David Wilcox

Imagine the difference between riding a motorcycle and watching someone else ride on TV. Unless you know firsthand that thrill, the rumble and response of the bike, the sun, wind, splatting sting of bugs, the scenes and sensations that flow over and through you as you ride, that vision of a rider on TV has little influence on your imagination. You're just watching someone on a motorcycle.

David Wilcox is somehow able to find, open up and unite the dark with the sublime as naturally as drawing a breath. He's human, he knows it, he celebrates and philosophizes on and acknowledges all sides of it and draws you in with him... one moment you're laughing about something that in the next moment becomes a piercing recognition of human fallibility.

Or vice versa. He never stands you in place, he always moves you, one way or another. He shows you a vignette, such as tucking an 8-year-old son into bed or driving along a two-lane road at night, but unfolds it in four dimensions at the same time he carries you to its core, which is often not quite where you expected to find it. He does all this with poetry set to music, with stories and little asides ("I'd like to play for you a song I haven't learned yet") that flow as effortlessly as if he were only having a conversation.

Cleveland-born Wilcox was inspired to play guitar after watching a fellow college student playing in a stairwell. His lyrical insight is matched by a smooth baritone voice, virtuosic guitar chops, and creative open tunings, giving him a range and tenderness rare in folk music. He graduated from Warren Wilson College in North Carolina in 1985. Within two years he had released his first album, and by 1989 he had signed with A & M Records. His first release on the label, How Did You Find Me Here, sold over 100,000 copies the first year largely by word of mouth. Now, 15 albums into a career marked by personal revelation and wildly loyal fans, David continues to find and deliver joy, inspiration, and invention. Reflecting on over 20 years of record-making and touring, Wilcox says, “Music still stretches out before me like the head-lights of a car into the night. It’s way beyond where I am, but it shows where I’m going. I used to think that my goal was to catch up, but now I’m grateful that the music is always going to be way out in front to inspire me.”

How do you describe your music to people, David?
I say that they're compelling stories, beautiful melodies, intricate guitar arrangements, and thoroughly written.

Tell me about how you originally got into your craft.
I was listening to a woman play a guitar in open tunings in a stairwell, when I was at college.

What is your favorite thing to do in the whole wide world?
I'd tell the truth, but you couldn't print it. I'm flummoxed.

What is your biggest challenge when it comes to running your business?
Um, my biggest challenge is that the more I know about the business, the more depressed I get.

When you were a kid, what did you think you were going to be when you grew up?
I was going to be an inventor. I thought I'd have the theory of everything. I had an intuitive hunch that I knew where relativity was flawed, and I'd advance the field of understanding the cosmos. I was about twelve.

In what way has your community impacted your development as a musician?
Living in a beautiful music town has sustained me, made it possible to make my living as a musician. I was living in a town that was really good to it's musicians - felt really sustainable.

What other artists out there do you love?
Lots. Sun Kil Moon comes to mind immediately.

What does your future hold?
Adventures, surprises, and big love.


You can find David Wilcox all over the web! 
Or go see him live!

10/30    TX  Uncle Calvin's Cfhs/Dallas            
11/1     TX  Listening Room at Nia Moves/Houston
11/10    MI  The Ark/Ann Arbor                           734/761-1451
11/12    MN  Cedar Cultural Ctr/Minneapolis              612/338-2674
11/13    IL  SPACE/Evanston                              847/492-8860
11/14    IA  Redstone Room/Davenport
11/17    WA  Triple Door/Seattle                         206/838-4333
11/18    OR  Aladdin Thtr/Portland
11/21    VA  Alden Thtr/McLean
11/27    NC  Grey Eagle/Asheville                        828/232-5800
12/3     FL  American Heritage School/Plantation
12/4     FL  Cafe Eleven/Augustine
12/5     IN  Wheeler Arts Center/Indianapolis      317-443-3603
12/6     KY  Molly Malone's/Covington                    859 491 6699






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