Kevin McFoy Dunn

Kevin McFoy Dunn (aka, Kevin Dunn, born 1951, Jacksonville, Florida) is a multi-instrumentalist, producer, and songwriter long considered a lynchpin and pioneering figure in the fertile new wave scene that first erupted around Athens, Georgia and Atlanta, Georgia in the late 1970s.

He helped to galvanize the nascent music community in the southeast first by forming the group The Fans in 1975 with co-conspirator Alfredo Villar in their hometown of Atlanta. The Fans were one of the first southern bands to draw influence not from the blues or country music, but from British art rock of the era (Brian Eno, Roxy Music, Robert Fripp, etc.). Famously unfortunate, The Fans were unable to secure a record contract and disbanded in 1979, having released only three singles.

Dunn was concurrently pursuing a solo career as both a performer and producer. In 1978 he co-produced The B-52s’ landmark “Rock Lobster” 45, which was one of the earliest southern new wave titles to garner international interest, subsequently propelling the band to stardom.

The next year found Dunn co-producing the debut single by the influential Athens outfit Pylon, “Cool/Dub.” 1979 also marked the release of his debut solo single “Nadine/Oktyabrina.”

In 1980 he co-produced Pylon’s debut LP Gyrate. Dunn’s debut solo album, The Judgement of Paris, was released by DB Recs in 1981. He followed that with the 1983 EP C’est Toujours La Même Guitarre., which was widely reviewed—including a positive notice by Robert Palmer in the New York Times.

His second LP, Tanzfeld, was released in 1985 and earned a B+ from Robert Christgau in the Village Voice.