David LaMotte

Speaker • Author • Musician

General Update

In the News – New Wilmington, PA

Jul 19, 2024
Thanks to the New Castle News for this article about my upcoming trip to New Wilmington, PA. Author, speaker, musician, peacemaker to speak at Westminster David LaMotte, author of “You Are Changing the World Whether You Like It Or Not,” will speak at Westminster College on Monday. The 4 to 5 p.m. free event at Mueller Theater […]

In the News – New Wilmington, PA

by David LaMotte

Thanks to the New Castle News for this article about my upcoming trip to New Wilmington, PA. Author, speaker, musician, peacemaker to speak at Westminster David LaMotte, author of “You Are Changing the World Whether You Like It Or Not,” will speak at Westminster College on Monday. The 4 to 5 p.m. free event at Mueller Theater […]

A postcard from Guatemala to my own hurting country

Jul 16, 2024
“To be hopeful in bad times is not being foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of competition and cruelty but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness… The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, […]

A postcard from Guatemala to my own hurting country

by David LaMotte

“To be hopeful in bad times is not being foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of competition and cruelty but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness… The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, […]

Back Catalog Listening Party

Mar 19, 2024
This was such a fun conversation, and a poignant ride on a Time Machine back to 2006, when my record Change was released.  The album features Stephanie Winters, a close friend and brilliant cellist, with Chris Rosser in the producer’s chair. It’s unlike any other record I’ve made, and I love looking back on it. […]

Back Catalog Listening Party

by David LaMotte

This was such a fun conversation, and a poignant ride on a Time Machine back to 2006, when my record Change was released.  The album features Stephanie Winters, a close friend and brilliant cellist, with Chris Rosser in the producer’s chair. It’s unlike any other record I’ve made, and I love looking back on it. […]

Gearing Up for TEDx Asheville

Mar 12, 2024
Here’s the “Sizzle Reel” that the amazing organizers of TEDx Asheville 2024 put together. The theme for this year’s gathering is “Meet the Moment,” and all 450 seats at the Wortham Center are sold out.  Really looking forward to this!

Gearing Up for TEDx Asheville

by David LaMotte

Here’s the “Sizzle Reel” that the amazing organizers of TEDx Asheville 2024 put together. The theme for this year’s gathering is “Meet the Moment,” and all 450 seats at the Wortham Center are sold out.  Really looking forward to this!

A new video and a few songs for Valentine’s Day

Feb 14, 2024
Yeah, I know… it’s a Hallmark holiday, but it’s a good excuse to share a few love songs. The big news, though, is the unveiling of a new video for my song The Way It’s Done. Beth Wood sang with me on this one on Still, and months later, we shot a video together.  I […]

A new video and a few songs for Valentine’s Day

by David LaMotte

Yeah, I know… it’s a Hallmark holiday, but it’s a good excuse to share a few love songs. The big news, though, is the unveiling of a new video for my song The Way It’s Done. Beth Wood sang with me on this one on Still, and months later, we shot a video together.  I […]

A college course on my book

Jan 25, 2024
So this is happening. This photo is of a class at Westminster College in Pennsylvania that I had just finished doing a lecture a few months ago. Now, in the new semester, there is a class being taught with my latest book, You Are Changing the World Whether You Like It Or Not, as the […]

A college course on my book

by David LaMotte

So this is happening. This photo is of a class at Westminster College in Pennsylvania that I had just finished doing a lecture a few months ago. Now, in the new semester, there is a class being taught with my latest book, You Are Changing the World Whether You Like It Or Not, as the […]

You’re gonna need a bigger stocking…

Dec 11, 2023
…if you’re trying to put Wyoming in there, or Montreat, or Guatemala, or Scotland. If you need things that really do fit in stockings, I can hook you up on bookmarks, guitar pick tins full of guitar picks, or bumper stickers, CDs, books, etc., but, as someone once wrote in a song, “there’s no present […]

You’re gonna need a bigger stocking…

by David LaMotte

…if you’re trying to put Wyoming in there, or Montreat, or Guatemala, or Scotland. If you need things that really do fit in stockings, I can hook you up on bookmarks, guitar pick tins full of guitar picks, or bumper stickers, CDs, books, etc., but, as someone once wrote in a song, “there’s no present […]

mountain stream

An Invitation…

Aug 9, 2023
An invitation for you… To learn more, here’s the link. And please tell friends who you think might be interested!  The easy link to share is: www.rootsandbranchesretreat.com Hope you can join us! David 

An Invitation…

by David LaMotte

mountain stream

An invitation for you… To learn more, here’s the link. And please tell friends who you think might be interested!  The easy link to share is: www.rootsandbranchesretreat.com Hope you can join us! David 

Two NC retreats and a trip to Guatemala

Mar 1, 2022
As the pandemic finally appears to be fading, it is good to be able to gather in person again.  We also have a lot of healing to do. With that in mind, I’m inviting you to come spend some time with me, with three options coming up to spend more than an evening (of course, […]

Two NC retreats and a trip to Guatemala

by David LaMotte

As the pandemic finally appears to be fading, it is good to be able to gather in person again.  We also have a lot of healing to do. With that in mind, I’m inviting you to come spend some time with me, with three options coming up to spend more than an evening (of course, […]

Looking back on 2020

Dec 30, 2020
We are almost there, friends… 2020 is coming to a close. As the Washington Post wrote this morning, 2020 has been 97 months long, and it’s hard to remember all that has happened. I kind of like New Year’s Eve, in general.  I think it is important to mark time, to acknowledge the passing of […]

Looking back on 2020

by David LaMotte

We are almost there, friends… 2020 is coming to a close. As the Washington Post wrote this morning, 2020 has been 97 months long, and it’s hard to remember all that has happened. I kind of like New Year’s Eve, in general.  I think it is important to mark time, to acknowledge the passing of […]

Navigating turbulent days

Dec 30, 2020
I have friends who are celebrating having fallen in love in 2020, and friends who, like me, have lost people they love to COVID in recent months. Others who have had their finances wrecked, jobs lost, and are having a hard time seeing a way forward, musician friends who have not only lost work, but […]

Navigating turbulent days

by David LaMotte

I have friends who are celebrating having fallen in love in 2020, and friends who, like me, have lost people they love to COVID in recent months. Others who have had their finances wrecked, jobs lost, and are having a hard time seeing a way forward, musician friends who have not only lost work, but […]

‘White Flour’ featured in Essence Magazine

Jul 3, 2020
I was blown away to get the news that in a June 2 Essence magazine article titled “11 Children’s Books To Teach Your Kids About Racism And Discrimination,” my book White Flour was listed as number 4. Given that Essence is a prominent magazine by, for, and of black women, I am beyond moved that […]

‘White Flour’ featured in Essence Magazine

by David LaMotte

I was blown away to get the news that in a June 2 Essence magazine article titled “11 Children’s Books To Teach Your Kids About Racism And Discrimination,” my book White Flour was listed as number 4. Given that Essence is a prominent magazine by, for, and of black women, I am beyond moved that […]

A new song finished, a new book begun…

Jan 17, 2020
Greetings from Fancy Gap, Virginia. My friend David has a beautiful cabin here, and let me hide out for a few days to write.  Sometimes it takes getting away, especially when there is a big project to work on, like a book, and I am so grateful to have a place to be that is […]

A new song finished, a new book begun…

by David LaMotte

Greetings from Fancy Gap, Virginia. My friend David has a beautiful cabin here, and let me hide out for a few days to write.  Sometimes it takes getting away, especially when there is a big project to work on, like a book, and I am so grateful to have a place to be that is […]

Turning

Jan 1, 2020
Each year on New Year’s Eve, folks gather arm in arm and sway and swill and sing an incomprehensible old Scottish song that Robert Burns is often credited with writing. It asks the rhetorical question of whether we should let our old friendships and memories go in favor of the new. The assumed answer is […]

Turning

by David LaMotte

Each year on New Year’s Eve, folks gather arm in arm and sway and swill and sing an incomprehensible old Scottish song that Robert Burns is often credited with writing. It asks the rhetorical question of whether we should let our old friendships and memories go in favor of the new. The assumed answer is […]

An invitation to create something new with me

Dec 9, 2019
Dear friends, Sixteen days ago I launched a new project, and as of now, 59 folks have signed up to be a part of it.  It’s an exciting adventure — a smaller group of folks who are taking a deeper dive with me into creating a digital community, and who are supporting the work I […]

An invitation to create something new with me

by David LaMotte

Dear friends, Sixteen days ago I launched a new project, and as of now, 59 folks have signed up to be a part of it.  It’s an exciting adventure — a smaller group of folks who are taking a deeper dive with me into creating a digital community, and who are supporting the work I […]

Violence, transformation, and that banner on my house

Sep 24, 2019
Nearly three years after I hung the first one of these on my house, I am amazed at how far it has gone.  The banner is hanging on houses and places of worship all over the U.S.  Here are a few of the stories. I made this banner and nailed it to my house because […]

Violence, transformation, and that banner on my house

by David LaMotte

Nearly three years after I hung the first one of these on my house, I am amazed at how far it has gone.  The banner is hanging on houses and places of worship all over the U.S.  Here are a few of the stories. I made this banner and nailed it to my house because […]

In the News…

Aug 9, 2018
Well-respected music writer Bill Kopp, author of Reinventing Pink Floyd, wrote this article for Asheville’s Arts & Entertainment magazine Mountain Xpress.  The full article appears here.   For many Asheville-based musicians, making music is just one of the things they do. Cobbling together a financially sustainable lifestyle means taking on one or more part-time side […]

In the News…

by David LaMotte

Well-respected music writer Bill Kopp, author of Reinventing Pink Floyd, wrote this article for Asheville’s Arts & Entertainment magazine Mountain Xpress.  The full article appears here.   For many Asheville-based musicians, making music is just one of the things they do. Cobbling together a financially sustainable lifestyle means taking on one or more part-time side […]

My TEDx talk

Jan 9, 2018
Hi friends, My TEDx talk has just been released, and I’m happy that I can finally share it with folks who weren’t there. Check it out, and let me know what you think…

My TEDx talk

by David LaMotte

Hi friends, My TEDx talk has just been released, and I’m happy that I can finally share it with folks who weren’t there. Check it out, and let me know what you think…

In the news: Songwriter and writer David LaMotte to speak at Longwood, March 28

Mar 17, 2017
The full article is available here… March 17, 2017 Songwriter, author and peace activist David LaMotte will speak Tuesday, March 28, at 7 p.m. in Longwood University’s Wygal Auditorium on “Worldchanging 101: Challenging the Myth of Powerlessness.” The title of LaMotte’s talk is drawn from his most recent book, which is being used as a […]

In the news: Songwriter and writer David LaMotte to speak at Longwood, March 28

by David LaMotte

The full article is available here… March 17, 2017 Songwriter, author and peace activist David LaMotte will speak Tuesday, March 28, at 7 p.m. in Longwood University’s Wygal Auditorium on “Worldchanging 101: Challenging the Myth of Powerlessness.” The title of LaMotte’s talk is drawn from his most recent book, which is being used as a […]

Home from Alaska, my 50th state

Oct 14, 2016
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 […]

Home from Alaska, my 50th state

by David LaMotte

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 […]

Two upcoming retreats — rest, renewal, discernment and community

Nov 19, 2015
“David LaMotte is a very good partner in this important work both for our world and for the human soul.” — Richard Rohr, author of The Naked Now, and Falling Upward David has two retreats on the calendar for the Spring—a weekend retreat in Little Rock in March, and an eight-day retreat with Gareth Higgins in […]

Two upcoming retreats — rest, renewal, discernment and community

by David LaMotte

“David LaMotte is a very good partner in this important work both for our world and for the human soul.” — Richard Rohr, author of The Naked Now, and Falling Upward David has two retreats on the calendar for the Spring—a weekend retreat in Little Rock in March, and an eight-day retreat with Gareth Higgins in […]

With a little help from my friends…

Oct 20, 2015
I’m feeling the need to pinch myself from time to time these days. Music has given me so many gifts, and some of the best ones involve relationships. The truth is that it’s pretty cool to hang out with people I like and admire, and kind of mind blowing when they are also great, and […]

With a little help from my friends…

by David LaMotte

I’m feeling the need to pinch myself from time to time these days. Music has given me so many gifts, and some of the best ones involve relationships. The truth is that it’s pretty cool to hang out with people I like and admire, and kind of mind blowing when they are also great, and […]

Eight places left at my retreat — want to come?

Jun 11, 2015
I have been invited by others to lead retreats and conferences in many states and on several continents for many years, but I have never before designed my own event so that I can give people who come for the weekend the richest and most wonderful experience I can come up with. Until now. This […]

Eight places left at my retreat — want to come?

by David LaMotte

I have been invited by others to lead retreats and conferences in many states and on several continents for many years, but I have never before designed my own event so that I can give people who come for the weekend the richest and most wonderful experience I can come up with. Until now. This […]

Free Live Webcast of release party!

Oct 11, 2014
Here’s great last-minute news! For those of you who can’t join us in person on Oct. 12, 2014 at the White Horse, Black Mountain, to celebrate the release of my new book, Worldchanging 101: Challenging the Myth of Powerlessness, we will now be live streaming the event via ConcertWindow.com.  I’ll be playing a few songs […]

Free Live Webcast of release party!

by David LaMotte

Here’s great last-minute news! For those of you who can’t join us in person on Oct. 12, 2014 at the White Horse, Black Mountain, to celebrate the release of my new book, Worldchanging 101: Challenging the Myth of Powerlessness, we will now be live streaming the event via ConcertWindow.com.  I’ll be playing a few songs […]

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

by Chris Liu-Beers

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 […]

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

by David LaMotte

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 […]

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)

by David LaMotte

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 […]

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…

by David LaMotte

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 […]

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

by David LaMotte

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 […]

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

by David LaMotte

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 […]

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!

by David LaMotte

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 […]

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…

by David LaMotte

…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 […]

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…

by David LaMotte

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 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…

by David LaMotte

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 […]

They’re here!!!

May 17, 2012
The slideshow photo is of Brad, the floor manager at the warehouse, with four of the seven skids of books that arrived today—10,867 copies of White Flour, and about 2500 of S.S. Bathtub, my earlier children’s book, now back in print.  As I was arriving home from Thailand, the books were pulling in on an […]

They’re here!!!

by David LaMotte

The slideshow photo is of Brad, the floor manager at the warehouse, with four of the seven skids of books that arrived today—10,867 copies of White Flour, and about 2500 of S.S. Bathtub, my earlier children’s book, now back in print.  As I was arriving home from Thailand, the books were pulling in on an […]

White Flour book on the way…

Mar 1, 2012
Order the book or support the project here! My new illustrated book will be coming out in late May.  It tells a funny, instructive and true story of a creative anti-racism protest by a group calling itself the Coup Clutz Clowns, in Knoxville, Tennessee.  If all goes well, the book will be released on May […]

White Flour book on the way…

by David LaMotte

Order the book or support the project here! My new illustrated book will be coming out in late May.  It tells a funny, instructive and true story of a creative anti-racism protest by a group calling itself the Coup Clutz Clowns, in Knoxville, Tennessee.  If all goes well, the book will be released on May […]