Only Available Here!
About this album.
(Release date Aug 2026)
(listen to audio / video samples HERE)
If you are the kind of person who likes reading every word on an album cover (like me) then buckle in. When it comes the the concept behind these new recordings, I hope to leave no stone unturned.
Earlier this year, I started to think about recording a new album, as many of you know, I perform under different 'project' names playing various genres of music. My first hurdle was asking myself, "what kind of album shall I record this year?"
I had a plan, but as they say, the best plans.....
I started to sit down and write some new songs when I realised that I had folders and books full of incomplete and completed song ideas. The more I looked through my close to 35 years of files, realisation set in that I didn't need to write any new material but rather it would be more prudent to finish, and record the tranche of material I already had in my notebooks.
I then realised that I had so much material that this project would be more than one single album so I hereby present 'Volume One' of well, I'm not sure exactly how many volumes but believe me, I have a shed load of other material to finish and record. To get the juices flowing and ball rolling, I've working on 10 songs per volume spanning from my earliest creative attempts in 1992 through to present day.
Most of these songs were either forgotten about, homeless, (meaning they haven't ever seemed to have fit into any other project I've done) or incomplete.
Some of these songs bring clear pictures and memories into my head, the exact place and time the song was written and who / what it was about, some I have no idea about the origins or the exact year I wrote it. Some had finished chord progressions, some just lyrical content.
I've kept much of the DNA of the songs, but I have updated some lyrics and musical elements in keeping my musical progression and development over the past three and a half decades.
I've had a few things cross my path over the past couple years that have got me thinking about my future, mortality, legacy etc etc... My files of unfinished and unreleased songs ultimately have one of two lives, either they sit in notebooks and at some future point they end up in a skip, or alternatively, I turn these scraps of paper into a tangible 'thing' that I, and hopefully others can enjoy well into the future.
I've put 100s of hours into this volume, these are 100% new recordings. I tried not to tangle myself up in rules, preconceived ideas or boundaries so I just started laying down ideas and keeping material that was pleasing to the ear. It also gave me the opportunity to push myself with instrumentation, so what you hear is all me – Vocals, Harmonica, Guitars (slide, lead, rhythm, electric, acoustic, classical) Bass, Dobro, Keys / Piano, Percussion, Banjo, Mandolin and even Whistling. Plus I produced, engineered, mixed, mastered it. It's been an entirely solitary project.
I've often asked myself "what's the point in any of this?" The only answer I can seem to come up with is "why not" or as I heard another creative quote recently, "I like to make things that I'd like to see exist". I'm a very creative person and as I age, I feel my reason for being – art, gets stronger year on year. None of this will make me rich or famous (I actually couldn't think of anything worse).
This is the main reason that I'm only releasing this on CD (which includes a free digital copy) is that I'm growing ever more grumpy about the streaming platforms and the way they operate. So, rather than letting them get their hands on this 'content' as they like to call it, the only folks that will get to hear it are those who genuinely dig what I do and are open to supporting me.
Even if you can't currently play a CD, my album is a tangible thing, something to hold, something I can sign, something I can personally make and design (all part of my artistic process - not just the music) something you can give to someone as a present, something to rest you coffee cup on and if you want to join the cool kids, CD is coming back into fashion just as Vinyl has.
Cheers, Davey / David. backyardmusic.co.nz