We are in countdown mode for the release of my TEDx talk, You Are Changing the World Whether You Like it or Not, and excitement is building. We have a great team working on putting this together, we have launched a whole new website, and we are planning and rehearsing for the online Launch Event on Tuesday night, July 30, […]
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‘A Look Within’ podcast
‘A Look Within’ podcast
If you have a half-hour drive coming up, I’d love to ride along. I really enjoyed this podcast interview by David Diana on the show he hosts, A Look Within, from the South Carolina Department of Mental Health. David is a great conversation partner. I hope you will enjoy listening in. All good things, David
A new video and a few songs for Valentine’s Day
A new video and a few songs for Valentine’s Day
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
A college course on my book
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 […]
The Seasons Project
The Seasons Project
I’ve been a fan of Christine Lavin’s since I first discovered her music in the early nineties. She’s insightful, sings and plays beautifully, and she is incredibly, side-splittingly funny (often ending her concerts with a baton-twirling routine). A great entertainer, and, as I’ve discovered more recently, a wonderful human. I kind of guessed that last […]
USA Songwriting Competition Finalist
USA Songwriting Competition Finalist
I got the word yesterday that my song September Me is a finalist for the 2023 USA Songwriting Competition in the Folk Category. The winners will be announced on Nov. 22, and there are some great songwriters on the list. I’m honored to have made it this far. Below is the Folk finalist list, if […]
Book Launch with Alonzo Johnson
Book Launch with Alonzo Johnson
Such a delight to have a good long conversation with my friend Alonzo Johnson about changing the world, on the occasion of my new book, You Are Changing the World Whether You Like It Or Not, being published on Chalice Press. I hope you will enjoy it, too.
Interview with Doug Pagitt of Common Good
Interview with Doug Pagitt of Common Good
I’m really grateful for this good conversation with Doug Pagitt about my new book on Chalice Press, You Are Changing the World Whether You Like It Or Not. Doug is doing good and important work with Vote Common Good, and I am grateful to call him a friend. I hope you enjoy the interview.
New video release event for ‘Look Away’
New video release event for ‘Look Away’
powered by Crowdcast (note that David and Hannah have created a web page that goes into the details of production and other aesthetic choices they made in the making of the Look Away video. Check it out at www.LookAwayProject.com) Join Hannah Garrity and me this Saturday at 2PM for the release of the new music […]
Book Cover reveal!
Book Cover reveal!
Hey friends, I’ve got some exciting news to share. The release date for my new book, You Are Changing the World Whether You Like It Or Not, has been set! It will be out in bookstores on July 25, 2023, less than three months from now. Foreword by Brian McLaren. What’s more, you can now […]
Young Guatemalan Musicians Coming to Visit
Young Guatemalan Musicians Coming to Visit
In 2004, Deanna and I got married. Being a fairly nerdy pair, we couldn’t think of anything more fun to do on our honeymoon than go to Guatemala, stay with a family in a homestay, and go to language immersion school for two weeks. It was a blast. We made some friends while we were […]
Come to Ireland with me
Come to Ireland with me
Hey friends, I’m taking an amazing trip with good friends this summer. You’re invited. My dear friends Gareth Higgins and Brian Ammons lead retreats in Gareth’s native Northern Ireland, and they have changed a whole lot of lives through that work. Here’s a bit about their retreats from their website, irelandretreats.com: The story we tell […]
‘Still’ is STILL in the Top 40!
‘Still’ is STILL in the Top 40!
The Folk Alliance International Folk Radio Charts for January of 2023 were released not too long ago, and it seems that my album Still, released in June of 2022, is still in the Top 40, at #35. That’s eight months running in the Top 40! Its highest slot as an album was #4, and it held […]
Back On the Road … Near You?
Back On the Road … Near You?
As the world continues to gradually reopen, I’m so enjoying being back on the road. To facilitate that process, I’ve just begun working with not one, but two new booking agents to help me organize the calendar and connect with the venues who might value what I’m doing. In the early part of next year, […]
#1 Song!!! (…really!)
#1 Song!!! (…really!)
I’m thrilled to have received the word that my song “September Me,” from this year’s release, Still, was tied for #1 as the most played song on folk radio in September, 2022! It’s an honor to share that slot with the legendary Canadian folksinger James Keelaghan. Folk Alliance International compiles the data, and just put […]
Publishing with Chalice Press
Publishing with Chalice Press
Big news to share! I have signed a publishing deal with Chalice Press to publish a new edition of my book Worldchanging 101: Challenging the Myth of Powerlessness. The new book, with significant updates and new material, will be called You Are Changing the World Whether You Like It Or Not, and is due in […]
Three recent Podcast interviews
Three recent Podcast interviews
I really enjoy a good conversation. All three of these were good conversations, on varying topics, and I hope you will enjoy them! Resilient Expats, with Kim Adams https://resilientexpats.com/ep-28-you-are-changing-the-world-with-david-lamotte/ Kim holds conversations about living and parenting cross-culturally, and we had a rich conversation touching on many topics. Let’s Talk About It, with Pripo Teplitsky https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peace-begins-at-home/id1435550119 […]
A little laugh for you (bloopers)
A little laugh for you (bloopers)
Every Monday, I send out a video of a song to my Patreon community, just to start the week off with a little bit of music. Last week, I had to work for it! Jess Fox, who helps me out with video, thought it would be fun to chop together an outtake reel, and did […]
New album in the works!
New album in the works!
Hey friends, Thank you for stopping by to check out this new project. I’m really thrilled to be launching this Kickstarter campaign to help birth this collection of songs, and I appreciate your consideration of helping to midwife! Here’s a little video about the record and how Kickstarter works (with big thanks to David Saich […]
Rescheduled Weekend Retreat
Rescheduled Weekend Retreat
On the first weekend in May, I’m gathering some friends for a weekend retreat in Montreat, North Carolina. I’d love for you to join us. Here are all the details. Hope to see you in the mountains in May! David
Coming Alive Again
Coming Alive Again
Here’s a new song I wrote in the last few minutes of April, 2021. Here in Western North Carolina, the trees and flowers and mountains themselves seem to be coming alive again, just as vaccines become more common and new possibilities emerge for people to safely gather again. The stories in the song are […]
Join me for songs and stories…
Join me for songs and stories…
Hi friends, On Sunday, Oct. 18, 2020, at 4:00PM, I’ll be offering a few songs and stories from Black Mountain. You can tune in wherever you are, for free, on Crowdcast, or watch on Facebook and chat with folks there. To reserve your ‘seat’ at the Crowdcast concert, click here. Feel free to spread the word […]
March 13 Concert at White Horse will be live-streamed
March 13 Concert at White Horse will be live-streamed
Hey friends — I’m playing at my hometown venue, the White Horse, on March 13, with special guest Brian Hilligoss. Come on by, if you can make it! I’ve got some new songs to share that I’m really excited about, and it promises to be a really beautiful evening. Tickets are available here. And if […]
Which Way Is Forward? A Conversation and Workshop on Race and Racism
Which Way Is Forward? A Conversation and Workshop on Race and Racism
Which Way Is Forward? A Conversation and Workshop on Race and Racism with Tyrone Greenlee and David LaMotte. 7 – 9 PM, Monday, Jan. 14, 2019 at the Black Mountain Public Library. 105 N. Dougherty St. | Black Mountain, NC 28711 | (828) 250-4756 Light refreshments will be provided. Suggested donation $10. Please register in […]
News from Guatemala — Chonita is visiting!
News from Guatemala — Chonita is visiting!
Chonita is visiting! And you can meet her! When I close this laptop, I’ll be getting in the car and heading to Atlanta to pick Chonita Pablo Lacan up from the Atlanta airport. Sarah Robinson Bryan, the Director of PEG Partners, will be road-tripping with me, and we can’t wait to see our friend and […]
The Hard Days
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. […]
An update on PEG Partners’ work in Guatemala
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 […]
New CD debuts at #8 on the Folk-DJ charts!
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 […]
Rapid River: David LaMotte celebrates 25 years with ‘The Other Way Around’
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 […]
Retreat almost sold out
Retreat almost sold out
Only a few places remain for the Chanigng Your World retreat in Montreat, NC August 19-21. If you would like to join us, we would love to have you. To get a sense of what the weekend will be about, check out the video below, and for more information on costs, logistics, etc., click here. […]
Thank you!!! New album fully funded…
Thank you!!! New album fully funded…
I am overwhelmed and moved by the support that folks have shown for my new CD project, The Other Way Around, which was fully funded by a Kickstarter campaign in which 468 people, from all over the world, chipped in to raise over $41,000 in exchange for various rewards, to make it happen. The new […]
Happy anniversary Rosa
Happy anniversary Rosa
Sixty years ago today, Rosa Parks was arrested for the first (but not last) time. We often tell the story of her famous arrest with so much of the story carved away that it almost ceases to be a true accounting, and sometimes we include a few outright falsehoods. Mrs. Parks was unquestionably a […]
Study Songwriting with David
Study Songwriting with David
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 […]
Why I Am Changing My Vacation Plans
Why I Am Changing My Vacation Plans
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 […]
Just One Candle
Just One Candle
Here is the lyric to a new song…. Read More →
Two new videos
Two new videos
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 […]