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David LaMotte

Musician, Speaker, Author

Nailing stuff to my house…

I have learned to pay attention to the words, “Somebody oughta…” It is universally acknowledged that the United States is at a particularly divisive point in our history. Not, as some have said, the most divisive (try the early sixties or the Civil or Revolutionary wars), but definitely a hard time. It’s leaving me wondering […]

Wrapping up my Nobel work…

Thanks to the Black Mountain News and Asheville Citizen-Times for deeming this story worth their time, attention, paper and ink… Local resident and internationally acclaimed musician David LaMotte in November completed his sixth and final year on the American Friends Service Committee’s Nobel Peace Prize nominating committee. As he describes it, the experience has been […]

The KKK has announced a march. How do we respond?

On November 10, 2016, The Loyal White Knights of Pelham, a North Carolina branch of the Ku Klux Klan, announced a “Victory Klavalkade Klan Parade” to take place on Dec. 3rd, 2016.  The stated purpose of the march is to celebrate Donald Trump’s victory and the sense of validation they have gained from it. As […]

An update on PEG Partners’ work in Guatemala

PEG Partners, the organization that Deanna and I founded in 2004 to work with schools and libraries in Guatemala, turned 12-years-old this year.  Here’s a bit of an update about the work we’re doing there.     If you’re inclined to join us in this work, you can learn more or make a donation by […]

Football or Marriage? What does ‘politics’ mean?

A couple of weeks ago, Deanna and I watched the third presidential debate on my laptop in the living room, and then went to bed feeling pretty discouraged. We weren’t saddened because we think we are going to ‘lose’. We were just feeling the darkness of our current national political process, and the damage that […]

Home from Alaska, my 50th state

On Monday night I returned to North Carolina from a ten-day run of events in California and Alaska.  It was a wonderful trip, and even had some downtime in it, which is not always the case in my crazy schedule.  

It also marked my fiftieth state to perform in professionally.  Having offered concerts in Anchorage […]

New CD debuts at #8 on the Folk-DJ charts!

Greetings from Anchorage, Alaska, where tonight I’ll play a concert in my fiftieth state.  Great fun to be here, to play music for folks, to see some old friends, make some new ones, and if all goes according to plan, to go visit a glacier tomorrow and get in a bit of a hike before […]

Hospitality in my digital living room

In my line of work, I get to move through a lot of different spaces. Not only geographically, but socio-economically as well. I spend time with folks who are quite wealthy, and folks who are extremely poor, people of various skin tones, political persuasions, identities, nationalities, orientations, abilities, and challenges. I treasure that, and I […]

Rapid River: David LaMotte celebrates 25 years with ‘The Other Way Around’

Rapid River Magazine published this article about David’s new album and the release concert that will launch it: Internationally known Black Mountain songwriter David LaMotte celebrates 25 years as a professional musician with the release of a new album, The Other Way Around. LaMotte and a large backing band will mark the occasion with a Release […]

Music and silence

Among the most powerful experiences I have had at live concerts is one of silence rather than music. Occasionally, a song, usually in a minor key, arrives with such power, conviction, and depth that when it ends, no one is willing to break the silence. The last notes linger until they fade, and a long […]