Blog

How to Clean Dirty Water with a Guitar

Aug 28, 2014

My newest guitar is a Taylor Holden Village GS Mini. I love it for lots of reasons, not the least of which is where it came from — and where it’s going. This little instrument is doing a lot of good in the world, and that good is not limited to the music being played […]

How to Clean Dirty Water with a Guitar

August 28, 2014 by David LaMotte

Asheville artist, activist David LaMotte to publish book

May 21, 2014

By Carol Motsinger, Asheville Citizen-Times, May 20, 2014. Click here to read the original article. Black Mountain-based singer, writer, public speaker and activist David LaMotte is adding another project to his list of accomplishments. He plans to publish “Worldchanging 101: Challenging the Myth of Powerless” in August, with a book launch event at the White Horse […]

Asheville artist, activist David LaMotte to publish book

May 21, 2014 by Chris Liu-Beers

Worldchanging 101: Challenging the Myth of Powerlessness

May 2, 2014

As I write this, we are over half way through a Kickstarter campaign for my new book, arriving in August (assuming the Kickstarter effort works!). The book is called Worldchanging 101: Challenging the Myth of Powerlessness. It takes a look at some of the stories we tell about how change happens and how it doesn’t, and how […]

Worldchanging 101: Challenging the Myth of Powerlessness

May 2, 2014 by Chris Liu-Beers

What I Learned From Pete Seeger

Jan 28, 2014

It’s late Monday night and I’m staying up by the wood stove trying to catch up on some work. Or at least I was. My plans for the night just changed. A few minutes ago I received a note from my friend Laura saying that Pete Seeger left us about an hour ago. Apparently the […]

What I Learned From Pete Seeger

January 28, 2014 by David LaMotte

Study Songwriting with David

Jan 15, 2014

Just call me Perfesser. In March and April I will be teaching a one-credit class on songwriting for Lenoir-Rhyne’s Master’s in Writing program. Though I’ve taught many songwriting classes over the years, this is the first at a graduate level, and I’m tremendously excited about it. It’s also open to the public. The course will […]

Study Songwriting with David

January 15, 2014 by David LaMotte

How It Happens (coming to your town)

Jan 13, 2014

My life has changed quite radically in the last five years, beginning with my son Mason’s birth, then moving to Australia to study as a Rotary World Peace Fellow, doing field work in India, working for the NC Council of Churches, beginning work on the AFSC’s Nobel Peace Prize Nominating Task Group, publishing one book (White […]

How It Happens (coming to your town)

January 13, 2014 by David LaMotte

Peace Is Not Placidity (Part 1 of 3)

Jan 12, 2014

This article is part one of a three-part series called How We Get Peace Wrong. Having just come through the holiday season and launched a new year here in the United States, we have heard the word ‘peace’ a great deal lately. We have wished it to each other on greeting cards and sung it […]

Peace Is Not Placidity (Part 1 of 3)

January 12, 2014 by David LaMotte

Not the same Auld Lang Syne

Jan 10, 2014

On New Year’s Eve, ringing in 2014, I was invited to play a few songs as part of a show organized by friend BJ Leiderman (of NPR theme song fame) at the White Horse in Black Mountain, NC. It was a fun night, with a broad variety of music and even some poetry. Mostly it […]

Not the same Auld Lang Syne

January 10, 2014 by David LaMotte

They’re here! They’re here! They’re here!

Nov 6, 2013

UPS brought the new ‘Best Of David LaMotte’ CDs to the door last night after dark (it was a long, impatient wait!), and today we will be mailing them out. We’re really excited about the new record around here. It contains fourteen songs, including new versions of some older songs with talented guest musicians joining […]

They’re here! They’re here! They’re here!

November 6, 2013 by David LaMotte

New ‘Best Of David LaMotte’ CD release

Oct 12, 2013

It’s amazing to find myself putting out a retrospective record. I’ve been a professional musician for twenty-two years, though, so I guess it’s time! Over those couple decades I’ve put out ten records, and the eleventh, coming out now, is a look back across my years of making music. I considered calling it “Greatest Hits,” […]

New ‘Best Of David LaMotte’ CD release

October 12, 2013 by David LaMotte

Worldchanging in your town…

Oct 7, 2013

It’s been a whirlwind of a day with a few meetings related to releasing my new ‘Best Of’ CD, some writing for an online community, two connections with longtime friends, meetings with the folks at Kudzu, the design company I’m working with these days, to finalize this cool flier right here—–> …and a talk at […]

Worldchanging in your town…

October 7, 2013 by David LaMotte

Why I Am Changing My Vacation Plans

Aug 25, 2013

August 26, 2013 Dear Columbia City Council Members, I am writing to tell you why I am changing my vacation plans this week. I brought my son Mason, not quite five, to the EdVenture Museum in Columbia last year on an afternoon road trip to the coast. He’s young (and was even younger then), and […]

Why I Am Changing My Vacation Plans

August 25, 2013 by David LaMotte

Just One Candle

Jul 22, 2013

Here is the lyric to a new song.... Read More →

Just One Candle

July 22, 2013 by David LaMotte

Here is the lyric to a new song…. Read More →

Two new videos

Jul 15, 2013

Here are a couple of new music videos from a guest spot I did at the White Horse Black Mountain a few months ago. Death Come A-Knockin’, or Travelin’ Shoes, is a traditional slave song from the days of the Underground Railroad. I learned it from Ruthie Foster in Texas years ago, but this is […]

Two new videos

July 15, 2013 by David LaMotte

The Klan went home, the community stayed

Apr 1, 2013

In the end, the best defense against bigotry is forging communities that are strong enough to withstand it. Really knowing each other is the starting place for healing all of our wounds. Learning each other's stories and struggles leads to a broader sense of who 'us' is, and there is no victory over 'them' so complete, or so healing, or so effective, as welcoming them into 'us.' That is the radical subversion of fear by love.... Read More →

The Klan went home, the community stayed

April 1, 2013 by David LaMotte

In the end, the best defense against bigotry is forging communities that are strong enough to withstand it. Really knowing each other is the starting place for healing all of our wounds. Learning each other’s stories and struggles leads to a broader sense of who ‘us’ is, and there is no victory over ‘them’ so complete, or so healing, or so effective, as welcoming them into ‘us.’ That is the radical subversion of fear by love…. Read More →

Klansmen, Crips, Clowns, Memphis and Me

Mar 27, 2013

This Saturday the Ku Klux Klan is promising to have one of its largest rallies ever in Memphis, Tennessee. I’m headed there too. The Memphis park formerly known as Forrest Park, after Civil War general, slave trader and first Grand Wizard of the KKK Nathan Bedford Forrest, now bears the innocuous moniker “Health Sciences Park” […]

Klansmen, Crips, Clowns, Memphis and Me

March 27, 2013 by David LaMotte

Nobel Peace Prize nominating season…

Mar 23, 2013

The American Friends Service Committee has opened a call for suggested nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize, and you are invited to submit your suggestions between now and May 1, 2013 for the 2014 prize. ... Read More →

Nobel Peace Prize nominating season…

March 23, 2013 by David LaMotte

The Fifth Annual Freedom Ball

Mar 20, 2013

As Christmas approached last year, my thoughts were very much with my friend Ed Chapman. Ed spent nearly fifteen years in prison, thirteen of those on death row, wrongfully convicted. He was exonerated five years ago. Exoneration doesn’t involve any restitution or declaration of innocence, they just let you go. In Ed’s case, he had […]

The Fifth Annual Freedom Ball

March 20, 2013 by David LaMotte

California Dreaming and Changing the World

Mar 8, 2013

The alarm rang at 4AM yesterday, and that’s early for just about everyone. On the West Coast that was 1AM. And just to sweeten the deal, Sunday is the time change for Daylight Savings. Sleep schmeep! Spending my adult life as a professional musician, I’ve probably seen 4AM on the end of my day much […]

California Dreaming and Changing the World

March 8, 2013 by David LaMotte

The Moon and the Miracle

Feb 21, 2013

The moon and the miracle Santee, SC January 28, 2013 And on other nights (one night before full, or one night after) , the moon does not make me smile or remember a lover who once held all of my tension and attention I don’t think of children’s rhymes or giddy night rides with the headlights off […]

The Moon and the Miracle

February 21, 2013 by David LaMotte

News from Guatemala

Feb 11, 2013

Antigua, Guatemala 8AM Monday, Feb. 11, 2013 I’m waking up this morning in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala (also known as Xela), realizing that it has suddenly been a week since I arrived. The time is going quickly, and it has been a whirlwind. Here are a handful of highlights from the last week: Camino Seguro — After […]

News from Guatemala

February 11, 2013 by David LaMotte

A new song being born: Angelita

Feb 10, 2013

Antigua, Guatemala 8AM Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013 I wrote a song lyric yesterday that captures a bit of what I’m thinking and feeling on this particular trip to Guatemala, which must be about my tenth time here. I’m thinking about how the places we encounter literally become a part of us (and yes, I really […]

A new song being born: Angelita

February 10, 2013 by David LaMotte

Worldchanging Weekends

Jan 22, 2013

For over fifteen years David has been offering Worldchanging 101 workshops and keynotes. In them, he challenges some common, but largely unexamined, ideas about how large-scale social change happens and how it does not. We have put together a new flyer for colleges and churches about various ways to organize a weekend event or a […]

Worldchanging Weekends

January 22, 2013 by David LaMotte

Interview on peacemaking and activism

Jan 3, 2013

David Dault recently interviewed me for his podcast ‘Things Not Seen.’ It was a delightful conversation, and the edited version is here. I hope you will enjoy it. To listen, simply click here.

Interview on peacemaking and activism

January 3, 2013 by David LaMotte

David Dault recently interviewed me for his podcast ‘Things Not Seen.’ It was a delightful conversation, and the edited version is here. I hope you will enjoy it. To listen, simply click here.

2013 — Looky!

Jan 1, 2013

January 1, 2013, Chapel Hill, NC Last night Deanna and I celebrated New Year’s Eve at home, talking and laughing and trying to strengthen each other for what will be a challenging new year for us in some ways. We and Mason had not-so-gracefully showed up at a New Year’s party that afternoon—a full day […]

2013 — Looky!

January 1, 2013 by David LaMotte

What I Want For Christmas…

Dec 5, 2012

…really comes down to five or ten minutes of your time. And a stamp. And an envelope and a piece of paper. And a decision to spend those minutes in a way that could take a step toward righting a wrong. Ed Chapman is a friend of mine. I’ve written about him before on my […]

What I Want For Christmas…

December 5, 2012 by David LaMotte

A Zoo Story…

Dec 4, 2012

On Saturday, I took my son Mason to the zoo in Asheboro. It was a gorgeous day, but there were very few people there. When I stopped into the gift shop to rent a stroller (Mason hurt his foot this week and wasn’t quite up to all the walking), I asked the bored teenager behind […]

A Zoo Story…

December 4, 2012 by David LaMotte

A few early presents…

Nov 27, 2012

This holiday season I’ve decided to give a few things away. There isn’t any particular reason for this, except that I’m grateful to you who have shown enough interest in me to stay tuned to what I’m thinking/speaking/singing about. I’m grateful, and I thought it would be nice to thank some of you. So every […]

A few early presents…

November 27, 2012 by David LaMotte

Homecoming show at the Grey Eagle

Nov 18, 2012

I’ll be playing at a home town venue in Asheville, North Carolina on Thanksgiving weekend, so after spending Friday recovering from Thursday’s culinary adventure, come out on Saturday night and spend the evening with me and my band hearing some old and new songs. I played the very first concert when the Grey Eagle […]

Homecoming show at the Grey Eagle

November 18, 2012 by David LaMotte

Very More Awesome

Nov 14, 2012

It has now been three weeks since my Guatemalan friends returned to El Tejar, and I’m just beginning to gain the perspective that a bit of distance provides. Our time together in North Carolina was rich, dense and fulfilling, and I know that I am not the only one who was deeply moved by it. […]

Very More Awesome

November 14, 2012 by David LaMotte

Guatemala visits North Carolina

Oct 4, 2012

In 2004 David LaMotte and his wife Deanna visited Guatemala for their honeymoon, not looking for a project, other than to study Spanish and explore that beautiful country a bit. They ended up founding a non-profit organization, PEG Partners. Since then, David has collected donations at his concerts for Guatemalan school and library projects in […]

Guatemala visits North Carolina

October 4, 2012 by David LaMotte

Old Friends & New Songs

Oct 4, 2012

What happens when three long-time musician friends get together with guitars in hand? Laughter, stories, new songs, familiar songs, harmonies, and spontaneous musical moments. That’s what you can expect from David LaMotte, Chris Rosser, and Beth Wood when they take the stage at the Casbah in Durham, NC on Thursday, October 11 at 8 pm, […]

Old Friends & New Songs

October 4, 2012 by David LaMotte

White Flour is now a video!

Sep 21, 2012

Here’s a way to hear and see this story, that doesn’t require buying the book. Please feel free to share it in any context you like, virtual or actual.

White Flour is now a video!

September 21, 2012 by David LaMotte

Here’s a way to hear and see this story, that doesn’t require buying the book. Please feel free to share it in any context you like, virtual or actual.

Lots of media for White Flour

Jun 5, 2012

White Flour, my new illustrated book, has been receiving some lovely media attention, in television, radio and newspaper formats, not to mention blogs. This is the NBC evening news in Macon Georgia a week ago: And you can click below to check out a lovely article in the Asheville Citizen-Times… I was also interviewed […]

Lots of media for White Flour

June 5, 2012 by David LaMotte

Chances to spend some time in conversation this summer

Jun 5, 2012

Along with the whirlwind of activity around the release of my new book, White Flour, and some concert appearances, I’m preparing for a collection of conferences this summer, and I hope you can join me at some of them. One is for youth, and the rest for adults, with youth welcome. I’ll be teaching creative […]