Meet David Gideon

Today we’d like to introduce you to David Gideon.

Hi David, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I grew up on the move, bouncing between Austin, Key West, and rural Tennessee during my early years. I spent my summers on the Farm — an infamous hippie commune, located more than an hour’s drive from Nashville — where I was given my first access to a drum set. Originally trained in Jazz and World Beat percussion, I broadened my skill set to include guitar and songwriting, too. I eventually headed west, where I performed hundreds of shows, worked as a DJ in clubs, logged multiple years as a ranch hand in Northern California, and eventually settled in Billy the Kid’s hometown — the rugged, remote town of Silver City, New Mexico — where I wrote many of the songs that would later fill Lonesome Desert Strum.

Along the way, I recorded two self-produced solo albums in New Mexico and toured in support of their releases. I also made a return trip to Tennessee for a family reunion, and fell deeper in love with the classic country sounds I encountered at Nashville-area bars like Robert’s and Layla’s and realized that I should be making my records in Music City. Inspired by this visit home after 10 years of absence, I briefly moved back to Tennessee, where I recorded the 2017 Drifter EP and filmed a video with Dean Miller, son of the iconic Roger Miller. Although I’d eventually return home in New Mexico, it was Nashville that served as the recording location for Lonesome Desert Strum.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Anything but. This road has almost killed me several times. Flipped tour vans, sleeping under the bridge down by the Cumberland some nights when I had no other place, proximity to very dangerous people while touring, jail time, friends and lovers who lost their lives to addiction, every dime I’ve ever had, every potential relationship I ever had, the idea of fatherhood and every practical hope of any chance of a conventional lifestyle, a gun pulled on me walking home from work on Broadway to Jefferson St. Apartments where I would take freezing cold showers to wash the grease from the fries and chicken I’d been preparing all night. Just little things like that. And now people who have no concept of the sacrifices get to make any judgment they want about me because I’m putting my art out there. Good stuff.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I produce music with really well known, Grammy winning musicians and I perform. I’m known for my music. What sets me apart? I have to tell you this? Really interesting to be asked how I’m setting myself apart as if I have time to care enough about anyone else’s work to be able to make that distinction. Next question.

What were you like growing up?
Well, my parents split up when I was three but that was a blessing in that I got to live in alot of places. We had an outhouse and a garden on the hippie commune I grew up on in Summertown, Tennessee as a kid (which I hated) and my mom was an artist on The Drag in Austin, TX and eventually Sunset Pier in Key West. One thing was true in all of my experiences growing up; music was always my focus. And to put it all in perspective for the more conventional reader, I was already “experimenting” with hallucinogens at 13 if that gives you an impression of my upbringing.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: gideonmusichouse.com
• Instagram: @davidgideonmusic
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/502487156529384/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/gideonmusic?t=RPQDwBfv-r2m8_bIbW-hgg&s=09
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCReYUxLFQ3qWjv5tcTCVG0A
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/mG3vr