Dave Keir
Triangular songs of unrequited lust on gatling-gun fingerstyle acoustic guitar...
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31
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The Year Of The Sheep The Year Of The Sheep
A song reflecting on consequences of The Highland Clearances which took place in Scotland in the late 18th Century.
I Don't Think So I Don't Think So
My take on the good advice graciously handed down by life's winners.
Living Is Easy Living Is Easy
A filigree of fingerstyle underpinning a wine infested vocal.
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Dave Keir picked up the guitar at a very early age - too early, in fact, to learn any extant songs or tunes so he became accustomed to picking out his own tunes from the very start. The habit become so deeply and irrevocably ingrained that even a concentrated effort to mend his ways during an interregum in the 80s and 90s had little effect - a relapse was always just around the corner.
Dave's pedigree includes many years playing and recording in London and touring the UK and Europe before he retired from the professional scene in 1981 for family and personal reasons. But he always kept a finger on the pulse. And the songs just kept popping up.
With the advent of project studios, Dave equipped himself accordingly for the purpose of recording the now substantial back catalogue of songs that had accrued during these years and also to record local musicians who happened by. One late example of these collaborations resulted in the release of a CD of fiddle tunes for some local musicians. Not suprisingly, this marked the beginning of the end of the hiatus.
Dave's songs have been described as "quirky", "wry", "sly", "wiry", "muscular", "poignant", "scurrilous", "sleazy", "philosophical" (huh?), and "tuneful" - it depends on the song, he says (duh!).
But always, they are "about" something. They range from being almost journalistic about his experiences to wild extrapolations from a single glance or passing smile. Tax worries and mountaineering play a big part in some of the songs - but a higher proportion yet appear to be about unrequited lust.
Dave's guitar playing has been described at "gatling-gun", "complicated", "fast", "slow", "simple", "bright", "dark", "dense", "spare", "percussive", "songfull", (yes, I know - it depends on the song). It happens that he's a left-handed guy who plays guitar right-handed. There is no space here to muse on the net effect of that.
As for so many independent artists, the coming of the internet has given Dave a new window of opportunity to reach an audience whom, some would say, may be called "niche", and difficult to reach by traditional means. All this has enabled the production release in 2006, of this CD, "Interim Reports", which has been thoroughly welcomed wherever it has been heard. Dave's public performances are, at the time of writing, limited in number and scale, however wherever he does play, the performances are enthusiastically received without exception.
So he is now embarked upon a path of recording and issuing songs that are either freshly composed or have been accumulated through the years. However, nothing will get released on a CD that hasn't served time in front of an audience, so the recording and performing sides of the work are closely connected. Plans for the future are centred around not only playing regularly throughout the UK and Europe again, but also to open up new horizons by way of performances in the US.
That's it. Thanks for taking the time to read these few lines and if you have been listening to a few of the songs from "Interim Reports", we hope you have enjoyed them!What equipment do you use?
Martin OM-18V (2005)
Martin OOO-28 (2002)
Eccleshall "Special" (1987)
Balerno, Midlothian
United Kingdom
ID
298734
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Comments (37)
Hi Dave...
This is still just my favorite piece from you...and it is still
one of the ALL-TIME BEST acoustic guitar/vocal performances from ANY artist that I have ever heard. Period. Amazing playing. Perfect execution. Great dynamics. Sparkling production. Top notch vocal performance. Exceptional writing and arranging. A pure masterpiece in every way! This song should make you famous...but either way...it already has with me. Thanks for creating it. :-)
Hugs...Mike (NAV)
Very impressive work here and a good question. Who is the captain indeed? We´re all getting POLITICAL again around here, which is good and I hope we won´t stay too politically correct for that led us in no good direction.
Very good playing here. I like your solo work as well as your accompaniment. Very IRISH! Lots of fifths involved, gives you the impression of being neither in minor nor major, the kind of openness I always loved!
A wonderful poetic song!
Cheers from Frankfurt
Andreas
GOT ME SOLD THIS IS MY VERY FAV!! Debra l am humbled to hear such artistic talent ..Stay Blessed! this is going to spinnnnnnnnnnnn. aka ms 007:):)
Top Shelf this may very well be the one l wrote up on another somehow ..you'll know when you read my comments the last one about tx to mel was while l was listening to this one DYNOMITE!! THIS IS YOU!! in my opinion & l absolutly love this acoustic sound :):):)
Yes l Ditoo what Danny & Strummergirl said dave ...This is the one l would say your quite in your element in this one! BRAVO my friend~~~~~ktf L&P Debra adding to main & other stations as well ty Dave and of course tx to Mel.....l'll be back :)
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