SIMPLY SIX: David Wilcox

David Wilcox is a folk singer from North Carolina.

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer. For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later. Is there such a defining moment for you?

When I first got to college, I heard a woman playing a guitar in an open tuning in a stairwell at the end of a dorm. I knew that I wanted that sound in my life.

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to? Who are some of your favorites?

Anais Mitchell and Andrew Bird come to mind immediately.

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?

Probably playing the "Last Chance Walz" - the High School Reunion song - ten years later for the girl I wrote it for, outside of Chautauqua in Boulder.

4. Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to? How much can music influence current events?

Music makes me feel more alive - and wakes up the passion to change my corner of the world.

5. How has technology affected the music industry? How has technology affected your career as a musician?

Songs can be more intimate because of technology - more people listen to music alone. If I'd been born in the 30's, it would have been dance hall music - there wasn't a need to have the performers sing straight to you - but the technology changed to allow people to listen individually. Because of technology, when I sing into a microphone, my music will find people when they're by themselves. That signal is most often going into individual earphones, rather than imagining that I'm speaking to a crowd, I can shape my songs and my tone as if I'm singing for a friend.

6. Now for my Barbara Walters question: If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?

Fantastic - That's the best question so far. There are some songs like shoes that are made to fit the fashon rather than fit your feet. Then there are songs like shoes that are made with the traveler in mind - places to go and vistas to see. Some shoes hurt your feet when you walk in them, then there are shoes that can take you where you want to go, up the mountain. I'd be a good pair of broken in Vasque hiking boots that you could hike to Chile in and they wouldn't wear out.