious Hand" (beating out author David Foster Wallace's short-story collection with its similar title by a few years). This new record has nothing to do with that, as somewhere along the line, Fignus morphed into a country singer-songwriter with toes in virtually every roots form you could name.
Two years ago, he released Trouble On The Levee, a set of songs inspired by a fictional scenario in Louisiana. In the liner notes to Talk Of The Town, he continues this short story (which reads more like a movie treatment), with new twists and turns regarding love, parenting, and even a murder mystery. But, honestly, you don't have to read the eight-page tale to enjoy the music. Aside from a couple of character names, the connection is fairly tenuous, anyway.
Fignus and his supporting musicians (including former Fairport Convention drummer Dave Mattacks, as brilliant as ever) cover territory ranging from Cajun to honky-tonk to blues-rock to country balladry to old-time jazz and even a pseudo-Calypso beat. Each stylistic foray matches nicely to the melodic hook and the lyrics, the general nature of which are fairly evident from titles such as "Party Down In Hell" and "The Girl's Gone Ga-Ga". On a more somber note, "Letter From The Line" could sit next to the Kinks classic "Some Mother's Son" in the way it looks at soldiers and the people at home who miss them.
by: Steve Pick - Nov. 29, 2008
- No Depression