David Boyles

Tonight I spent some moments feeling sexy and generally at peace with myself. I was listening to David Boyles play his guitar. It wasn’t necessarily him or his music that did these things to me. It was even better; the atmosphere that he created with his music allowed me to wander through all these feelings of my own accord. And I loved it.

Each song progressed like this: he starts thumping a beat on the face of his guitar. He loops that into his system and then lets it sit for a second. Then the guitar starts in: maybe some chords, maybe a melodic line. Then his voice, which hits soul not like Otis, but like Prince or Jeff Buckley; it rides and rides and when you need it most, when things are grooved into a very still excitement, he hits a high note that satisfies the soul.

There was a looseness to his style. Usually when he jammed, he hardly played all the notes; he hit just enough to pull out of the song what needed to come out of it. Nothing more should be said except this: he can play around with the music because the music is not puzzled together from the notes and chords and instruments; those elements are mere tools that bring to life something whole within him that wants to be expressed. What we witness is not the prodigal but processed Emeril Lagasse winging it for us. We are watching a home schooled chef, blessed with instincts and technique that others labor years over; fanning the flames, working the oven, and slowly bringing the food to life; so that when you eat, you are not just tasting a fabulously succulent dish; you experience the joy of eating itself.

- Smith Glover