David Wilcox is an American folk musician and award-winning guitarist. He picked up a guitar after hearing a fellow college student playing her guitar in the stairwell. He quickly discovered the power and authority that music held in telling stories of the heart.
I’ve listened to David’s music since the early 1990’s starting with his album How Did You Find Me Here. In this intimate interview, David plays his guitar, riffs on an idea that we talk about-The Illusion of Ease and offers some meaningful insights on the language of the heart.
This interview is one of the proudest moments I’ve experienced in the one hundred plus episodes here on Work Life Play.
Please enjoy and savor this hour with David Wilcox.
Podcast Highlights:
- Vulnerability is the place where we all reside.
- How music has helped teach David how to be brave.
- Who are the artists that inspired his music?
- Why the language of the heart matters to him?
- How David views the release of a new album into the world.
- Stories about David’s two-year family road trip in an Airstream trailer across the US.
About David Wilcox
Cleveland-born David Wilcox is a father, a husband, a citizen and a songwriter. First inspired to play guitar after hearing a fellow college student playing in a stairwell, Wilcox is now 18 records into a career marked by personal revelation and wildly loyal fans. His lyrical insight is matched by a smooth baritone voice, virtuosic guitar chops, and creative open tunings, giving him a range and tenderness rare in folk music.
Wilcox released an independent album in 1987, was a winner of the prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk award in 1988, and by 1989 he had signed with A&M Records. His first release on the label, How Did You Find Me Here, sold over 100,000 copies the first year largely by word of mouth.
Considered a ‘songwriter’s songwriter’, his songs have been covered by artists such as k.d. lang and many others. In addition to his writing prowess, his skills as a performer and storyteller are unmatched. He holds audiences rapt with nothing more than a single guitar, thoroughly written songs, a fearless ability to mine the depths of human emotions of joy, sorrow and everything in between, and all tempered by a quick and wry wit.
Reflecting on well over 20 years of record-making and touring extensively around the US and world, Wilcox says, “Music still stretches out before me like the head-lights of a car into the night. It’s way beyond where I am, but it shows where I’m going. I used to think that my goal was to catch up, but now I’m grateful that the music is always going to be way out in front to inspire me.”
