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David McGlynn "Life’s Moments” Record Release at the Woodward Theater

David McGlynn will be celebrating the release of his album, Life's Moments tomorrow at The Woodward Theater! We were excited to get to know more about this new local artist prior to the show!

Tell us what to expect at the Album Release at Woodward on Saturday!
  I’ve described my latest record, Life’s Moments, as a sonic soundtrack complete with layers of melodic guitar, keyboard textures, and string orchestration, with stories about relationships, my connections to nature, and God. Add to that, a full light show + a video wall and that’s what you can expect at the album release at The Woodward Theater on Saturday night.

My closest friends and bandmates will tell you that it often feels as though I have an infinite number of ideas that I am trying to put out in the world. And, with every show, my goal is to bring a few of those ideas to life; always looking to create one-of-a-kind, unique experiences for the people who attend. I think of shows as experiments. Ways to push me, the band, and the audience. Sometimes they’re immersive, experiential shows, complete with art, music + experiences. Other times, they’re intimate shows at my house where people have dinner, conversations, and listen to music.

Shows give me the opportunity to genuinely connect with people, share my music and perspective. Life’s Moments is a collection of songs about my personal, everyday moments… reflections on the relationships I have with my wife and close friends, my thoughts on the current political environment, my connection to nature, and my relationship with God. And the emotions, experiences, and memories tied to these moments… And the great thing is, everyone has similar moments, which makes it easy for those listening to see their own moments and it’s a great starting point for both self-reflection and amazing, 1:1 conversations.

Supporting me, I have a 5-piece band and will be playing all of the songs on the new record, + a few surprises. Ric Hordinski and Moonshine Drive open, so it will be a great night of original music. Doors open at 6:00 PM, show starts at 7:00 PM.

How long have you been playing and writing music?
 I have been a singer-songwriter since 2009. My first release, In Pursuit of an Authentic Life, came out in 2015. I had no band at the time; it was only a framework of ideas. It was created all in the studio as we went, over a few years, transforming a set of my very personal life experiences into fully produced songs, adding a wide range of quirky instrumentation, lush vocal arrangements, and string orchestration. It was recorded and produced by Norm Demoura, a Grammy-nominated producer, at Harmonium Studios in Western, MA. Norm has worked with several notable artists including pianist Terry Adams from NRBQ and Susan Tedeschi from Tedeschi Trucks Band.

Before becoming a singer-songwriter, I was a founding member, bass player & (sometimes) drummer of emetrex, a Boston-based indie alternative rock band. The band signed with Seriously Groovy Records, an independent London-based label in 2000. While on Seriously Groovy Records, the band put out 9 CDs & EP's: 50 songs between 2000 - 2005, including the critically acclaimed King of Animals single which received BBC airplay and was supported with a tour through England, Ireland & Scotland. We also played NXNE in Canada. The band received over 500 reviews including 5/5 stars in The Big Issue (April 2005), for our Wish Me Dead release including this comment, "...hold on, it might just be one of the best albums of the year!" The band opened for several headlining bands including The Darkness, The Sea & Cake, Ambulance Ltd. + Wheat.

Before emetrex, I was an original member & bass player of the post-punk band Blair’s Carriage. In a span of four years, Blair’s Carriage released a total of 20 original songs, did live radio interviews, had singles played on WBRU, the #1 commercial, an alt-rock radio station in Rhode Island, along with several regional college stations in New England and had an indie label from San Francisco, CA, Subcorridor Records release a limited edition 7" single on red vinyl. Blair’s Carriage also became a regional favorite, playing 100’s of shows and opening for several alt-rock headliners including Blind Melon, Guster, The Soup Dragons, The Smithereens, Material Girl, Morphine, Letters to Cleo, Buffalo Tom, The Wedding Present, Luna, Helium, Polvo, dig, The Edgar Winter Band, The Guess Who & Jim Carroll.

What inspires you to write?
 For lyrics, my personal experiences. I have been a serious journal writer for over 25 years, so when I sit down to write lyrics, I pull directly from my life, sometimes using the very lines I’ve written in my journal. Whatever I can do to convey something personal, authentic.

For melodies, lots of places. Sometimes a melody line I am playing triggers a new idea. Sometimes an idea is a happy accident. I am trying to play one thing and another thing altogether happens. Other times I listen back to what I might have recorded on my voice recorder, and it gets me to play a different melody in response to it. Other times, it’s a song I’m listening to, and it gets me to think about a new melody. And, sometimes, I just start playing and see what comes out; and that is the fun of writing songs week in and week out.

It typically starts with a simple melody and my iPhone voice memo recorder. I’ve had a long-standing routine of practicing my guitar and working on my songwriting every Saturday. I’ve done my best to keep this commitment for years. My wife calls it my “noodling” time. My routine typically starts with running through several of my existing songs on my acoustic guitar, and then, after about 60 to 90 minutes, leads to me experimenting with new melodies and ideas. If I think the new ideas are worth capturing, I record as many versions as I think I need of the raw ideas on my iPhone voice memo in the moment and move on. This process could last for two to three hours.

For any other times when it’s not Saturday, and I hear a melody in my head, when I have a few minutes between Zoom calls or meetings in my day, I do my best to pick up my guitar and record the raw idea so I can go back and listen to it later. And still, other times, if I am in the car and hear an idea, I will simply sing the ideas in the voice memo recorder. I don’t really care how good or bad it sounds.

My priority is capturing the essence of the idea… I am always open, ready, and available to capture the essence of any idea I have. I’ve conditioned my brain, my senses, my creativity, the universe, that I am ready and open to receive the idea and will do my best to express it, capture it, record it… to have a constant flow of ideas, and melodies coming out of my imagination.

After the album release, what is next?
 First, for the new few months, our plan is to play live shows regionally, in support of the release of Life’s Moments. I believe our next show after the record release event is a show in support of Earth Day. There will also be additional single releases to support in the coming weeks.

Next, we are currently finishing two additional releases in support of Life’s Moments. One is a 5-song, live video collection with EP. This is a project we recorded during the actual recording of the album, inviting a live audience into a soundstage, to share what a “recording experience” is like. The second is an acoustic EP, featuring acoustic versions of songs from Life’s Moments.

Finally, we’ve already started pre-production on our next full-length record. All future releases are set to come out on Sunshine House Records.

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