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Talking Tracks: To The Unknown by DB Stewart

The album is 11 tracks DB wrote to inspire himself to become the person and songwriter he wants to be as opposed to highlighting who and what he already is.

Dan Ray June 27, 2023
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Talking Tracks: To The Unknown by DB Stewart June 27, 2023

Raised by a single mother in the suburbs of Detroit, Dan discovered an early passion for singing, songwriting, and the arts as a whole. She got her BA in English and music at the University of Michigan, where she reported for the school’s paper, The Michigan Daily. She worked as a Senior News Reporter on the government beat, transitioned to arts writing, and eventually became the managing editor of the social media department. She moved to Seattle in 2017. After losing her job during the COVID-19 pandemic and discouraged about the lack of press surrounding Seattle’s music scene, Dan made the decision to turn Dan’s Tunes, a fully fledged music journalism website focused on showcasing the Seattle area’s musicians, into its own startup. There’s so much music happening in the city that spawned Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Jimi Hendrix — among others — and Dan’s Tunes is determined to find and expose those outstanding acts. The goal is to have satellites in every major US city, uplifting diverse and compelling voices and helping music communities thrive. In 2020, Dan was featured in the Seattle Times’s year-end music critic poll. Other than her musical endeavors (singing, playing ukulele, and auditioning for American Idol four times before the age of 24) Ray is passionate about food and education around the American food system, and she’s also a large proponent of eliminating the stigma around mental health. Ray loves cats, especially her own, who is named Macaulay Culkin (but she’s a lady).

Photo by Jason Norman

On Talking Tracks, music journalist Dan Ray interviews indie artists as they play through their latest drops song by song. It’s a little bit like a curated Spotify playlist, except way more personal and in depth. In each episode, you’ll get to listen to the full album or EP right alongside the artist’s inspiration behind the tracks. Think Miley Cyrus’s Disney+ Backyard Sessions but with an artist you (probably) haven’t heard of (yet). Season two focuses on Seattle musicians.

Seattle blues pop/rock singer-songwriter DB Stewart (of Seattle rock band Deify) released his debut solo album, To The Unknown, on July 15, 2022. In this episode of Talking Tracks, Dan and DB break down the meaning behind and the making of each song on the project — 11 tracks DB wrote to inspire himself to become the person and songwriter he wants to be as opposed to highlighting who and what he already is. For fans of Tom Petty, Dua Lipa, and Kaleo.

Listen below and subscribe to the full podcast here. Scroll down to see our photo story of the live recording. This episode was recorded at The Rendezvous with sound by Sean Aragon.

Track listing:
1. To The Unknown – 22:50.
2. Push My Limit – 34:35.
3. My Story – 47:11.
4. 23rd to Madison – 59:01.
5. Love Like Yours – 1:07:27.
6. Somethin’ Bout You– 1:19:09.
7. By Your Light – 1:28:03.
8. Broke, Broke — 1:35:25.
9. Destined to Meet — 1:44:27.
10. It’s Gonna Get Better (Right?) — 1:51:46.
11. Closure — 2:02:38.

Seattle blues pop/rock singer-songwriter DB Stewart (of Seattle rock band Deify) released his debut solo album, To The Unknown, on July 15, 2022. The album was produced by xstitch. From left: bassist Greg Olson,  drummer Cyrus Zerbe, DB Stewart, and keyboardist Camaira Metz.
DB also has his own podcast called Made for Music, in which he interviews people who work in the music industry. His goal with the podcast is to break down barriers to entry and make industry knowledge more accessible. His guests include people like Mara Schwartz Kuge, the president of Superior Music Publishing and John Legend's original publisher; Tom Higgenson of Plain White T's; and JR "The Celebrity Bus Driver" Robinson, who has driven for Mötley Crüe, Kevin Hart, Justin Bieber, Ozzy Osbourne, and more. Talking Tracks host Dan Ray was also on the podcast during season three.
Every episode for season two of Talking Tracks, Dan created a collage inspired by the album. For To The Unknown, she cut out celebrities' faces because she was picturing them in the audience at DB's pop concert. She said she was excited to create a pop music collage because so few Seattle artists do pop music. Dan also plays a game with the artist each episode, in which she asks them a fun question after each song. This episode's question is, "Which celebrity is singing along to this song at your concert?"
Tom Petty is one of DB's main inspirations. One of DB's most influential musical memories is a time when he was growing up and his parents had hired a contractor to do some work on their house. DB was singing in another room, and the contractor came up to him and asked DB if he ever sings in front of an audience. DB said no because he didn't think his voice was good enough, and the contractor told him Tom Petty hated his voice but became one of the biggest musicians in the world anyway. (Dan's Tunes could not confirm whether or not Tom Petty actually hated his voice.) To The Unknown was heavily influenced by Tom Petty and Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia.
DB was inspired by Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia to write an album, as opposed to a collection of singles. To The Unknown is that album. But, prior to the album dropping, he released eight of the tracks as singles. He talked to an executive at Atlantic Records who said it takes 32 songs for an artist to break, so his release strategy was to drop as often as possible to feed the algorithm.
On the surface, the first and title track, "To The Unknown," is a fun, bouncy pop/rock track about going out for the night. But DB said he titled the album after this song because of the subtext: He was at a point in his life where he didn't know where his life or the sound of the album was going, but he wanted this track to set the tone for both.
The video for track two, "Push My Limit," features DB driving a bright red Chevy Camaro around rural Washington. The video almost didn't happen, though: DB's original car rental fell through. He ended up finding the Camaro at the last minute, but then the day they were supposed to film was pouring rain. They spent the day driving north and chasing the sun, and that's where most of the shots came from. DB chose Dax Shepherd as the celebrity singing along to this song. Dan chose Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger (she likes Nickelback).
Tracks two and three, "My Story" and "23rd to Madison," respectively, are two parts of the same story. "My Story" is an angsty, defiant, pop-rock tune written in response to DB being told he was too old for the music industry at age 24. "23rd to Madison" is a bluesy, droning groove exploring DB's intrusive thought of, "...what if they were right and I am too old?" DB picked Ingrid Michaelson to sing along to "My Story" and Billy Joel Armstrong for "23rd to Madison."
Many of the tracks on To The Unknown are paired together: Track eight, "Broke, Broke" is about hitting rock bottom and being "broke" both literally and emotionally. DB  described track nine, "Destined to Meet," as the rebound from that. The track is about randomly meeting someone in a bar and having them lift your spirits. DB picked Kelsea Ballerini as the celebrity singing along to "Destined to Meet." Dan picked Michelle Rodriguez.
Track 10, "It's Gonna Get Better (Right?)," is the lead single off To The Unknown. DB freestyled the track in the studio in the middle of the pandemic. He said a lot of people have related to it since it was so effortless and heartfelt. The album closes with track 11, "Closure." To hear all of the songs, check out the full podcast by listening above.

Photos by Jason Norman.

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Raised by a single mother in the suburbs of Detroit, Dan discovered an early passion for singing, songwriting, and the arts as a whole. She got her BA in English and music at the University of Michigan, where she reported for the school’s paper, The Michigan Daily. She worked as a Senior News Reporter on the government beat, transitioned to arts writing, and eventually became the managing editor of the social media department. She moved to Seattle in 2017. After losing her job during the COVID-19 pandemic and discouraged about the lack of press surrounding Seattle’s music scene, Dan made the decision to turn Dan’s Tunes, a fully fledged music journalism website focused on showcasing the Seattle area’s musicians, into its own startup. There’s so much music happening in the city that spawned Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Jimi Hendrix — among others — and Dan’s Tunes is determined to find and expose those outstanding acts. The goal is to have satellites in every major US city, uplifting diverse and compelling voices and helping music communities thrive. In 2020, Dan was featured in the Seattle Times’s year-end music critic poll. Other than her musical endeavors (singing, playing ukulele, and auditioning for American Idol four times before the age of 24) Ray is passionate about food and education around the American food system, and she’s also a large proponent of eliminating the stigma around mental health. Ray loves cats, especially her own, who is named Macaulay Culkin (but she’s a lady).