The Dani Paige Band’s recently released Far From Home is the most important of the frontwoman’s life because of when it happened and who won’t be there when she plays its songs. Paige’s mother was in the final stage of brain cancer while the outfit was recording. She passed a little more than a year ago.

Over the next couple months DPB has shows lined up at the Tap House in Big Sur, London Bridge Pub in Monterey and Carbone’s in New Monterey on Friday for their official CD release celebration. The show is also billed as a benefit for the National Brain Tumor Society.

“It’s the closest I can come to doing something for [my mother] even though she’s gone now,” Paige says. “It’s something really personal and just thinking about it makes me emotional.”

Paige wrote the acoustic blues ballad “Take You Away” for her mother and every time the band performs it, the harmonies transport her to her mother’s side, singing directly to her.

“Usually the guys have to wait a few minutes after the song for me to get my head straight before we move on to the next song,” she says sadly.

The album bookend – an abbreviated cover of Paul Simon’s “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” – is another tune Paige included in honor of her mother: When she was a baby, her mother sang it to her when she couldn’t sleep.

Far From Home isn’t all melancholy. A feel-good vibe seeps through on the album’s other cover, Bruno Mars’ “Runaway Baby.” The high-octane tune – the live version features a smoking drum solo in the middle – represents the outfit’s ability to keep its listeners guessing.

“One of the reasons we put it on the record is because it’s unexpected and has a lot of energy,” Paige says.

THE DANI PAIGE BAND (CD Release Party) and Casey Frazier play at 9pm Friday, Oct. 12, at Carbone’s, 214 Lighthouse Ave., Monterey. Free. 643-9169.

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