David Wilcox

I had a great sabbatical (20 minutes may not truly qualify for a sabbatical, but the quality was high) this afternoon. I needed one. Court has been particularly dark this week. I got word that David Wilcox, my favorite songwriter/performer/good guy would be doing a live radio show on wkze out of New York on a live stream.

The guy is really good. He is a gifted acoustic guitar player, and a poet. If you have never heard his music, go buy a couple of his songs on itunes or some other online source. I would recommend Love Will Find a Way, Hold it Up to the Light, Just Get On, Eye of the Hurricane, Start at the Ending . . . I hate recommending songs. I would start with the Live Songs and Stories CD. Just listen. He comes to Workplay once or twice a year. Watch for it.


So right out of the blocks he is casually shooting the breeze with the announcer about a CD he did with his wife Nance. He said that he really didn't want to sing one of those because Nance sang such beautiful harmonies. He had tried to do a couple without her at concerts, but the melody he sang was just never the same without her harmony.

I wonder if he would get mad if I stole that line for a song. I would like to have the stuff he shoots at the garbage can.

But when he said that about Nance his voice revealed more than just an excellent hook for a song.

He meant it. That's why his songs are good. They express real things he loves, hates, laughs and cries at. They express life. Yours and mine. Even songs about the Waffle House or various automobiles that have affected his life. Some are a bit crude, but they are so funny and clever you find yourself singing along even if you don't want to.

I am a songwriter wannnabe. Actually its just another part of my cheap therapy program. But David, in his self-deprecating way, once again spoke for me, as those of us who are his fans know he always does. He told the interviewer that the folks who stands or sits on a stool in front of people and sing songs they have written while staring into the pit of an acoustic guitar do so because they have no other social skills. But the songs are ususally an effort to start a conversation the only way they know how, to speak to people about important things.

He's got a point. But some are better conversationalists than others. He is one of the best. And he loads his own equipment sometimes. And he will stop and talk to anybody, if he doesn't have to get right back on the road. But in case you haven't heard him before, here are two or three of his lines . I would say they are my favorites, but he has just written too many good ones. Enjoy the conversation.

From Hold it Up to the Light . . .

I said God, will you bless this decision?
I'm scared, Is my life at stake?
But I see if you gave me a vision
Would I never have reason to use my faith?

From Show the Way

For it's Love who makes the mortar
And it's love who stacked these stones
And it's love who made the stage here
Although it looks like we're alone
In this scene set in shadows
Like the night is here to stay
There is evil cast around us
But it's love that wrote the play...
For in this darkness love can show the way.

From Just Get On

Cause I'm sitting at the station
And I'm lost in contemplation
But this ticket's only good for just so long,
If I wait in indecision it will be gone,
So I just get on. . . .

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