#sidewalk dave

[icetsvu]

[ossuarysorceress]

[fellowfelons]

the end of sidewalk dave

  I used to get drunk and write.  The whiskey laid it’s cool metallic blanket in my stomach.  The bitter aftertaste, the loneliness, makes me look for a brother.

  I am a lost human the same as I was six years ago.  So long it was that I spent thinking about and plowing through days only to hope to arrive on the other side a grizzled, thoughtful man with a winking hand moving toward the hip-- my fingers twitching for it’s trigger.  Wisdom is the ability to call “draw” at the right time and it comes measured in a blink or two.  Yet here I am, toiled and aching with a body sore from all the “fuck-it” moments a young man gathers in his arms-- like endless gold nuggets in the shallow creek. All the while, thinking I might use them to buy my way to adulthood.  Hardening and softening all at once until you care about the right things and don’t care about the wrong things.  Years ago I would grow impatient over the smallest moments of lost control, now I grow impatient with my stalwart impatience.  I’ll take the time do something, because that’s all we have to bargain with; time.  

  I still get drunk and write.  I have an open beer and a glass of whiskey-- straight.  There is a type of man who exists now that is extremely sensitive, earnest, strong and also true to his feminine power.  I am that man.  The paradox always makes more sense as a memory, so I am always falling forward- if I’m falling into some paranoia that I actually don’t know anything about any of this except what has been taught me- then it is a paranoia of merit.  Of course it’s true, but how does a young man distract himself from that truth?  Easy.  Find yourself on a journey and believe that there is some sort of clarity down the line.  I am down the line.  I’ve noticed it, and halted to look around the down-end of this line.  I ache more, I know more happiness, but the equation is still balanced.  I imagine that when death becomes a reality for me, whether through loved ones passing or when I know in a split second I am at the end, “this is it... oh my god”, I will have learned more and forgotten more and will be as balanced as I am now or was then.  

  I imagine that in the future I will get drunk and write.  If there was anything to become except your own imagination, maybe that would be the kernel of truth that would pop me into manhood.  I’m listening to my flaws and understanding that I am humbly helping to balance everything.  

  The rage I cherished inside of me as a younger man fueled the motivation to work so hard on a singular project.  Since 2007 that project has been Sidewalk Dave.  I am grateful to it, it is grateful to me for imagining it, and some of you have gratitude toward it and even me, and thus I am so utterly grateful to you for spending your time with me in so many ways.  And for now, it is over-- or better yet, it’s just reached a new form.  It would not have grown and continued as long as it has without the support of the people I was lucky enough to share it with.  Knowing something is knowing what it is not.  Negation is the seed of reason and logic, and while I’m still lost in what is manhood I know to trust what it is to be human, and those two things are what make us so.  Accepting that contradiction is beautiful.  Thank you so very much.  Sidewalk Dave is dead, but I am still the romantic behind him.  Keep in touch, I’d love to hear if/what this all meant to you if you feel inclined.  

  Love,

David

[americanaroots-blog]

Sidewalk Dave "750 ml Of Spirit" Music Video

Here is the new music video for "750 ml Of Spirit" by Sidewalk Dave from their newest album Gold Liquid Mischief. To get a better understanding of the prominent alcohol theme within the band's title of album and song, feel free to go back to EPISODE 71 of The Americana Rock Mix to hear me recount the story (via Dave's written word) of their disasterous fall from grace and booze fueled/infused ride back to the top of their game. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMbuPDGE4SY[/youtube] For more info, stop by www.SidewalkDave.com

[bangst]

Go see Sidewalk Dave play with Elison Jackson tonight, they're a really sexy band.

[propertyofsaints]

A Recap of Last Night's Show at The Burlington, by the Bassist.

Last night (March 25th) Property of Saints played at Logan Square's dark and dive-y Burlington Bar.  This was our last show in Chicago before we hit the road!  We pulled up in the alley at load-in and were greeted by our fellow bill-mates Sidewalk Dave (New York) and Elison Jackson (New Haven, CT).  Mid-tour and new to the Windy city, these guys were half-haggard and half-euphoric as they poured out of their tour van.  After agreeing to share our newly acquired drums with the other two acts, we started setting up our back line to discover two carnival prize pillows stuffed in the bass drum.  Asbestos seemed apparent, so we said goodbye to the crusty things that had been hiding in our bass drum.

Back lined and sound checked, the three bands hit the bar together for some drinks and solid conversations.  We went from "Nice to meet you" to discussing our strangest recurring dreams in about an  hour.  By show time, we were all JACKED. Elison Jackson opened with his solo set, and was later backed by Sidewalk Dave who added his fast chords and punchy melodies to Elison's haunting vocals.

Lit by a single red bulb from one corner of the stage, Property of Saints summoned the rock gods of the underworld to deliver a hard rocking and demanding set.  We ended with our two newest songs, Sand snakes and Ghosts , and left the crowd in a "dreamlike" daze.  As we came back to Earth and the rock demons were relinquished, friends and coworkers greeted us with praise and whiskey.

Sidewalk Dave took the stage and took the torch to finish up the night with a stellar set of hard yet thoughtful tunes.  Heads banged, "YEAHS" were expelled from booze-soaked lungs, and good times were had by all.  The show was the type that stirs you up and makes you remember all the reasons why you love music.  Good people appreciating good music.  Doesn't get much better.

-Christie

[propertyofsaints]

Monday, March 25th Property of Saints is going to be hitting the stage at The Burlington Bar with east coasters Sidewalk Dave and Elison Jackson.  These cats are touring their way to join us in Chicago for what will be an epic show of cosmic proportions!  Suggested donation of $7, Show starts @ 9:00pm.

http://www.theburlingtonbar.com/

Artwork by Steve Sabo, 2013

[lewisandhisblog]

Video: Sidewalk Dave - "Cayenne" 

Premiering on Lewis and his Blog today is the brand new music video from New Haven notable Sidewalk Dave, a garage rock artist and songsmith whose most recent record Hard On Romance clinched the #9 spot on my Top Albums of 2012 list. If you're not familiar with this local folk hero yet, now is a great time to acquaint yourself. 

"Cayenne" is an exemplary cut from Hard On Romance, a record that wrestles to a very enjoyable effect to find reconciliation between the primality of sex and the 'civility' of modern romance. That's a professorial way of saying that it's full of terrifically conflicted love songs, and "Cayenne" is no exception. Backed by an appropriately gritty full band, Sidewalk Dave (née Van Witt) strums and moans in 3/4 time, pining for the song's titular lover one moment and quickly backing away from her the next. It's the kind of frustrating emotional paradox -- knowing that someone is bad for you but wanting him/her anyway -- to which I'm sure many of us can relate. 

The video itself is full of psychedelic colors and symbolically ripe floral imagery, and it fits in nicely with the other similarly abstract clips that Dave has dropped on his YouTube channel for the songs on Hard On Romance. It's also worth pointing out that Dave made it specifically to be released on Valentine's Day.

___________________

Watch the "Cayenne" video above and pick up Hard On Romance via The Telegraph Recording Company.