MUSIC

David Wilcox is not himself lately. I should know – that guy is me. I’ve been David Wilcox all my life, so it’s strange to hear what Reverie, the new David Wilcox CD, sounds like. The David Wilcox I knew didn’t want to risk being misunderstood, so his songs were more like memoirs than novels. But these songs have some real characters in them. What happened? All Ican say is that I love following where the music leads. My intention is not to be tricky. I just like how a short song can start a long conversation. I enjoy seeing new landscapes and perspectives, and these songs are like pictures I take on my travels. Some are from wild points of view and that’s why I like them. And yes, there are also some songs on this new CD that speak straight from the heart just like the old David Wilcox always used to do, but this time he’s surrounded by an interesting cast of characters. I’ve made a bunch of records before getting to this one. 16 have been released prior to ‘Reverie’, starting in 1987 with a disc called ‘Nightshift Watchman’. That was followed up by a trio of discs on A&M Records, 2 each on Koch Records and Vanguard, (A&M and Vanguard both later released compilations as well), and my last 6 discs have all been released through What Are Records?

Some musicians travel in order to play music, but I guess I’m the opposite. I play music in order to travel. I was a traveler first. For the first decade of my travels, I loved seeing different communities as I was riding my bicycle all over the world. I’ve got pictures and memories of great adventures from back when I was traveling light. All I wanted back then was something to give back. I wanted a way to meet my tribe, find friends along the way. Music has been a way to offer a better trade for all the inspiration I get from the people and places I visit.

For more than twenty years now, I have been following the navigation I get from music. I love to follow where music leads, not geographically, but emotionally. One of my first songs, GONE TO SANTA FE, I wrote long before I traveled there. It sounds like a love song for a woman who dares me to come with her on an adventure, but that’s just a way to sing what music has been for me. And now, twenty four years later, there is a new song on the latest recording about going to Ireland. No, I haven’t been yet, but through writing the song, I set my heart on what I really want to find there. Not a tourist vacation, but rather an experience that wakes up my spirit. Music has always given me a hint of a point of view that is beyond my horizon.