Anthony David: 3 Things You’ve Got all Wrong
Oct 29th, 2006 by Nat
Anthony David (or as I like to call him, Acey Ducey) has managed to effortlessly destroy three of my most basic assumptions within the span of an eight-year career and an hour-and-a-half of conversation. When the Savannah-bred singer/songwriter and I sat down at Atlanta’s Java-o-logy café one morning, I didn’t know too much about him except that he use to play guitar for the rock/hip-hop band El-Pus, he was friends with India.Aire and that the boy could write a damn good song. Remember “Butterfly” from India’s last album? Yep, that song was brought to you by Anthony David.
On his own debut album, Three Chords and the Truth (or 3CATT), David managed to sidestep the common neo-soul mistake of emulating one’s old-school mentor. He could have easily turned into a technicolor Bill Withers, but David seems to have mastered the fine art of being himself. The sound that he creates on 3CATT is a uniquely southern, contemporary soul vibe that blends diverse musical influences. David has eased quietly into his niche as soul music’s cool, wise, guitar-strumming uncle, but the fact that he doesn’t go out of his way to make a splash doesn’t change the fact that Acey Ducey’s approach to making music sets him apart from many soul musicians of his generation. In the brief time I got to spend with him, David’s mellow manner and common sense view of being a professional artist had me thinking about things a little differently. We touched on many subjects, but there are at least three commonly held biases that he gently crushes.
#1: No good can come from giving your phone number to some dude who tries to holla at you in the street.
Ok, so they weren’t exactly in the street, but Anthony David did meet his close friend and musical partner, India.Aire, at Underground Atlanta where he struck up a conversation with the then unknown singer. He had just left the army and had decided to settle down in Atlanta and maybe make some music. At the time, David was a poet who liked to make up songs, but he had yet to master the guitar and was less than confident in his singing voice. Soon after arriving in Atlanta, David took a trip to Underground and bumped into a girl he thought was cool and struck up a conversation. The rest is history. Both singers were only just finding their voices at the time. It was years before they began to work together on music. When things started to take off for India, she took him with her on tour and began using his songs. He soon blessed her first album with “Part of My Life” and her second with the hit single “Butterfly.”
#2: Once a musician, always a musician.
Though he has always had a creative streak in him, many would be surprised to learn that Anthony David the musician did not emerge until the early 1990’s when the young poet picked up his first guitar. He was 23. But David doesn’t feel that being a bit of a late bloomer makes him any less of a musician. “I don’t even trip about that, I’m not going to get embarrassed and try to fake like I’ve always been doing this. It’s not a big thing. I’ve always been involved in something creative.”
Once he did learn to write and play music, David was off to a running start. He met his El-Pus band-mates who were also new to guitar and helped them craft their rocked-out hip-hop stage show. “At the time they just needed somebody to play while they jumped around on stage, and I was looking for something new to do. Something different. These guys were so crazy. I just wanted to be crazy with them for a while. I never wrote any of their stuff, though. I wasn’t writing raps or anything,” says David.
After performing with the band for a while, David began to focus more seriously on putting out his own music. He got the ladies’ attention with his ode to southern women, “Georgia Peach.” His talent as a performer, says David, rested almost entirely on his lyrics. “Because I was playing acoustic, it’s all about the words. You can’t hold somebody’s attention just sitting there playing guitar if you don’t say something that’s relevant to somebody sitting in the room. I’m not doing a whole lot of stuff. It wasn’t about the beat. I’m not dancing. I have to say something.”
#3: Music is in bad shape right now and needs emerging soul artists to save it.
It is sort of a theme in music journalism to deride modern soul and refer back to some far away golden age when artists were artists and everyone was original. Almost every article written about David so far has begun with the writer lamenting the state of music and looking to him as a possible savior. Anthony David, however, doesn’t feel the need to don his cape just yet. When asked if he felt like his music would change the industry standard, he replied humbly, “I don’t need to. I think that because anybody can record now, there’s a lot more music out there than ever… not all of it’s good. Not all of it has a message. There are so many different styles and types. I’m still exploring the different styles and playing around with them.”
But it seems like the underground soul scene is rebelling, ready to overthrow mainstream radio’s cookie-cutter R&B. Considering his fan base and the artist he works with, David must have noticed the revolution that is brewing. “India’s got a mission statement, and she’s my friend, but I don’t get that kind of stuff. Maybe I’ve got low expectations, but I just like to make music. Some of the problems people say they have with music… I’ve always found good music. I don’t have to listen to the radio all the time. I know where to go to get good music. I don’t have a problem with the state of music today. I just really like music and I know where to get it. If I don’t like 103, I’ll turn to 88.5.” According to David, if you have music-savvy friends, community radio, and the internet, there is no reason to complain about a shortage of good music. There is no need to be radical and militant about instilling higher professional standards. What revolution? “The most rebellious thing I’m doing is being normal. I’ma bring that back,” he chuckles.
So if he does not intend to change things though his songs, what does Anthony David want? “I want to make good music. I want to play what people like and what people will feel.” Beyond that, he couldn’t explain. He seems not to be concerned with who the audience is or how to reach them. “The same stuff I get from music, like Anita Baker and other artists that I listen to that I like, I want to give [people] the same feeling that I get when I listen to music. It’s so general and loose and people interpret stuff the way they want to anyway so I can’t really focus too much on it. I just know I’d like to do something good.”
The new album, Red Clay Chronicles dropped September 9th, but with a heavy touring schedule, David has had plenty of opportunities to try out his new material. He explained that he intended for this album to get back into an old southern sound and really explore his musical roots. When asked how the audience reacts, he eased back with a bashful grin and said, “They like it. I mean people tell me, ‘It’s good. Keep doing it.’ That kind of shit.” That seems to be just what he was going for.
