David Wilcox (American musician)
Encyclopedia
David Patrick Wilcox is an American folk music
ian and singer-songwriter
guitarist. He has been active in the music business since the late 1980s.
, Ohio, attended Antioch College
in Yellow Springs, Ohio
in 1976 where he began learning guitar. He later transferred to Warren Wilson College
in North Carolina in 1981 and graduated in 1985. Wilcox appeared regularly at an Black Mountain, North Carolina
night club called McDibbs
. His debut album The Nightshift Watchman was released in 1987 on his own label, Song of the Woods, and reissued in 1996. He began touring regularly. After performing at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville
, he signed with A&M Records
in 1989
. He made several albums with this label. His albums were described by one Rolling Stone critic as "unjustly neglected". After his contract with A&M expired in 1994, Wilcox continued to write songs, tour and release albums. In 1994, he performed at Carnegie Hall
with thirty other singer-songwriters in a showcase event. Wilcox also appeared on the cover of Acoustic Guitar
which described him as James Taylor combined with the "husky breathiness more reminiscent of the late Nick Drake
" and said he was the "best known of the brilliant crop of singer-songwriters to emerge in the late '80s
." He's been based in Asheville, North Carolina
in the 1990s, in Washington, D.C.
and Maryland
in 1999-2000, and again in Asheville in 2009.
In the next decade, Wilcox continued to release albums, including Into the Mystery in 2003. He's been a guest artist at guitar workshops. His lyrics are sometimes of the "probing meaning-of-life" type. as well as "thought-provoking". Wilcox plays acoustic guitars made by Olson Guitars. His fingerstyle style which is similar to Nick Drake
and Joni Mitchell
uses open tuning extensively, often in combination with customized capo
s with notches cut out to allow lower strings to ring open. He's been featured in Performing Songwriter magazine on five occasions.
He commented on his approach to music:
His 2005 album Out Beyond Ideas was a joint project with his wife Nance Pettit described as a significant diversion from prior work featuring sacred poetry set to music
from different religious traditions including Saint Francis of Assisi
, Jalaludin Rumi, Shams-ud-din Muhammad Hafiz
, Rabia al Basri, Yehuda HaLevi
, Solomon Ibn Gabirol
, Uvavnuk
, and Kabir
. During 2005 Wilcox traveled the country with his wife and teen-aged son in an Airstream trailer attached to a bio-diesel truck. He named one of his albums Airstream. His album Vista was released in April 2006.
In 2008 Wilcox was honored with a silver award along with Bob Dylan
, in Acoustic Guitar's
singer/songwriter category. His latest album "Open Hand" was released in March 2009. He's sometimes confused with Canadian rock and blues guitarist David Wilcox
. Although his albums have had diverse arrangements, Wilcox generally performs as a soloist. He has released 16 albums. Wilcox performed a benefit concert in Westfield, New Jersey
for Coffee With Conscience
in late spring, 2008.
His music has been written as "deeply philosophical" and "insightful". One music critic wrote he was a "influential acoustic guitarist ... the PBS darling of contemporary singer-songwriter folk." Another critic wrote that an "eager, unapologetic sincerity flows from the heart of David Wilcox's acoustic music," and elaborated that "Wilcox uses extended metaphors and beautifully detailed imagery in lyrics that are far more compassionate and philosophic than self-absorbed ... Indeed, as steeped in romance as most popular music is, it rarely speaks directly to issues of loneliness, intimacy and commitment – let alone mortality and inner fortitude. Wilcox does this with sensitivity, analytic zeal and subtle emotional force." Another wrote: "Many of his songs analyze the dynamics of relationships in epigrammatic verses that are at once earnest and gently humorous. While many of Mr. Wilcox's songs have light blues inflections, occasionally they also look back in spirit to Tin Pan Alley. My Old Addiction*, one of the most striking songs in his first set on Thursday, was a wry, wistful meditation on the tug of an old relationship that echoed Georgia on My Mind
. Many critics compare his style to James Taylor
as well as Joni Mitchell
and John Gorka
. A Rolling Stone
critic suggested Wilcox's best album was How Did You Find Me Here released in 1989.
One critic sensed Wilcox had a "boyish sensitivity" with "something to say about love, relationships and life" which is sung with "insight, humor and moments of profundity." But the critic felt Wilcox needs to "get some excitement into his music and voice ... His even-keel, generic style of singing, playing and music-writing isn't enough to keep the focus of the modern short attention span" and his songs lack "musical distinctiveness." Wilcox is a "poet/storyteller first, a songwriter/player second".
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
ian and singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
guitarist. He has been active in the music business since the late 1980s.
Career
Wilcox was born in MentorMentor, Ohio
As of the census of 2000, there were 50,278 people, 18,797 households, and 14,229 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,878.2 people per square mile . There were 19,301 housing units at an average density of 721.0 per square mile...
, Ohio, attended Antioch College
Antioch College
Antioch College is a private, independent liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was the founder and the flagship institution of the six-campus Antioch University system. Founded in 1852 by the Christian Connection, the college began operating in 1853 with politician and...
in Yellow Springs, Ohio
Yellow Springs, Ohio
Yellow Springs is a village in Greene County, Ohio, United States, and is the location of Antioch College and Antioch University Midwest. The population was 3,487 at the 2010 census...
in 1976 where he began learning guitar. He later transferred to Warren Wilson College
Warren Wilson College
Warren Wilson College is a private four-year work college in the Swannanoa Valley, North Carolina, United States near Asheville. It is known for its curriculum of work, academics, and service, called "the Triad," which requires every student to work an on-campus job, perform at least one hundred...
in North Carolina in 1981 and graduated in 1985. Wilcox appeared regularly at an Black Mountain, North Carolina
Black Mountain, North Carolina
Black Mountain is a town in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 7,511 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town is named for the Black Mountain range of the Blue Ridge range in the Southern Appalachians.-History:Black...
night club called McDibbs
McDibbs
McDibbs, a music house in Black Mountain, North Carolina pioneered the development of both the non-smoking bar, and the now thriving Asheville area music scene. David Peele founded McDibbs in the late 70's to showcase local talent. His innovations in running McDibbs eventually drew high profile...
. His debut album The Nightshift Watchman was released in 1987 on his own label, Song of the Woods, and reissued in 1996. He began touring regularly. After performing at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, he signed with A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
in 1989
1989 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1989.-Events:*January 14 – Paul McCartney releases Снова в СССР exclusively in the USSR...
. He made several albums with this label. His albums were described by one Rolling Stone critic as "unjustly neglected". After his contract with A&M expired in 1994, Wilcox continued to write songs, tour and release albums. In 1994, he performed at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
with thirty other singer-songwriters in a showcase event. Wilcox also appeared on the cover of Acoustic Guitar
Acoustic Guitar (magazine)
Acoustic Guitar is a monthly magazine published in the United States since July/August 1990 by String Letter Publishing. The magazine offers information related to acoustic guitars for players of all levels from beginners to teachers. Each issue includes a half dozen or so songs with notation and...
which described him as James Taylor combined with the "husky breathiness more reminiscent of the late Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
" and said he was the "best known of the brilliant crop of singer-songwriters to emerge in the late '80s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
." He's been based in Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville is a city in and the county seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the 11th largest city in North Carolina. The City is home to the United States National Climatic Data Center , which is the world's largest active...
in the 1990s, in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
in 1999-2000, and again in Asheville in 2009.
In the next decade, Wilcox continued to release albums, including Into the Mystery in 2003. He's been a guest artist at guitar workshops. His lyrics are sometimes of the "probing meaning-of-life" type. as well as "thought-provoking". Wilcox plays acoustic guitars made by Olson Guitars. His fingerstyle style which is similar to Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
and Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
uses open tuning extensively, often in combination with customized capo
Capo
A capo is a device used on the neck of a stringed instrument to shorten the playable length of the strings, hence raising the pitch. It is frequently used on guitars, mandolins, and banjos. G.B...
s with notches cut out to allow lower strings to ring open. He's been featured in Performing Songwriter magazine on five occasions.
He commented on his approach to music:
- "If people listen to only one kind of music, it seems they're focusing on one kind of emotion ... Music is about all the different kinds of feelings we can have -- we can be scared, we can be angry, we can be hopeful, we can be sad. We can be all these things and have company in it. Music is sacred ground and it shouldn't be reduced to that kind of simplified demographic target-marketing."
- "The song has to offer something universal. I want songs that people can understand the first time ... I write songs with layers in them, so they stay interesting over the years."
His 2005 album Out Beyond Ideas was a joint project with his wife Nance Pettit described as a significant diversion from prior work featuring sacred poetry set to music
Religious music
Religious music is music performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence.A lot of music has been composed to complement religion, and many composers have derived inspiration from their own religion. Many forms of traditional music have been adapted to fit religions'...
from different religious traditions including Saint Francis of Assisi
Francis of Assisi
Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...
, Jalaludin Rumi, Shams-ud-din Muhammad Hafiz
Hafez
Khwāja Shamsu d-Dīn Muhammad Hāfez-e Shīrāzī , known by his pen name Hāfez , was a Persian lyric poet. His collected works composed of series of Persian poetry are to be found in the homes of most Iranians, who learn his poems by heart and use them as proverbs and sayings to this day...
, Rabia al Basri, Yehuda HaLevi
Yehuda Halevi
Judah Halevi was a Spanish Jewish physician, poet and philosopher. He was born in Spain, either in Toledo or Tudela, in 1075 or 1086, and died shortly after arriving in Palestine in 1141...
, Solomon Ibn Gabirol
Solomon ibn Gabirol
Solomon ibn Gabirol, also Solomon ben Judah , was an Andalucian Hebrew poet and Jewish philosopher with a Neoplatonic bent. He was born in Málaga about 1021; died about 1058 in Valencia.-Biography:...
, Uvavnuk
Uvavnuk
Uvavnuk was a female angakkuq of the Iglulik Inuit in the early 20th century, and now considered an oral poet.Uvavnuk has been written about in several books on mysticism. A common report is that she experienced a "glowing ball of fire in the sky" and afterwards gained a "telepathic sensitivity"...
, and Kabir
Kabir
Kabīr was a mystic poet and saint of India, whose writings have greatly influenced the Bhakti movement...
. During 2005 Wilcox traveled the country with his wife and teen-aged son in an Airstream trailer attached to a bio-diesel truck. He named one of his albums Airstream. His album Vista was released in April 2006.
In 2008 Wilcox was honored with a silver award along with Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, in Acoustic Guitar's
Acoustic Guitar (magazine)
Acoustic Guitar is a monthly magazine published in the United States since July/August 1990 by String Letter Publishing. The magazine offers information related to acoustic guitars for players of all levels from beginners to teachers. Each issue includes a half dozen or so songs with notation and...
singer/songwriter category. His latest album "Open Hand" was released in March 2009. He's sometimes confused with Canadian rock and blues guitarist David Wilcox
David Wilcox (Canadian musician)
David Wilcox is a Canadian rock musician.-History:Montreal native, David Wilcox drew inspiration from musician Elvis Presley at the early age of six...
. Although his albums have had diverse arrangements, Wilcox generally performs as a soloist. He has released 16 albums. Wilcox performed a benefit concert in Westfield, New Jersey
Westfield, New Jersey
Westfield is a town in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town population was 30,316. The old village area, now the downtown district, was settled in 1720 as part of the Elizabethtown Tract....
for Coffee With Conscience
Coffee With Conscience
Coffee With Conscience is a monthly concert series based in Westfield, New Jersey which raises money for local charities by hosting touring musical performers with a focus on singer-songwriters. It is sponsored in part by the Westfield Service League. It is in its tenth year...
in late spring, 2008.
Critical reception
A New York Times music critic wrote Wilcox has a "handful of sterling folk-pop songs, a genial voice and enough guitar virtuosity to make even his lesser material sound convincing." Another described him as a prolific songwriter and folk artist. Another wrote he "sings with a mellow fluency that suggests a hybrid of Mr. Taylor and Kenny Rankin, but he has better enunciation than either." Critics describe his voice as having a "warm, expressive" quality with an "engaging vocal style" and a "warm, baritone vocal tone."His music has been written as "deeply philosophical" and "insightful". One music critic wrote he was a "influential acoustic guitarist ... the PBS darling of contemporary singer-songwriter folk." Another critic wrote that an "eager, unapologetic sincerity flows from the heart of David Wilcox's acoustic music," and elaborated that "Wilcox uses extended metaphors and beautifully detailed imagery in lyrics that are far more compassionate and philosophic than self-absorbed ... Indeed, as steeped in romance as most popular music is, it rarely speaks directly to issues of loneliness, intimacy and commitment – let alone mortality and inner fortitude. Wilcox does this with sensitivity, analytic zeal and subtle emotional force." Another wrote: "Many of his songs analyze the dynamics of relationships in epigrammatic verses that are at once earnest and gently humorous. While many of Mr. Wilcox's songs have light blues inflections, occasionally they also look back in spirit to Tin Pan Alley. My Old Addiction*, one of the most striking songs in his first set on Thursday, was a wry, wistful meditation on the tug of an old relationship that echoed Georgia on My Mind
Georgia on My Mind
"Georgia on My Mind" is a song written in 1930 by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell . It is the official state song of the U.S. state of Georgia. Gorrell wrote the lyrics for Hoagy's sister, Georgia Carmichael. However, the lyrics of the song are ambiguous enough to refer either to the state or...
. Many critics compare his style to James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
as well as Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
and John Gorka
John Gorka
John Gorka is a contemporary American folk musician. In 1991, Rolling Stone magazine called him "the preeminent male singer-songwriter of what has been dubbed the New Folk Movement."-Biography:...
. A Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
critic suggested Wilcox's best album was How Did You Find Me Here released in 1989.
One critic sensed Wilcox had a "boyish sensitivity" with "something to say about love, relationships and life" which is sung with "insight, humor and moments of profundity." But the critic felt Wilcox needs to "get some excitement into his music and voice ... His even-keel, generic style of singing, playing and music-writing isn't enough to keep the focus of the modern short attention span" and his songs lack "musical distinctiveness." Wilcox is a "poet/storyteller first, a songwriter/player second".
- * The correct title of the song is "Chet Baker's Unsung Swan Song"
Discography
| Album | Year | Label | Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... (sales chart) |
Folk Radio (airplay chart) | Notes | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reverie | 2010 | What Are Records? | #30 | |||
| Open Hand | 2009 | What Are Records? | #3 | |||
| Airstream | 2008 | What Are Records? | #20 | |||
| Vista | 2006 | What Are Records? | #14 | |||
| Out Beyond Ideas | 2005 | What Are Records? | #28 | with wife Nancy Pettit | ||
| Into the Mystery | 2003 | What Are Records? | #18 | |||
| Live Songs and Stories | 2002 | What Are Records? | ||||
| The Very Best of David Wilcox | 2001 | A&M A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:... |
||||
| What You Whispered | 2000 | Vanguard Vanguard Records Vanguard Records is a record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York. It started as a classical label, but is perhaps best known for its catalogue of recordings by a number of pivotal folk and blues artists from the 1960s; the Bach Guild was a subsidiary... |
#53 | |||
| Underneath | 1999 | Vanguard | #13 | |||
| Turning Point | 1997 | Koch, reissued on What Are Records? | n/a | recorded in log cabin behind his home | ||
| East Asheville Hardware | 1996 | Fresh Baked/Koch, reissued on What Are Records? | n/a | |||
| Big Horizon | 1994 | A&M | #165 | n/a | ||
| Home Again | 1991 | A&M | n/a | |||
| Mostly Live: An Authorized Bootleg | 1991 | A&M | n/a | |||
| How Did You Find Me Here | 1989 | A&M | n/a | (sold over 100,000 copies by word of mouth) | ||
| Nightshift Watchman | 1987 | Song of the Wood (1996 reissue by Fresh Baked/Koch) | n/a | |||
External links
- Official website
- 1994 interview with Wilcox, focused on technical aspects of his guitar playing; also available from his website
- David Wilcox at the What Are Records website