This will go down as another one of our favorite episodes. Singer-songwriter David Wilcox joins us and his music is one seed in the origin story of our friendship. We've both interviewed David separately over the years, but it had been a while, so we were looking forward to this one. David did not disappoint, bringing an hour's worth of insightful thoughts about, yes, songwriting, but also, life and the things we face as humans -- and how he processes all of that back into what he does.
David has a wonderful new album, My Good Friends, which is available wherever you get your music on August 18. During the podcast, he performs a couple of songs from that album live, while also discussing some other tracks from his catalog. We talk about dads and so many other things. It was an absolute delight, as always, to speak with David.
We also get into conversation with David regarding Jesca Hoop, one of his favorite recent discoveries musically -- and his habits as a fellow music fan. Hopefully, you'll enjoy this chat as much as we did!
Please do rate and review this podcast wherever you're listening. It helps out a lot! We'll leave you with some more information about David's new album for your reading pleasure.
P.S. For some bonus reading, check out Jeff's 2011 chat with David about his essential album, Home Again.
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David Wilcox is a penetrating storyteller. The revered folk musician has an effortless talent for spinning lyrics that quietly cut deep, and crafting melodies that seamlessly ride the plot twists and turns. Wilcox handily exemplifies the power of lyrical and musical catharsis.
Pick any song from Wilcox’s new acoustic album, My Good Friends, to be released August 18 on his own Fresh Baked Records, and you will find yourself instantly immersed. Sometimes you’ll see yourself in the lyrics, other times you’ll marvel at the 4-minute mini-movie. My Good Friends is a stripped-down, acoustic collection of 10 songs, a fan-requested creative respite for Wilcox as he also continues to work on a full band album coming in 2024.
My Good Friends features Wilcox on guitar, Bill Berg on drums, and Steve Cohen on bass. It is produced by Wilcox and almost entirely written by him except for co-writer Robert Vincent on “Just a Trace of Light.” Of special note are “Jolt,” with its jittery rhythm playing perfect backdrop to lyrics about today’s obsession with online fear mongering and internet disinformation. The title track is a folk-blues number about living a life filled with close calls and surviving them all. Then there’s a trio of story songs – “Dead Man’s Phone,” “This Is How It Ends,” and “Lost Man” – that are as cinematic as they are charismatic. Wilcox says those last three songs “create a whole movie in my imagination.”
In fact, the way Wilcox feels about every tune on My Good Friends proves this is indeed a fan-requested labor of love. “I am grateful for the community that sustains me – my good friends,” he says. “These are the kind of friends that get you through difficult times. The kind of friends that you go to for a fresh perspective when the future looks grim. These songs grew out of conversations with friends, and they hold ideas that I like to have around.”