Songs For Your Day

Dear David Vandervelde, 

First of all, you really rock the uni-brow. No matter what anyone else says, you totally put Bert to shame, seriously.

I’m a big fan of your work on the Moonstation House Band. Man, what a great album. I would go so far as to say that cd made my summer ’07. You sound like you’re from a totally different era sometimes, and I really like that. Maybe it’s the lo-fi or maybe it’s the way you fuse rock, country, and blues (rocoulues? Sure.) I even like how creepy your voice can sound. “Feet of a Liar” and “Corduroy Blues” can be especially haunting, and not always in a pleasant way. In-fact, when I drive alone at night I usually skip those tracks. Please don’t be offended. 

My favorite song, by far, is the Dancing Seagulls Instrumental. Maybe a lot of people didn’t give your “Nothin’ No” EP a listen, but I did. It was on a drive home one evening that I first heard it. The sunset was making me squint, especially the when it broke through the leaves of the trees every so often. Two guitars cut in from out of nowhere, with this happy little melody that doesn’t sound like anything else. It was so pretty that my windows just had to be rolled down. Then the shaker and drums broke in and suddenly the humidity outside was not an issue, or the sun in my eyes. You know that feeling, when you put on glasses for the first time, and suddenly you notice every leaf on every tree like you’ve never seen them before? That’s how it feels. And it’s not a sensation that dwindles. Every time I hear it that feeling comes back. Sometimes when I’m driving friends around I put the song on without explanation. They don’t say anything while the song plays per-se, but you can see a look of wonderment  gloss over their eyes. And afterwards they always ask what they just heard. 

So thank you David Vandervelde. For your uni-brow, and for your talent. And if you could do everyone a favor and maybe write another instrumental that will tug at our heartstrings, that would be great too. 

Cheers, 

Laura