'The Portable Herman Dune' Vol. 1 is an acoustic anthology, the first of three parts, in which 22 years of songwriting are laid bare, stripped to the most intimate bone, to be released at intervals over the coming months.

Though sonically naked, the songs are bundled up in emotion and loaded with life. The album was recorded in Ivar's studio Santa Cruz Records, in San Pedro, California, where he has produced all Herman Dune albums since 2012.

Centre-stage are David Ivar's songs, with his 1954 guitar, his 1930s mandolin, and his voice, plus exceptional guests: Julie Doiron, Mayon (Ivar's life partner), Caitlin Rose, Jolie Holland, and Kimya Dawson providing vocal counterpoint.

'The Portable Herman Dune' is raw and straightforward, the songs played as naturally as David wrote them.

His voice has become more gravelly after two decades of singing, and his guitar is without embellishment.

Some songs have accents of harmonica, upright bass, melodica, accordion, or piano, and two pieces have the beautiful violin of Jolie Holland, with whom David was recording the soundtrack for Edouard Deluc's new Feature Film (Petaouchnok, meant for release in Nov.2022).

Surprisingly, after years and countless performances worldwide with this minimal setting, it's the first time that we get such a sober treatment on a proper Herman Dune album.

John Fahey, Elizabeth Cotten, Leadbelly, Nick Drake have always been favourites, and David learned to play guitar with Lennon's 'Working Class Hero' and Dylan's 'Don't Think Twice It's Alright'.

"Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should" is a principle Ivar often thought about while arranging and producing his own albums, "there's something to a raw song that you can't really beat," he says.

After not touring for ten years, just playing solo shows around Los Angeles, Ivar recorded 39 songs live in his studio, with the urge to play for diverse audiences and travel the world again.

All the recordings were made live in David Ivar's wooden cabin of a studio in San Pedro, the harbor of Los Angeles.

You can hear the old floorboards creaking, a dog barking, or the neighbours driving loud motorcycles.

Feet tapping, birds singing, and the cat meowing when songs quiet down. Harmonica and mandolin are only discreet additions to the core of the songs, Ivar on guitar and vocals "I don't know if these are classic songs, but they sure are to me."