David Wilcox, a musician and songwriter, brings the best of both pop and modern folk appeal to his work.
“For me, it feels like when I look out at the world there's just a need for people to be talking about where they get their hope now,” he says on his Web site. “These days there's so much adversity and loss of hope that anything you can offer that's on the positive side is a welcome relief.”
Wilcox had no definite repertoire in mind for his upcoming performance at the Auburn Public Theater.
“I'll be playing a lot of different songs, depending on what the crowd is ready for,” he said. “If the energy's right, I like to go in that direction. I don't really know how that works. It's like a conversation with a close friend, where you already know what he's going to say before he says it. You know what's right to say for their heart in that moment.”
“I love singing the songs that inspire me,” he said.
Wilcox said his two-year cross-country trip in an Airstream RV led him to a number of people who inspired him to write new music. His most recent CD album, “Airstream,” includes much of what was written during that adventure.
His trip, including most of the states in the United States and beautiful natural areas, had a quality of spontaneity and serendipity.
“It depended on the timing of things and just the way things showed up,” he said. “There were some fascinating people. One guy even invited me come to the Sudan.”
Wilcox made connections with friends of friends along the way.
“It felt strange that we had so many similar situations in our lives,” he said. “The pendulum is swinging back the other way,” he said of changing lifestyles. “It used to be that people living next to each other would go their separate ways.”
He mentioned a whole neighborhood in Cincinnati that was made up of friends who wanted to live near each other and became an interactive community.
“The whole neighborhood watched over each other,” he said. “A gang of kids would run freely from house to house.”
Wilcox, his wife, Nance Petit, their 15-year-old son, Nate, and their Portuguese water dog, Jing, now live in Asheville, N.C.
“We've bumped into that kind of neighborhood in Asheville, where there's a sense of friendship and community. It's cool.”
Wilcox said traveling through the beautiful countryside in the Airstream was notable for the conversations that brought his family closer together.
“We could just be present with each other and have time together,” he said. “It changed our whole family dynamic.”
Wilcox took up the guitar in college after hearing someone play “Buckets of Rain” by Bob Dylan. After a few months, he was writing his own songs.
“I'm drawn to artists who disclose something about themselves and let you in their world,” Wilcox says. Influences include James Taylor, Motown, and Joni Mitchell.
After 20 years of record making and touring, he says, “Music is still kind of like the headlights of the car into the night. It's way beyond where I am. I used to think I would catch up, but now I hope I don't. I hope the music stays my teacher.”
“I want the songs to have depth, but be strong enough on the surface that if you just want to skate across, it'll hold you. That's what I'm after.”
A native of Ohio, Wilcox has been based in the South since the 1980s. He emerged there as a live performer in Ashville, N.C.
Concern about national and international crises led to “Three Brothers,” an allegory of Middle East turmoil; “Reaper Sweepstakes,” about the universal marketing of fear; and “Falling for It,” a satire about political deception.
“Forever Now,” a tale of lost love remembered and found, says “Look what I found: the edges are brown/The picture of us in that old boardwalk town.”
Wilcox's voice is sometimes described as a husky James Taylor/Nick Drake. His album, “Out Beyond Ideas” (2005) features sacred poetry set to music, from Saint Francis of Assissi to Persian mystic Shams-us-din Muhammad Hafiz, to Kabir from India, among others.
He won't be performing these on Friday as he prefers to do them in concert with his wife, Nance, who won't be on this tour.
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
If you go
What: David Wilcox singer songwriter
When: 8 p.m. Friday, May 16
Where: Auburn Public Theater, 108 Genesee st., Auburn
Cost: $26 in advance; $35 at door
Info: Call 253-6669
Wilcox had no definite repertoire in mind for his upcoming performance at the Auburn Public Theater.
“I'll be playing a lot of different songs, depending on what the crowd is ready for,” he said. “If the energy's right, I like to go in that direction. I don't really know how that works. It's like a conversation with a close friend, where you already know what he's going to say before he says it. You know what's right to say for their heart in that moment.”
“I love singing the songs that inspire me,” he said.
Wilcox said his two-year cross-country trip in an Airstream RV led him to a number of people who inspired him to write new music. His most recent CD album, “Airstream,” includes much of what was written during that adventure.
His trip, including most of the states in the United States and beautiful natural areas, had a quality of spontaneity and serendipity.
“It depended on the timing of things and just the way things showed up,” he said. “There were some fascinating people. One guy even invited me come to the Sudan.”
Wilcox made connections with friends of friends along the way.
“It felt strange that we had so many similar situations in our lives,” he said. “The pendulum is swinging back the other way,” he said of changing lifestyles. “It used to be that people living next to each other would go their separate ways.”
He mentioned a whole neighborhood in Cincinnati that was made up of friends who wanted to live near each other and became an interactive community.
“The whole neighborhood watched over each other,” he said. “A gang of kids would run freely from house to house.”
Wilcox, his wife, Nance Petit, their 15-year-old son, Nate, and their Portuguese water dog, Jing, now live in Asheville, N.C.
“We've bumped into that kind of neighborhood in Asheville, where there's a sense of friendship and community. It's cool.”
Wilcox said traveling through the beautiful countryside in the Airstream was notable for the conversations that brought his family closer together.
“We could just be present with each other and have time together,” he said. “It changed our whole family dynamic.”
Wilcox took up the guitar in college after hearing someone play “Buckets of Rain” by Bob Dylan. After a few months, he was writing his own songs.
“I'm drawn to artists who disclose something about themselves and let you in their world,” Wilcox says. Influences include James Taylor, Motown, and Joni Mitchell.
After 20 years of record making and touring, he says, “Music is still kind of like the headlights of the car into the night. It's way beyond where I am. I used to think I would catch up, but now I hope I don't. I hope the music stays my teacher.”
“I want the songs to have depth, but be strong enough on the surface that if you just want to skate across, it'll hold you. That's what I'm after.”
A native of Ohio, Wilcox has been based in the South since the 1980s. He emerged there as a live performer in Ashville, N.C.
Concern about national and international crises led to “Three Brothers,” an allegory of Middle East turmoil; “Reaper Sweepstakes,” about the universal marketing of fear; and “Falling for It,” a satire about political deception.
“Forever Now,” a tale of lost love remembered and found, says “Look what I found: the edges are brown/The picture of us in that old boardwalk town.”
Wilcox's voice is sometimes described as a husky James Taylor/Nick Drake. His album, “Out Beyond Ideas” (2005) features sacred poetry set to music, from Saint Francis of Assissi to Persian mystic Shams-us-din Muhammad Hafiz, to Kabir from India, among others.
He won't be performing these on Friday as he prefers to do them in concert with his wife, Nance, who won't be on this tour.
Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net
If you go
What: David Wilcox singer songwriter
When: 8 p.m. Friday, May 16
Where: Auburn Public Theater, 108 Genesee st., Auburn
Cost: $26 in advance; $35 at door
Info: Call 253-6669
Citizen
Hot Jobs
New! Off the Menu
The Citizens' Say
Post your comment - click hereThere are No comments posted.