Northampton singer-songwriter Dave Dersham, who describes his music as “ambient folk,” has been a regular performer at Club Passim in Cambridge and other Northeast venues over the years. His song topics can range widely, and he’s working on a new album that takes inspiration from some of today’s headlines.
One example: a tune about U.S. drone use in the Mideast, particularly Yemen. “From what I’ve read, we have grossly underestimated the number of civilians we’ve killed,” Dersham says. “Earlier this year, when the Senate finally voted to end much of our support for the war in Yemen — via Saudi Arabia — it seemed like it was the only decent international news I’d received all year. It still seems this way.”
Hampshire Life: Talk about the work you’re currently doing. What does it involve, and what are you trying to achieve?
Dave Dersham: Right now I’m working on the final songs for my third CD. I’m hoping to illuminate some of the current events of the last few years I find important.
I wrote one song about Junior Seau, the revered U.S. football player, who suffered from brain trauma, commonly called CTE. He eventually shot himself. What I found particularly upsetting, but also moving, was that Seau shot himself in the chest rather than in the head so as to assist the pathologist in confirming his ailment.
HL: What do you draw inspiration from? Do you ever have any “Eureka!” moments?
DD: I rarely have epiphanies, although I frequently find an interesting chord voicing that I’ve never tried from one of my many guitar books. This voicing often gives the song the necessary shade of color. Sometimes the online Urban Dictionary is an interesting resource.
HL: How do you know when your work is finished?
DD: The song is never really finished. It continues to evolve. I’ve made the mistake of recording a song well before the dust had settled and as a result, it’s lacking in rhythmic grounding and emotional complexity — particularly in the singing. Catching lightning-in-a-bottle — when the hastily-rendered composition endures — does indeed happen, but it’s very rare.
HL: Name two artists you admire or who have influenced your work. What about their art appeals to you?
DD: Brian Cutean (QTN) is my favorite folk musician within my orbit. Few people on the eastern side of the continent have heard of him. His lyrics are cosmic, surreal, often hysterically quirky. Musically, he renders a gypsy-jazz-folk sensibility. Subtle and elegant. If Gabriel Garcia Marquez composed songs rather than novels, he would sound like Brian.
Then there’s Trevor Reichman. He is generally straightforward with his chord choices, often using only 2 or 3. His mood is of subterranean-smoke, his lyrics astoundingly original, shrewd, and smart.
HL: What’s the most recent exhibition/concert/book reading/other event by another artist or group that you’ve attended and enjoyed?
DD: My spouse and I recently held a salon in our home at which local poet Sara Eddy read some of her work. After a few poems, I played a song that we felt would sustain the mood, and we performed this call-and-response several times. While we performed, we were surrounded by the landscape paintings of local artist Jessie Payne. It was refreshing to engage in such relative intimacy, much like a house concert, yet without any notion of commerce or product.
HL: If you weren’t an artist, what do you think you’d be?
DD: A political operative. Probably not a good one.
HL: Dream dinner party — who would you invite?
DD: The Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost, and Karl Marx.
HL: Do you listen to music while you’re working? What kind?
DD: While washing the dishes, I listen to non lyric-driven music almost exclusively: John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Art Blakey, or Billie Holiday. If I listen to another acoustic songwriter, I’ll inevitably hear an intriguing phrase or chord shift, and I’ll abandon the kitchen to dissect the puzzle. As a result, the unwashed dishes remain.
— Steve Pfarrer
Dave Dersham’s website is davedersham.com.