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photo : Jan Hofheiz |
Gigs Forthcoming gigs include the Green Note, Camden (15 May 2008, supporting Clive Gregson). New CD release! Ghost Rhymes was recorded with a bunch of great musicians including John Wesley Harding, Robert Lloyd, Chris von Sneidern, Michael Israel, Chris Xefos, Carrie Bradley, Elizabeth Pupo-Walker, Mike Musburger and Kurt Bloch. Track-listing is Something Real, Water From The Well, Whole Again, Ghost Rhyme, Hidden Heart, Tricks With Time, Waterwheel, Follow Her Down, Confidence, Fever Dream, Trying To Remember A Dream, Black Pig, Lullaby. Three songs - Follow Her Down, Trying To Remember A Dream and Hidden Heart are co-written with John Wesley Harding. Black Pig is a version of the Welsh song Mochyn Du, which was originally written by John Owen (1836-1915), who was David's great-grandfather. |
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Discography Ghost Rhymes (WOW Records, WOW5, 2007) The
For Now Tour For Now (APR 1057 * CD only : produced by John Wesley Harding, with a guest appearance by Al Stewart) "His delicate, moody songs are quite effective and evocative in portraying vulnerable people in a world of sharp contrasts and transitions." Dirty Linen British singer-songwriter David Lewis's 1996 debut, the acoustic-oriented No Straight Line, was awarded a four-star rating in the All Music Guide, a handful of perceptive and positive reviews, and a quick trip to the cutout bins when his American record label, the Austin-based Dejadisc, went out of business the next year. Undeterred, Lewis and his longtime friend, co-producer and sometime songwriting collaborator John Wesley Harding, have been working on a follow-up sporadically over the last five years, with their efforts culminating in For Now, which alternates a restrained folk approach and more fleshed-out full-band backing on ten new songs, including three Harding co-writes and a cover of the late British songwriting Nick Drake's "Northern Sky." "We didn't want to make the same record all over again, so we thought it would be interesting to work on some band arrangements," explains Lewis. Enlisting such notable Harding friends and musical associates as co-producer/musician/solo artist Chris von Sneidern and multi-instrumentalist Robert Lloyd, and adding in special guests Chuck Prophet (guitars; a writer/player/singer with his own career), and seminal Lewis influence Al Stewart (second vocal on "You Don't Know"), Lewis succeeded in creating a unified collection of songs that reflects his talents and inspirations. The release of For Now coincides with a U.S. tour in November and December by David Lewis and John Wesley Harding, each playing a separate set with some accompaniment by Robert Lloyd (mandolin, accordion) before all three musicians unite for the show's final segment. Growing up in a musical family in Bath in the west of England, many of David's teenaged years in the mid-'70s were spent listening to bands and musicians in the contemporary British and American folk traditions - he praises the "timeless, mystical quality" of the Strawbs' Grave New World album and "the way Al Stewart wrote such entertaining and compelling songs around quite elaborate social and historical themes" on his Past, Present and Future record. Later influences included American singer-songwriters such as Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan and Neil Young and the subsequent sturm-und-drang of punk musicians Patti Smith, The Clash and Elvis Costello. In college, where he studied anthropology, Lewis's tastes expanded to include the likes of Curtis Mayfield, Al Green, and Lou Reed, and David started playing synthesizer in a local band, Zero Option. During graduate studies at Cambridge, David met fellow student Wes Stace (later to be known as John Wesley Harding), and the two became part of a busking band playing blues and folk songs mostly discovered on old Ry Cooder records. While carrying on field research in Bangladesh in the late '80s for his PhD (David currently teaches at the London School of Economics), Lewis started writing and performing songs and collaborating with Harding on compositions via tapes and faxes. Three of those songs - "Red Rose and the Briar," "Ordinary Weekend," and "Cupid and Psycho" wound up on various Harding CDs. With Harding and fellow musician Scott Matthews as co-producers, Lewis recorded his first album, No Straight Line, at Matthews' San Francisco studio. Harding, Matthews, Robert Lloyd (a frequent Harding accompanist) and guests like REM's Peter Buck on mandolin created an acoustic-based recording that also featured "unexplained 'atmospherics'...setting up some interesting spooky textures," according to Sing Out! Lewis and Harding started working on For Now soon after the first album was released, this time convening in von Sneidern's studio in San Francisco with Prophet and other musicians. After an hour or two of rehearsals, Lewis and his ad hoc band recorded the rollicking "The Rain Stops Everything" (driven by David's gusty harmonica), the sensuous "Ramadan Moon" (featuring Richard Thompson-like guitar from Chuck Prophet), and valedictory "Weary Traveller," with regret-filled solos and fills from Prophet and accordionist Robert Lloyd, all songs cut virtually live on the second or third take. Record company woes and personal logistics (Lewis lives in England, Harding in the U.S.) caused a break in the recordings. A year went by before the next sessions, then more time elapsed before the last songs were finished. A particular treat for Lewis was the participation of Al Stewart on "You Don't Know," a song co-written by David and Harding. "Al was cajoled one night into joining us for a meal and, of course, an excellent bottle of wine," recounts Lewis. "It was a great moment for me because I've long admired Al's work. Anyway, it must have been the wine, because Al then agreed to come into the studio and do some vocals!" Although Lewis's globe-trotting experiences inspired and inform some of his material, the various aspects of love - accepted, imploded, frustrated, postponed, denied - dominate the majority of the songs, including "Almost a Stranger," "You Don't Know," "Your Kind of Madness," "Let the Sunlight Dry Your Tears" and "Too Much Love." While Lewis is an accomplished guitarist, it is the contrast between his boyish voice and the depth of experience in his lyrics that sets up an engaging and mysterious invitation to listeners to get lost in his music. "I wanted the music to be completely detached from any trend or fashion, like it sounds as if it could have been recorded any time in the last thirty years," explains Lewis.
For details of how
to order For Now go to Appleseed
Recordings 'No Straight Line', 'For Now' and 'Ghost Rhymes' are available from iTunes. For more information, please email David Lewis direct. David Lewis on tour with David Satterthwaite Click on the thumbnails to launch a larger picture in a pop-up window. 
 Photos by Guy Mayraz. David Lewis in tour with John Wesley Harding Click on the thumbnails to launch a larger picture in a pop-up window. 
 Photos by Robert Lloyd. Keep an eye on wesweb for all the latest news about John Wesley Harding.
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