David Dondero, Coy Campbell bring soulful songs to Ampersand

He's keeping it real.

If any take on Coy Campbell's "Bell Rope" album sounded forced, the singer, songwriter and double bassist cut it.

"It had to come from the heart," Campbell said. "Whether with a band or working solo, I cannot force myself to play what I don't feel. If I feel it, my job is to make you feel it."

Feel the soulful, folk sounds of Campbell, who leads Nightingale News, as well as music from NPR-acclaimed singer-songwriter David Dondero on June 30 at Ampersand.

The intimate setting holds 52 seats for the second-floor performance, according to Clinton Edminster, Ampersand's booking and marketing director.

Tickets may be purchased from 4 p.m. to 3 a.m. daily at Ampersand's bar, and are $10 in advance or $12 at the door. There is also the option of a $50 table for two that includes a bottle of wine. A cash bar will also be open during the event.

"Their music carries a powerful lesson on gratitude and grace, a lesson only learned the hard way and by a lucky few," Edminster said of Dondero and Campbell's sounds.

Dondero's indie rock music has a folk feel, too.

And though he's somewhat under the radar - NPR's All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen said Dondero should be a name everyone knows - he's classified with the greats when it comes to songwriting.

He's listed with Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan on NPR's website as one of "The Best Living Songwriters."

Dondero, who hails from Minnesota, played with a Clemson, S.C., punk band before joining a Pensacola, Fla., folk-punk band as a drummer.

He now plays solo, and most recently released an album of original songs called "This Guitar," and also "Golden Hits Vol. 1," a 17-song retrospective folk album with updated lyrics spanning 15 years.

Campbell has also played in his share of bands, including a bluegrass band in New Mexico and rock and folk bands in Washington, where he freelanced as a double bass player.

But he has Lowcountry ties and returned to Georgia after he grew homesick for the South, joining Savannah band Waits & Co.

In Athens, he regularly performed with The Athens Symphony Orchestra as a double bassist, but wrote, too, and discovered his love of songwriting.

One night while working on a poetry manuscript, he penned a poem that wasn't his best. But he grabbed the guitar by his bed and added chords that made it very cheeky and sarcastic.

"The song was kind of a joke, but the experience of writing a song was so life affirming that I just kept doing it," Campbell said.

He withdrew from Athens' downtown life, rented a farmhouse and started writing "like my life depended on it," Campbell said.

His full-length album, bearing the fruit of his singing and songwriting talent, also includes the work of Savannah's own John Neff, formerly of Southern rock band Drive-By Truckers.

Campbell's "Bell Rope" album is due in October, but he will have artist-to-audience copies at Ampersand.

"These are my stomping grounds and my roots," he said. "And being here again after years away is inspiring me to write often and with zeal."

IF YOU GO

What: David Dondero and Nightingale News

When: 8 p.m. June 30

Where: Ampersand, 36 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Cost: $10 advance, $12 at the door, $50 table for two

Info: www.andsavannah.com