>>PREVIEW
DAVE SIMPSON
Friday, January 20
Liberty Lounge
Saturday, January 28
Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Centre
The sober guy hosting the open mike at Karma every Wednesday night is that way by design, not by chance. He walked out of rehab on his 21st birthday and, at 22, he knows how he wants the world to look when he’s 80: through the still, clear lens of sobriety, unclouded by regret.
The influence of sober second chance is clear on Dave Simpson’s new CD, So, Sober, which hushes its way through simple, powerful tunes that lay out his story with lyrical jabs leading to a knockout. Three of the songs were actually written in rehab, and another tune was penned at an Edmonton open-mike night where the songwriter took the stage, post-rehab, for the first time in over three years.
"There was a time when I tried to write the songs with all the metaphors, tried to make them beautifully written, like things you would see quoted in magazines. I realized that that’s just not the style that I write – I’m pretty blunt when I write," the songwriter says.
True to Simpson’s vision, some songs sneak along solo on vapour wisps of guitar and vocals, others swell with organ, strings and percussion straining for space. All are graced by uncluttered, direct lyrics that reveal the craft of a man with nothing to hide.
"The way I reasoned that to myself is that if I don’t try to paint anything a certain way or cover it up with certain words, there’s more chance that a listener would be able to connect with it and relate (it) to their own life. My favourite songs are the ones that for whatever reason I’m able to relate to and put towards things that are going on with me."
Ironically, Simpson’s first-ever time onstage was at the same open-mike night he now hosts, four years later. Time in college and rehab helped clarify his path, but it was not until he was watching a performance in Austin, Texas, that the singer realized he had to get back onstage to continue forward with the songs he’d begun writing at 18.
"I’ve always really loved music – it’s always been a huge part of my life. But seeing the (Austin) festival, I (realized) I would kick myself in the ass if I was 80 and hadn’t given this a go." |
Copyright ©2006 FFWD. All rights reserved.