You can now pre-order a copy of "Cerulean Sky", Dave's forthcoming album, produced by Bill Smith. Order now!

My friend Ronan Chris Murphy, who produced and engineered the "Step Up" album in 2011, has just finished mastering the forthcoming "Cerulean Sky" CD (produced and engineered by Bill Smith)!  Ronan will be mastering the vinyl edition as well!  Can you tell I'm excited about this?  His website is www.venetowest.com.

Dear Friends - I am in search of a laboratory for a musical laboratory experiment.  The subject of the experiment is me and you can help provide the lab! 

As many of you are aware, I've been on a combination of partial and total vocal rest since last spring when doctors discovered a lesion in my vocal fold.  Since September, I have been working with a wonderful care team of doctors and speech pathologists at UC San Francisco and am happy to report that the results are positive and my prognosis is good for continuing my singing career without need for surgery.  Dr. Clark Rosen and Sarah Schneider, SLP (pictured here), have given me the green light on slowly starting to perform again and have asked me to do a few concerts before they see me again in mid-February.  Clark and Sarah will then be able to better assess if my vocal health holds up under the performance stress and if I'm ready to really go back to work performing and recording as a traveling singer-songwriter. 

This is very short notice for booking, so I am asking you to help me locate or create some possible venues (or "laboratories").  I will consider almost any gig offer within 200 miles of Davis, CA  (basically Northern California), targeting the weekend on February 1, 2 and 3.  It must be a listening environment, and I can bring a small PA as singing "unplugged" is not an option.  If you have been thinking about hosting a house concert, this would be an excellent time to book one with me, or if there is a venue near you that you think would be appropriate, please let me know as soon as possible.  This is really about getting my voice back up and running!  I am excited to be back to doing what I love, and incredibly grateful to Clark and Sarah (and my earlier local care team) for helping me to heal. 

I am optimistic that, beginning in March, I will be able to start doing more performing and traveling farther afield again.  If you live outside northern California and are interested in setting up a concert, please reach out and email me now at dave@davenach.com.  Nothing would encourage me more than talking with you about coming to your town to play!

Best holiday gift ever! 

No, I'm not going to try to sell you anything here :-) (Though I won't discourage you from any last minute CD purchases etc...). The gift I am referring to is one that I received. On my last visit to the doctor at UCSF I got the news that the hematoma/lesion on my left vocal cord is almost entirely gone! This means that the work that I have done with my vocal therapist, combined with some extended vocal rest, has paid off, and surgery will not be needed. I have one more doctor's visit in early January, and then I should be able to gradually get back to touring and teaching again in 2019. 

Thanks so much to Dr. Matthew Zavod and Dr. Clark Rosen, and my speech pathologists Scott Jackson, and Sarah Schneider, and thanks to all the wonderful friends and fans who sent so much love and support. Since I was not really able to perform this Fall, I am also very appreciative of the many folks who have kept me busy with studio work, sustaining me (and my family) during this tricky time. 

There will be some changes made - and I will be working on more mindful use of my voice in the future, and learning techniques to avoid injuring my voice again. But it is such a relief to know that I can continue to do the work that I love! Planning some great stuff for 2019 (not least of which will be the delayed release of "Cerulean Sky" which is in the final stages of being mixed!) and teaching at some wonderful camps. To quote one of my own songs - "I'm grateful for this day!" Happy holidays to all my friends near and far :-) 

Hope all is well with you.   As you may have read or heard, this past Spring I was having trouble with my voice and went to an excellent local Ear, Nose and Throat specialist. He diagnosed an injury (a hematoma) to my left vocal fold (vocal cord). At his suggestion, over the summer I worked with a Speech Pathologist to try to reduce the harm to my voice with some vocal exercises. In late August I went back to the ENT who said that the problem was still there and he referred me to a specialist in San Francisco named Dr. Clark Rosen.

Dr. Rosen told me that I was in danger of doing permanent career-ending damage to my voice. At this point, he believes that I can fully recover and may be able to heal without surgery, but only with a much longer vocal rest. The plan is for me to tour England in October as planned, but with some precautions to avoid hurting myself, and then I will get off the road and rest my voice until January. At that point Dr. Rosen will see if I am healed, and if not, we will consider surgery. Needless to say this is all pretty strange, since I make my living primarily by talking and singing, but I am determined not destroy my voice permanently.

Here are the conditions under which he has allowed me to do the shows in October: 
-  I will not be talking other than during the concerts.
- I will not do any concerts without a microphone
- I will find friends to handle the CD table for me so that I'm not trying to talk above the background noise.

Those of you who know me, know how much I love to talk, so this will all be pretty challenging, but you can help me! If you are planning to attend any of the UK shows and would be willing and able to help out at the CD table, please send me an email and let me know. I have some shows covered already, but not all.

For those who are wondering about progress on "Cerulean Sky", the good news is that we are in the final stages finishing up the album.  Unfortunately, it will not be ready in time for the UK tour, but should be out in time for the holidays.

Thanks to all who have supported me through this challenging time. I will do everything I can to keep the music coming!

       All the best,
        Dave

If you are in England, I hope to see you at one or more of the shows this October!  I'll perform songs from previous albums and some new ones from the upcoming CD "Cerulean Sky". Here are the dates.  Tickets are going quickly, so make sure to reserve now.  I'll start off in Eastbourne, where we had a standing room only crowd last time. 3 Oct -  Lamb Folk Club - Eastbourne - MORE INFO 5 Oct - Music at the Unicorn - Abingdon - MORE INFO 6 Oct - Uxbridge Folk Club - Hillingdon - MORE INFO w/guest Amy Goddard 10 Oct- Lowdham WI Hall - Lowdham - MORE INFO From 11 October through 18 October I'll be joined by special guests, my friends Plumhall (Michelle Plum and Nick Hall). 11 Oct - Elland Golf Club - Elland  - MORE INFO 12 Oct - Brigsteer Village Hall - Brigsteer - MORE INFO 13 Oct - Black Dyke Mills - Queensbury - MORE INFO 14 Oct - Spread Eagle Inn - Sawley - MORE INFO 18 Oct - St. Oswald's Church - Malpas - MORE INFO Then, a few more shows as I close out the tour: 19 Oct - Farncombe Music Club - Farncombe - MORE INFO 20 Oct - The Stables Stage 2 - Milton Keynes - MORE INFO Sold out last time! 21 Oct  - Gayton Village Hall - Gayton - MORE INFO benefiting the Macmillan Cancer Support organization