Forgive this long, off topic posting, but David Wilcox deserves this explanation.  Feel free to ignore and delete...

David Wilcox is my favorite folk singer of all time, and I'll be seeing him sunday at the Great American Music Hall if you want to join me.  His music is intricate and amazing, his words are deep with meaning and still True without being trite, his voice is "buttery" [as one critic so eloquently put it] and similar to James Taylor [but he kicks JT all up and down the street! :) ]

I saw David sing for the first time at Warren Wilson college in Swannanoa North Carolina in a little room with a handful of students.  It was not long after his first album came out -- it was the second album to come out on that label on tape and vinyl [CDs had just started getting popular.  A CD of this album was finally released only a few years ago.]  That night, he sang "Language of the Heart" written from a letter to an old girlfriend he'd written that morning.  This song was on his second album.

His stage presence is unequaled.  He *loves* what he does.  He re-tunes his guitar between every song, if you can believe that, and tells stories while he does it.  He publishes his lyrics and *tunings* on his website.

I feel like I've grown up with him -- first happy songs of how great life is, then sadder songs how he's lonely and getting older, then gentle songs of getting married and raising his family.  And always fun silly songs about whatever, that he never puts on any albums, and you have to hear live.  I saw him free at WW College, then $3.50 on thursday nights at McDibbs in Black Mountain, then he started playing friday nights, for $4, then $5, then $7.50, then opened for the Indigo Girls when they played in Asheville, then I went to college and saw him in Chapel Hill for $12 scalped tickets.  Then I moved out here and it's been a long, long time since I've seen him live.

His albums just don't do him justice.  Background singers and a drum set?  No, just a man on stage, who makes eye contact with you eventually.

I chanced to look at his website not long after Sept. 11, and he has an amazing poem up there that really calmed me.  I needed his words then.  BTW, I listened to "Show The Way" over and over when my yucky boyfriend broke my heart in 1999.  It's a great song that's there when you need it.  Many of his fans found solace in that song after Sept 11.

If you can't stand sappy songs, you'll probably hate him, so shut up about it, :)  but if you like music that has a message, you can't do much better than this underappreciated songwriter.  I want everyone to know how great he is, but I also want him to remain a secret so his shows are always intimate.  And I feel this long story is necessary, because "intimate" is the first word I'd use to describe him.  I want you to feel like you grew up with him too.

Anyway, Scott got me tickets for this sunday night at the Great American Music Hall.  Not sure if there's still tickets available, but it's general seating, and I'd love to have people join me!  I'm also determined to visit him backstage.  I have a poem for him I've been meaning to write, that maybe I'll get done by then -- called "don't be a stranger" about how I know him so well, but he doesn't know me at all...

http://www.musichallsf.com/tickets/index.html

Leo Kottke is playing saturday night, and if it's a choice between the two, I'll pick David Wilcox any day.

Sorry I didn't get this out earlier, I've been so busy...

Kiki

Here's his website [ug, they just converted to flash and it's buggy -- use the non-flash site...]:

http://davidwilcox.com

And here's one of my all-time favorite songs, which is a great intro to what David's songs are like:

http://kiki.org/temp/03-East_Asheville_Hardware--David_Wilcox.mp3