CIRCULAR REFERENCE ICT

BLOG - Meeting David Lord and why Solagget's The Delivery is required listening for indie artists in Wichita

My first job was working at Damm Music on the west side. I started working there as a 17 year old. A big part of the job was working with the half dozen teachers we had at the time to schedule their lessons. We had an amazing lineup of teachers including my former instructor, Dean, an amazing shredder whom I learned all my licks from and held in the highest regard.

Growing up as an only child, I looked up to all of them, almost like they were my cooler older brothers.

David Lord was among one of those teachers, and quite frankly, I didn't think much of him or his playing. He was one of those jazz guys, who happened to be really into The Beach Boys- you know, old people music. I listened to Tool. I knew what was cool. (quick aside, I almost died of cringe writing that just now, but it's the truth. I had no taste back then)

Every once in a while, a few students would cancel and the teachers would all have the same gap in their schedules. Lessons were 30 minutes, so there wasn't much that could be done but hang out and shoot the breeze. Sometimes an impromptu jam would erupt, but mostly it was just cool cats chatting about stuff that was way above my head.

One time in particular, the whole lot of them, including Dean and David, were hanging out in the store. We had just become a Martin Guitar dealer and had a variety of cool models up on the wall. One in particular caught David's eye and he picked it up.

What happened next I can't really describe. David played this incredible blend of classical guitar and jazz. The four or five of us were absolutely transfixed on what he was playing. I understood how shred guitar worked. I could identify jazz when I heard it. This was something else. I had never been so mesmerized by someone's playing before that moment. It was only for a brief moment, maybe a minute or so. David stopped, said “Hmm… I like that one” and put the guitar back on the shelf.

All our mouths agape, Dean said, "Hey, can you uhh... play that again?" The greatest guitar player I knew personally was as astonished as I was.

From then on I listened to everything David had to say. I didn't quite understand how special David's artistry on the guitar was, but over the years I came to understand that his talent and perspective on the instrument was singular.

He didn't stick around Damm for very long, opening up Air House Music in 2008, but I tried to keep in touch with him, following his career, seeing any performance I could catch. This last weekend David debuted his latest solo release Way Over the Rainbow at Fisch Haus. After watching his set, I knew for my first band / artist blog that I had to talk about him and his music.

I'm not qualified to discuss the man's entire discography. You could write a dissertation on the over 20 releases of original music with groups and projects like Miki Moondrops, The Wonder Revolution, Francis Moss, and his excellent series of Forest Standards and numerous collaborations; however, I want to start at my introduction to his music, Solagget's The Delivery.

"Here- this is the most rock thing I ever made. You might like it," he said to me as he handed me the CD. The Delivery is an experimental post-rock, jazz infused instrumental record featuring David and brothers Sean and Aaron Fanning. Allegedly, this was David's first band, and while his playing style has evolved, and arguably transcended this style of music, I still keep coming back to it in the decades since it was introduced to me.

I have come to the conclusion that this record is essential listening for anyone making music in the indie scene here in Wichita, not because it's good- it is, but because of what it represents. It is irrefutable evidence that if you grew up in Wichita and love indie or experimental music, you can create something special. It's proof that something beautiful can come from such an ordinary place.