I'll add my 2 cents here...

(forgive me for addressing you in the third person but this is going out to
everyone)

First of all, I wouldn't mind if David was actively on the list. I
seriously doubt, with all of us having met and talked to him to some degree
I'm sure, that he would become "self-absorbed", as he put it. And if he
did, we would hunt him down and give him swirlys until you curled up in a
fetal position over in the corner :p

Yes, this is meant to be a discussion about David Lamotte's music -- but 80%
of the time, those sorts of discussions go off on tangents having little to
do with the original topic. I listen to folk music -- I also listen to
rock, world music and other things, too. I believe that finding out what
makes people tick is interesting. When discussing music with people who
have a passion for it, you definately find out what makes them tick. There
are so many different topics one can discuss with others -- their
influences, their first record, whether they play or not and so many more.
Having David on this list as an active participant might allow everyone to
find out a lot of things about his music and about him in general that we
wouldn't find out otherwise. I'm not talking about knowing personal things
that are private but rather things relating to the music that he wanted to
share.

And if someone asked a question that was too personal and he didn't want to
answer, then he should have the right to say, "I'm sorry -- but I don't want
to go into that." the same way he should have the right to not play "Song
For You" for the umpteenth time when he wants to showcase some newer
material. I write music and play (not professionally) and there are some
songs I love to explain/discuss with people but there are others that have
memories attached to them that I simply don't want to talk about. I'm sure
David and most everyone else would agree.

And besides, when he says that we wouldn't be free to say bad things about
his gigs -- I haven't heard a bad one yet, anyway. The last one I went to
(at P.C. in Clinton, SC) was the worst one yet in terms of distractions (a
capaccino machine or blender kept being turned on... an ATM kept making
noise... a group of people off to the side kept laughing and carrying on)
and the group of friends I brought (who had never seen him before) came away
fans for life in spite of all those things. David lost his way a couple of
times during the set (I'm sure because of those distractions -- whether he
would admit that or not) and when I told my friends that he's never like
that, they said *they didn't care* -- that he was just remarkable.

I know when I go to see David play, I always go up to him a talk to him but
I try my best not to bug him or talk to him for very long. He has many
people (some of whom may not have met him before) who he wants to greet and
talk to. I don't want to monopolize any of his time nor do I want to
deprive anyone else from getting the chance to meet and talk to him and
(most likely) becoming a fan of his for life (until he falls into his
bellybutton ;P) I always speak and then later on come back a few times and
speak with him again briefly. At any rate, this forum would allow us (the
group) to converse (in a way) with David in a convenient manner. No one is
rushing to get to the next gig or to get home become we've got an early
meeting tomorrow.

At any rate -- the short version of what I want to say (I tried brevity
once... it didn't agree with me) is simply this...

If David is on this list, we can ask him questions and he can ask us
questions. And that's a good thing. I don't think anyone is here to
discuss his shows in a "Grateful Dead" manner (i.e. "that version of Flying
on Dec 19, 1998 was MUCH better than the version on June 24th of that year
-- lemme go get those tapes...). I think people are here to discuss the
*music* on a different level that that.

I like the idea of a weekly update on tour dates. I would think that maybe
David's "Notes from the road" column he posts on his web site could be sent
here, as well. Most of all, I like the idea of just discussing music and
life and how they interrelate. I haven't posted here much because when I
first found this and posted a couple of times, there was zero response. I
would like to participate in some good discussions here, but only if people
are interested in following through with them. If not, then this list will
be a simple mailing list for tour dates and whatnot.

Anyway, I told you I didn't play nicely with brevity...

Be good...

benster

"Try not! Do or do not... there is no try!" - Yoda
"Those who can, do. Those who can't look dumb trying." - Me

O
o
o
<"\\\>< /5068696C6C697069616E7320343A3133/




-----Original Message-----
From: lowerdryad@... [mailto:lowerdryad@...]
Sent: Thursday, May 04, 2000 10:09 AM
To: TheDryad@egroups.com
Subject: Re: [TheDryad] Digest Number 36


Hi folks,

David LaMotte here. It sure is cool to check in here and see forty-four
people on the list. Kathy informs me that there are 6000+ on the snailmail
list now, and 1200+ on the e-list. That sure makes a folky feel good. I
saw
Ben, the list moderator, at a show the other night and we were talking about

the fact that there are lots of people signed up, but not many people
talking, and we were trying to figure out how we can make the list a cooler
thing for you. Some of the ideas we kicked around resulted in this note.

When we first started talking about this last year I talked some with Kathy
and Ben about what my role in it should be. I decided that it would be
better if I weren't a list member, because I wanted you to feel free to say
whatever you want to each other, including "Whew, that was a ROTTEN show..."

and things like that. The other reason I decided not to join was that I
don't want to spend so much time gazing at my own bellybutton that I fall
in.
Let me put that more plainly... :) Musicians, and maybe
singer/songwriters
especially, have a reputation for being pretty self-absorbed. That sure can

happen easily, and I want to be pretty intentional about not fulfilling that

stereotype, so I thought it would be better not to read lots of email ABOUT
me. Y'know?

So I don't know what your expectations for this list are, or how best to
serve you. One idea that we'll be implementing is that Josh and Kathy will
be doing more frequent updates here. That way there are levels to how
involved you want to be. If you'd just like to get an update every six or
eight weeks, you can just be on the e-mailing list. If you'd rather have
the
latest news and inside scoop on everything that's going on, you can be on
here and get them every week or two. Does that work for you?

The other question I have is where I fit in. Would it be more fun for folks

if I am on the list and a party to the discussions? Or would you rather
have
your privacy, as it were?

I'd be really grateful for your feedback on this stuff. I'd like it to be
what you want it to be, and if I can get a sense of what that is we'll make
every effort to make it work for you.

In other news we just started taking pre-orders for the new record, Corners,

with free shipping, at shows and on the web site. In the meantime, there's
a
page about it so you can check stuff out:
http://www.davidlamotte.com/albuminfo/corners.html Thanks for the steady
support over the years that allows me to take chances like borrowing lots of

money to make big expensive records. :)

Hit reply and let me know what you think, OK? I'll be checking in in the
next few days, then I'll either slink off again or join the fray, as you
choose.

Peace to you,

David

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