I've got some music and video projects in the works that will hopefully see the light of day very soon, and I hope to both perform on actual stages in front of present, smiling... maybe slightly confused faces, and live stream some digital representation of me out to digital representation of you, whoever and wherever you are now that I have a functioning studio space again. Dave Cave v2.1 officially lives.

I've spent the last few months rebuilding my studio space after a roof leak took it out of commission last February. I spent the 10 months it was out of commission working on rebuilding my live rig with whatever small bits of time I had outside my day job at Richmond Ballet, and I spent the last 2 years there trying to keep things afloat but pivoting to a much heavier focus on video to help create virtual classes and virtual performances in the early days of the pandemic. And then just constantly adapting and evolving as covid meandered it's way through our lives, while we tried to navigate safety protocols without giving up on making art. I don't take even a tiny bit of the fact that I was able to stay employed in my field throughout the entire pandemic for granted, but I've never worked harder in my life to make it happen while the weight of "the new normal" definitely pressed down on me hard.

Getting back to music at this point feels like starting over. Tabula Rasa. I'm still frankly learning how to use the new live rig I've put together. Building finger tip callouses back up. Designing soon-to-be-built dulcitars in my head and on paper... Chasing after more ideas than I have time or money for. Everything has changed so much in the last 2 years that I know getting back to performing and attending shows will be weird but I look forward to seeing old friends and making new ones and rebuilding connections with everyone out here just trying to do their best.

I constantly remind myself:
I'll never be able to do enough. But I'll always be able to do more.
That applies to my art as much as it does existing in the world in 2022.

Very happy to announce that I am premiering new music next week that I composed for Starr Foster's Always A Way as part of Richmond Ballet’s Studio Series: October.

It's been a very long time since I've done anything musical, and I've poured every ounce of energy I have left into this work. Could not be more honored to collaborate with Starr and our brilliant dancers on this piece.

I'll be releasing the music itself with a few other bonuses later this year. More details to come!

As always, thanks for your support and thanks for listening. Now, more than ever, it means everything.

It's Birds is a multi-channel sound installation that takes the sonic sensibilities from Watkins's 2017 music release Respite and both deconstructs and expands its elements into a site specific piece. It utilizes synthesized sounds and heavily processed stringed instruments to maintain a meditative auditory experience while providing it's listeners a different experience depending on their relation to the speakers, and embraces the randomization of un-synchronized audio loops to create an experience that doesn't repeat the same way twice throughout its duration. Lastly it's also a lighthearted sonic jab at the terrifying bird sounds being amplified at the nearby John Marshall Courts Building. It asks: if it's possible to amplify actual bird sounds and cause repulsion, is it possible to amplify synthesized bird sounds and cause bliss? 

The audio is one semi-improvised take all the way through, and the film crew outdid themselves with a boatload of cameras capturing all sorts of shots that document the old GRTC Bus depot street art installation as it stood before it was handed over to developers.

Next up are a couple albums I engineered start to finish that saw release this year, digital is available now and I believe both bands will be putting out vinyl copies later this year. We recorded both of these in the upstairs space at Gallery 5 in the Jackson Ward neighborhood of Richmond, VA. One of my very favorite places to record. Both records, though completely different are great listens that push the envelope for Richmond music. Enjoy:

Got more recording projects for others coming up and I'll also be laying the groundwork for my next solo record. As I update the site, I'll be making room for some more of the instrument building I've been doing as well as some other various art projects. Stay tuned, lot's of exciting things going on. Thanks for listening.

Really stoked to share this live performance recording from my tour through New York this past summer. Nothing quite like performing on a deck in Brooklyn with the Manhattan skyline in the background. Massive thanks to everyone at CHARGED.fm, ATYPICAL BEASTS and SIXPOINT BREWERY for making it happen. Enjoy!

For more details on the session check out the write up here. huge thanks to  CHARGED.fm, Atypical Beasts, and Sixpoint Brewery for having me.