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David LaMotte

Musician, Speaker, Author

Turning

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 […]

The Hard Days

Hey friends, These are hard days in so many ways. Much of the time, it seems like the headlines are in competition for the worst news. The disappointments and challenges of daily life and relationships can seem magnified through that lens, and then things  come up that really are big. Being alive is hard work. […]

King’s relevance today

The folks at the Black Mountain News asked if I would offer some thoughts on the relevance of Martin Luther King’s teaching and legacy to today’s circumstance.  This is the article they published on January 31, in advance of the town’s  MLK Breakfast on Feb. 10. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. came to prominence in […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

One Southerner’s Thoughts on the Rebel Flag

Today the rebel flag will be removed from the Capitol grounds of South Carolina. The South Carolina House and Senate, by overwhelming majorities in both houses, voted to take it down this week, and Governor Haley signed the bill yesterday. I’m a Southerner. My father’s father’s father’s father was one Thomas Jefferson Talley LaMotte, who […]

What I Learned From Pete Seeger

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 […]