Quick Q and A with David Wilcox
 by Kathy S-B  ·  11 March 2011

David Wilcox is the perfect example of the quintessential singer-songwriter. His fans gravitate toward his lyrics which are inspiring and for lack of a better word — substantial. A dose of David Wilcox a day is a great remedy for anything that ails you. To learn more about David Wilcox, check out his website. Here’s a video of him performing one of his most loved songs, “Eye of the Hurricane.”

I am always fascinated by musicians who cite Joni Mitchell as an influence. Was it her open tuning technique that grabbed your attention right away?

Joni Mitchell was my first love musically. It wasn’t just the open tunings. It was her soul and her heart and her voice and the way she wrote in such an intimate trusting way.

For those of our readers who are not guitarists, could you try to explain the mechanics of a partial capo and what it does to the sound of the song?

The partial capo gives the guitar more interesting voicings and a wider tonal range . What it means for those of you who aren’t guitar players is that the instrument has a more compelling sound a more varied personality.

How much of each year is devoted to touring?

I spend about 100 days year traveling playing gigs. But I don’t do it all at once. I love to be home part of each month and usually part of each week. I I just do long weekends if it’s east coast or, if it’s west coast, a ten day run will be enough gigs for a whole month so I can be home the rest of the time.

When you’re not on the road, do you spend part of each day involved with some part of your music career or do you ever just take time off and be a homebody?

What do I do when I’m home? I wish I had time to be a full-time dad and partner full-time fixing stuff around the house and a full-time musician. It used to really bug me that I couldn’t be as good as I wanted to be at each of these things. But now I’m better at making my peace with spreading myself thin. Real job of a musician is to live a life that’s inspiring and worth singing about.

You have quite a few songs about cars. Have you always had a fascination with our four-wheeled friends? Do you have a dream car or are you a simple kind of guy who is simply happy if the car starts when you turn the key?

And now for the car questions. I have written a few songs from the point of view of vehicles as if they were alive. It’s the normal way to view cars that I grew up with: They were to be respected and they had personalities. I can communicate with cars and they tell me what they need so that I can replace the right part when fixing them. And I there have been miraculous coincidences where cars have saved my life and stuff like that. But I am not a car collector. I have no interest in collecting hunks of metal and making them shine. I’m writing about the mystical way of viewing everything in our lives. I put it in the context of automobiles because it doesn’t come across as preachy.