GD:My Quixotic Quest...

Something has come to me that is accompanied by a bad smell! I am gambling with more than cards and dice. I am gambling with something I cannot touch, or see in terms of reality. What have I done?...what would it be like to shelve this quixotic quest to try to make a difference in the world through my music?
As the possibility that no one really cares enough about my artistic output, my person or seeing me parade around a stage I've always wanted to play with a great band that includes my own son courses through my veins leaving my name and credit score in deeper debt that I have no means to dig myself out of, here I stand again at a crossroads where I could pick up my scarce ownership of toys and run to a tunnel where neither my creditors, the IRS, my ex or anyone else I may owe some amount of money to will try to find me...ugh! Sometimes I think it's too bad I didn't develop software or learn to handle other people's money...I did stock shelves on the graveyard shift for many years and by day continue what truly moved my heart: make music!

Then, of course, true to nature I think of who I can call, email or text. Who might be interested in coming to a spectacle of musicians that believe in their destiny as I do? Though not as big a spectacle as major television networks present to multitudes in the form of men and women half my age who have dreamed their 'whole life' to live a dream. If I could coax one small section of baseball fans at AT&T Park to come to The Great American Music Hall I will let them know that just by attending EVERYONE WINS! Fancy that!!

Is the ridiculous churning of my stomach caused by questioning my hope in and expectations of those who have patted me on the back and cheered me on my way to fighting windmills which represent the 'olden days', when music and the musicians really mattered to those back-patters who 'really felt' the magic they would rather keep spinning in their memories than make new ones they still have the opportunity to create? The 70's are dead! Long live the 70's!!

Something good has to come of all of this. Something that might give me an island to stand on...I didn't say 'rest on'...but of course that would be nice too! There have to be 60 people that will still believe in the magic created when a large room of people cheer a stage full of highly skilled musicians on to greater heights than 'said' musicians would scale if playing to an empty hall! Neil Young playing 3 sold out nights in Oakland vs. Unknown knights donning guitars, etc. in SF, for a fraction of the price for the Neil tickets, says something for coming up in the 'olden days'... I didn't play Woodstock, I was inspired by Woodstock, especially how the music brought people together. Conservatism is the moss of baby-boomers! "I remember when..." is something that used to make one's eyes roll up into the back of your head as soon as the words rolled off of grandpa's tongue.

I ask for a chance to capture a bit of your imagination. To show you why I believe you will believe in The Fabulous Funkyband...before I flame out and come to my senses! Come to The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, Friday, July 9th with some friends you bought tickets from ME for at only $15 a pop! If you carpool the parking fees are cheaper and the music once again brings people together! Yay!

This performance, 14 days from now, is NOT a MONSTER to slay! It will be a night of fun, music and a reason for me to keep my toys out to share with you until my final days...I hope!

GD/The Fabulous FunkyBand at The Great American Music Hall

I've gone and done it now! In a quest to rile up the masses and keep hope and faith alive I've gone and set up a gig with The Fabulous FunkyBand at The Great American Music Hall. This, however, is not just any gig and requires we bring a semi large group of people in or it becomes what those of us in the music industry abhor: Pay To Play...ugh!

Here's the obese skinny: You are on this email list because you like the music I write, the way I perform, etc.. Perhaps you have seen me perform solo and liked what you saw enough to want to stay informed about my progressing career. Many of you have seen me perform with The Fabulous FunkyBand over the years and love to support this band. Maybe you have purchased the first two releases "Glass Half Full" and "The Show"(maybe some of you were even at that performance in 2005!).

Over the past 3 years I have gone through a massive personal evolution. I've learned some things about what really matters and how much I want to be a positive influence in our society. The downturn of the economy among other things decimated my guitar teaching business and I suppose the 'universe' was saying to me 'the time is now'! Nothing but the creation of music has ever come easy to me and even that is something I have worked hard at because I believe this is what my true mission is: To inspire positive action, thought and peace through the beauty and power of music! I don't believe I was gifted musically for reasons of self-torture! It is my most worthy goal to be involved with people and perhaps through 'action' people will want to be involved with me as many in my intimate circle are. I'm looking to expand this 'circle'!

Note: I do not proclaim my self to be some kind of hero, brave soul, etc.. I've made mistakes, not lived up to expectations I've even expected of myself. A combination of fears and previously not listening to my my own heart had slowed my progress. The greatest fear we all share is that no one will care so why put yourself out on a limb. See the "Expose Reprise" video. We have become disengaged for so many reasons and it is my 'product' that calls for engagement or it's dead! Luckily I'm still here with more gusto and spirit for having come to know these truths which are what inspired much of the new album "Expose Your Self". The value of love. The value that each and every one of us carries if we believe we do! We Should.

The "Expose Your Self" project which I produced, engineered and brought to reality would not have been worth the 2 1/2 years of day and night focus without the brilliant performances of Grant Slam(drummer), AJ(bass), Julia Harrell(percussion), Cello Joe(cello), my parents Ernie(percussion) and Marie(vocals), DeBraun Thomas(guitar, laughter, wailing) and finally my own son Zach on piano, synth, organ vocals and whatever else he made himself available for! Of course I spent many, many hours alone in front of my computer screen on headphones, listening, adjusting, researching over and over again! I wrote lyrics, changed lyrics. Take after take on guitar, vocals, harmonica...most of it in solitude but with the energy-driving belief that these songs, which had miraculously marched in to my head one by one, will make a difference in the lives of those who hear them receive them as a 'soul exchange' of sorts.

The album is finished, mastered. I have tried and will continue to try to make the music available to you so that you will want to support my abilities I humbly possess and nurture.

My question to you is "how can I create value in my music for You"? You are in charge! I need your support to keep things going. I don't have corporate backing yet so I reach out to you. How can we connect? You have to get to know the music or even care to! Maybe someday I'll write about the 'dirty lowdown' which is actually quite juicy!

But maybe for now it is the LIVE SHOWS which will HELP US CONNECT! PLEASE PURCHASE TICKETS to this show at THE GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC HALL where THE FABULOUS FUNKYBAND, Grant, AJ and my son Zach and I will LEAVE NO QUESTION AS TO THE ABILITY OF MUSIC AND SELF-BELIEF TO CHANGE LIFE FOR THE BETTER!!!! Not just financially speaking but also as an example to have FAITH in BRINGING YOUR BEST to a SOCIETY the NEEDS IT!

I begin touring! Touring solo(initially) around the U.S. and internationally in hopes of bringing my lifelong quest to fruition...To inspire positive action, thought and peace through the beauty and power of music! I start with my intimate circle and hope you will be a part of it's expansion!

GD - Walkin' The Walk/November 2009

Please take your time and read this. If you must leave and come back...do so! What I have to say below WILL MATTER TO YOU, if it doesn't already! ~GD     BREAK SOME EGGS(patterns) TO MAKE AN OMELETTE(fulfillment)..   It's great to say "hello again"! I hope to have the opportunity to greet you again and again, followed by new and evolving circumstances. Though at times it seems I'm "Crawling The Crawl" or "Lagging The...", I'm deeply involved in a very steady gait of creative output, letting you know about it and finally, making it available to you.   I've never been in this place of declaring "DAMN THE TORPEDOES" before for fear that no one will listen, I'll go broke or I must keep my obligations to society. Pretty silly when I know that "The only thing I have to fear is fear itself" because living THIS WAY has gotten me nowhere. What is it they say about the definition of insanity? Having done the 'safe thing' before I can't afford to let my spirit wither away to frustration! (We do value spirit, don't we?) No, This is not me! Is this you? Time to change the things I/we can....   Walking The Walk- I am "Walking The Walk" toward some very lofty, attainable goals requiring the collective energy of those that WILL listen to music that is fully realized and meant to lift the masses that it WILL matter to. Number one at this time is to get under your skin and in to your hearts and conciousness because this is where my music belongs. When I begin releasing the tracks from my new album "Expose Your Self" it will be with great pride and anticipation, sandwiched by the most complex, gratifying, focused, frustrating, triumphant period of time I've ever spent on this planet. Our Earth. I've been flowing like a waterfall of cascading musical notes and lyrical passages and feel tapped in to "the source". For the first time in my adult life I write of love, of family, of connection because I believe these are the sources which energize and 'complete' our individual 'selves'.    Time, Christmas, Ecetera.. I'm very conscious of time lately. This doesn't mean my punctuality has improved! It's more about the passage of time and my place in it. I just think that we're all spinning a little faster every day. I fear blinking because it might be Christmas when I open my eyes again...Happy Thanksgiving BTW!   Actually, Christmas is 'so' right around the corner that I believe it prudent to suggest that you consider giving the gift of music to those you love and care about...It lasts forever, the listener is gifted with an ability to take life on with a rhythmic gusto inspired by the "soundtrack of our lives"! Of course I hope you will highly consider pre-ordering "Expose Your Self" so that I can begin the process of manufacturing CD's and other pertinent merchandise to share with you the full brunt of what I have been diligently producing over the last two years.    On the new www.garrickdavis.com homepage there is a safe, secure way of doing business to throw your hat in the ring, so to speak!     Expose Your Self   For two years now I've been working on a music project about to be release to you, the public. It has been the most professionally and personally thrilling and challenging periods in my life. Thrilling because I have begun to create new music at a level that I, as an artist, felt capable of, but until recently didn't have the tools at hand to bring my muse to life.   Many of the "miracles" that have been absolutely imperative to create this perfect storm of happenstance fell into my lap at the moment I needed them most. A laptop computer, my drummer I hadn't seen for 25+ years, a musically gifted teenaged keyboardist who happens to be my son, a monster bassist, a buttery percussionist, a cellist whose real mission is to make others aware of alternative energy sources and has brought me closer to my first childhood dream of being a symphony conductor, a generous friend who by trade is an audio engineer helped me to ramp up the quality of the work and lifetime songwriter that finds it hard to refuse the muse and a need and dream to fulfill no matter the threat of material poverty or financial ruin. My driving spirit(this includes my close circle and people I owe money to) has screamed and caressed me to "keep going Garrick". Keep going...     Letting Go Of Control, Because We're Not In...   It is weird, awesome and thrilling that what came after purchasing a Macbook computer because a long term relationship had come to an end (I needed my own when I found and moved into my own apartment) served to solidify self-belief when the walls of my previous existence was being torn down. Challenging because it is in this period of time that I have had to navigate around personal and societal obligations such as bills, parenting, relationships, etc.. It is in this period that I learned so much about what I truly felt about life: Change is a constant, Love is our greatest force, Cherish family, Truth requires courage, Life is short, True friendship requires nurturing and finally, to be capable of being and giving one's best to family and society, We must love ourselves, without conditions!   Expose Your Self = To be who you are because your 'truest self' is what nature, god or the universe intended you to use for survival and for the greater good(i.e. instinct). This assumes, of course, that nature is perfect...    Believe To Achieve/F**k Fear It is of these philosophies that I have found strength and the vision to ''walk the walk'', knowing and believing that my example is not born of pure ego in a "look at me, I'm here!" attitude. In all sincerity, my choice to wear blinders while my previous financial infrastructure of guitar instruction was falling by the wayside has happened because, as I see it, I can be a more effective member of society and be of assistance to my family, band members and loved ones in the long term as an artist that can possibly lift others through music than I was in my 21 years of lifting groceries on to shelves in the middle of the night.   Fear has had its hold on me. I think fear is one of the most universally heinous, destructive emotional forces we as humans must overcome to thrive. Fear held me back before I told it to fuck off! An amazing thing happened. Fear is chicken shit. Love kicked its ass! Love has helped me to believe that I can add beauty and vital music to a world that can always use more. When you hear the album you will hear the sustained word "LOVE" on two different tracks. This is my way of warding off the bogeyman! HaHa!   The members of The Fabulous FunkyBand, as a whole and I have in common the inner belief that music is a universal language we are privileged to communicate with and we have dedicated our lives to this entity that enhances lives and human existence. Music, the way we make it, is all about love!   Who Will Eat This Bread? I am looking for people that are interested in what I have to offer by way of music and/or education of such. I'm not looking for the people to support me, as in the case of welfare or unemployment. I work very hard at this complex career. I play very hard at this music I make. I seek fans of music that will support my artistic expression because it resonates with them, thus enabling my business to grow! Simple, don't you think?   "Music For Your Life...Now!"   What is necessary at this stage is to express that it is understandable that the music of one's youth is the music a fan will believe in for life in many cases. This is more typical in the U.S., possibly because we are overall a conservative country, given our views on sexuality and other matters. this doesn't leave much room for new stuff. This screws me and others who have it even tougher than the musical heroes that have inspired us. But maybe there's hope anyway.      I grew up listening to rock music in it's greatest era. The 60's and 70's. Jimi Hendrix was still alive, The Beatles were still together, Led Zeppelin was just starting out, The Who, Sly, James Brown, The Temptations. So many more! That I took up guitar was no accident. The instrument has been a vehicle of personal peace and triumph since the moment I began playing at age 12. For some reason I just went the route of wanting to make my own music. I've never lost that lifetime direction.     If the guitar-based rock music I grew up listening to has a common theme, even in it's diversity of artistic delivery it would be this: Music has the power to change the world! But what about now? When business interests took over and decided what you were hearing on the radio, and therefore who was to be a superstar were you not suspicious? I wasn't because I was unaware of this element.   Instead of trying to be like everyone else, I just kept pumping out my own work because I believed in its potency. I felt that if someone actually heard it, my music would improve their day or moment or outlook. I still do. I have been fortunate in my ability to still make music. What's better is that I feel this is what has been intended for me all along if you believe like I do, in destiny.   Pure Intentions, Follow Through I've never held back from trying to share my best. I ask that you as a music lover, or lover of art consider what I do as legitimate straight from the heart music with a message delivered with passion and expertise culminating from nearly forty years of dedication. If you feel the best years of your lives are over then go ahead and pack it in!   I am one that feels that I am creating music for You. Just listen to it. You, my current or potential fan can support my efforts through staying in touch with my latest and soon to be greatest as they are completed and released.  My work standards are high because this is what my musical influences laid the groundwork for and is what the evolutionary force of nature has intended. I am but a deliverer of a uniquely potent but vital message.    I sing of love, hope and inspiration. What matters more to our ability to thrive and reach beyond survival? If there is more let me know and I'll share it in song!   Ciao e Amor,   GD

Expose Your Self: The Creation Of...

by C.J. Hill

One year has passed since Garrick decided to figure out how to record music on his own using his Macbook and imagination. The initial purpose was to get back to creating music, as the most recent years were spent mostly on learning to navigate a decidedly complex business, leaving songwriting as merely a frustration. The idea of creating a new record album burst forward when new ideas started to flow as a result of changes in his personal life which led to a sense of "self" never experienced previously.

Inspired by a friend's suggestion, Garrick began experimenting with the recording process to engage in songwriting as therapy. This eventually evolved into producing studio quality tracks developed by way of countless hours helped along by a friend who is an audio engineer who in hearing the potential became involved as the non-emotionally driven counterpoint to Garrick's recorded musical vision. Musicial contributors on the upcoming album include not only traditional FunkyBand personnel like drummer Grant Slam, percussionist Julia Harrell, bassist AJ(Artis Joyce) but also Cello Joe and perhaps most noteably Garrick's 17 year old son Zach who graces more tracks on this production than anyone else aside from his father. He has grown as a musician and is given much freedom to experience the value of creating his own voice through inspiration by "those who came before" in the same way Jimi Hendrix initially inspired Garrick's guitar playing.

Other special appearances on the album include Garrick's parents. Ernest, 81, who before starting family was an accomplished and sought after drummer, plays percussion on his legs, "trading eights" with GD on a joyful track called "Happy June". Garrick's mother Marie, an effervescent personality and opera-trained singer joins her son on the outro to the title track, helping to create a wall of sound chanting "know your self, be your self, love your self..." in the final soaring crescendo alongside crushing guitars, drums and all.

Thus, the key to the potential success of this record lies not only with the songs but with the community of Garrick has drawn in to bring a no-more-excuses attitude and life to the music and it's ability to reach out and draw others in. The philosophies espoused within the aural jewels are pertinent, valuable and as conciously inspiring as soundtracks to life. Clear, logical, compelling. Themes about relationships are intermeshed with issues of family, direction, roles, values, experience, spirituality.

In time Garrick came to realize that much of his life has been spent keeping up with the Joneses, not fully focusing on what is and will always be inside of himself. This something many others can relate to. This is why many people lose touch with their "inner child" and trade this for "the good life".
The privilege an Garrick the artist experiences to perpetuate his art is to live openly, conciously and express through his medium of music. Anyone around while he's working will be blasted by infectious laughter and a true sense of peace.

The opening verse of the title song "Expose Your Self" questions:
"Why hold on to the secret that is burning inside you?
You turned away from your heart and broke your own rules.
You sold your self."

Though it is Garrick's hope to inspire positive thoughts and actions in others, it is as a result of "heartbreak", disappoinments, personal developments and changes that an acceptance of the "dark" and the "light" of life "are what they are" and help to provide the strength of character necessary to make a difference for the betterment of our own selves, situations and eventually if not immediately, our society.

"Expose Your Self" simply reads "Be real with your self, be real with others". The logic in this is apparent, expressing a sense of self value normally reserved for children with nurturing parents. We lose this sense of self for various reasons, including a quaker-esque humility that many times squelches ambition and individuality to "fit in". To be our best "self" does not include submission to other humans to fit in. To hold back from who we are is to establish a lie. To do this holds others back from believing in their own magnificence.

This is why you should care about this record. This is why this project should and will matter to you. The truths reverberate throughout the music and events connected with Garrick's efforts to stay the course in spite of the difficulty and adversity along the way. Garrick knows that his purest objective is to create beauty and connection with others.

His is an example worth telling your friends and children of. That you tell them and others to not lose their hope, faith or belief in what is right for them because it's too difficult. Garrick Davis sings about it and lives it, now!

Talkin' "Bout Walkin'/Woodside Village Church-GDWTW 11/08

"EXPOSE YOUR SELF"

I'm happy to report that my lack of staying in touch has been
caused by a prolonged wave of creativity that has resulted in a
new body of work . Those close enough to know what has taken
place in my personal life over the last couple of years may rest
assured that I have grown from the inside and have learned much
about my "self" in the process. I'm sure we can all relate as to
what a couple more years of life experience can do! I do feel
great fortune that I am able to chronicle my episodes and add
rhythm and melody. This is what I have been immersed with...A
flood of empowerment through trying my best to face the B.S.
while and determining what to clear out.

The album title of the new release is "Expose Your Self"
Suggestive, as is the song of which this collection of new tracks
is centered around. But rather than thinking of the inappropriate
behavior of some decrepit character in a rain jacket, I identify
the inappropriate self-destructive behaviors of denial,
procrastination, and fear as items that hold many of us back. At
best we can strive to give our best to our loved ones and society
in general which is crying out for the "light", or, more simply,
that thing we all require EVEN MORE THAN hot sex...love.

Ah,Love. Love and it's many facets -romantic, familial,
self, lost...

Yes, "Expose Your Self" is my take on the above mentioned issues.
Musically, I am accompanied by Grant Slam on drums, AJ on bass (2
tracks) and my son Zach on keyboards.

Lyrically I am accompanied by my heart which, through it's
incessant beating, has helped to give me a chance to open up a
new chapter... This set of songs might make you think at times of
what it would have been like to hear a collaboration between Jimi
Hendrix and The Beatles in 1968-69. Intriguing? No?

My father Ernie, who was a full time swing band drummer in
the 1940's before starting a family, joins me on one track
for the first time ever on what we call "lap drumming",
literally speaking. My mother (Marie) has added her vocal
talent on the title song, and sounds even more angelic than
usual... I am a lucky music
producer/artist/singer/arranger/engineer/session
guitarist/bassist/programmer/man to have utilized my time to
create this record which, I hope, will add some beauty to
the musicscape and inspiration to stretch beyond self-
imposed barriers.

The talented German-born painter Silke Henkel-Wallace of Palo
Alto is in the process of creating the primary cover art and
Sandy Taylor of Santa Cruz will be lending her talented eye to
blend the art forms to create an enticing package. I feel lucky
and blessed to have these talented artists join with me to create
memorable images for Expose Your Self. You can see Silke's work
on her website at www.henkel-wallace.com

Sneak Peek of music?..Go to my YouTube Channel by clicking
below!!

WHAT I CAN DO FOR YOU: I am focused as never before to create and
perform music and evolve as an artist. One way to understand how
I see things is that with nature being perfect, everything and
everyone has a purpose. I'm using the gifts I've been given and
and doing the best I can with them. I offer to you uncontrived
music with passion, warmth. The music industry is not as it used
to be. Since things have changed there is little chance to have
the luxury of being backed by a record label and being given time
to develop over a matter of years or series of records. Music
artists must be more resourceful than any of the Iconic artist of
the past that still touch us today. In todays climate and economy
many bands and artists that have influenced our lives and are
tied in with our memories because they made "music that matters
to you" would not be given the opportunity to reach a wide
audience as quickly as days gone by because that model is out the
window! The U.S. in particular is especially cold when it comes
to the necessary support of it's artists. Music and other art
forms are not expendable activities. Artists chronicle humanity
through a chosen medium and help us to see who we were, are and
who we can be. They help us to remember the beauty and sometimes,
the terror of our existence on this earth. Never was the value of
being an artist more apparent to me as it was while visiting some
of the great museums in Europe.

What I hope to have the chance to do is speak to you through
song. I want to create music that matters to you RIGHT NOW! Help
me build a community based around the themes of which I sing :
inspiration, passion, compassion, personal evolution, love.

WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR ME: I ask that you support me in this however
you can- attending shows, purchasing my music so I can make more.
I can't do this alone. With all of the hope that this country
will 'turn it around', I appeal to you to take the opportunity to
help me take the gifts I've been given to the next level and you
will know that your belief, support will help to foster something
we will all be proud of. I want to create something that MATTERS
RIGHT NOW! I have a plan in the works that will reward those that
step up at this vital time. I will post this plan in the next
communication of "Walking The Walk".

I am also seeking business connections to help build a team. If
you are, or know someone who is connected to the entertainment
industry, please drop a message or refer me to the right person
and I will be glad to follow up.

PRE-ORDERING your copies of the "EXPOSE YOUR SELF" CD will
provide the best support I can ask for to complete this project
and help get me to Europe to follow through on a life long dream
of cultivating a true international audience.

The sum total I am looking to reach but will obviously be better
off with more: $10,000

This will cover- manufacturing of Expose and a second Expose Your
Self(acoustic), computer hardware, travel to Europe, touring
expenses, grant writing, etc. PR work (publicist) is key yet
expensive. Aforementioned total will not fully cover effective
campaign. Any ideas? Let me know..

Thank you in advance for your thoughtful support! I am creating
the best work of my life right now and look to keep up the pace.
Again, I can't do this alone! Nor would I want to!!



Lookin' For Something from "EXPOSE YOUR SELF: http://www.mailermailer.com/rd?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFT_9pj0vKI



Preview Concert Woodside This Saturday November 15 7:30pm

Woodside Village Church has generously opened their church
sanctuary for us to put on a concert this Saturday night.

This is a beautiful site for such an event and will be unique
because volume levels will be kept to a minimum and we will be
performing some of the new songs for the first time in public.
Never mind the music stand which I will stick closely to for
comfort...This really about a new beginning.

Drummer Grant Slam, bassist AJ (Artis Joyce) and my son Zach will
join me in this live music event as they have in recording
sessions for the "Expose" project. However this is a different
challenge and result sought. We hope you will come out and
support us on what will be a great evening of entertainment and
connection.

Woodside Village Church: hthttp://www.woodsidevillagechurch.org