David LaMotte

Speaker • Author • Musician

Uncategorized

New album in the works!

Dec 5, 2021
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 […]

New album in the works!

by David LaMotte

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

Jun 30, 2021
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    

Rescheduled Weekend Retreat

by David LaMotte

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

May 24, 2021
  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 […]

Coming Alive Again

by David LaMotte

  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…

Oct 18, 2020
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 […]

Join me for songs and stories…

by David LaMotte

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

Feb 24, 2020
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 […]

March 13 Concert at White Horse will be live-streamed

by David LaMotte

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

Dec 10, 2018
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 […]

Which Way Is Forward? A Conversation and Workshop on Race and Racism

by David LaMotte

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!

Nov 20, 2018
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 […]

News from Guatemala — Chonita is visiting!

by David LaMotte

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

Oct 15, 2018
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. […]

The Hard Days

by David LaMotte

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

Nov 29, 2016
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 […]

An update on PEG Partners’ work in Guatemala

by David LaMotte

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!

Oct 4, 2016
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 […]

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

by David LaMotte

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’

Aug 17, 2016
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 […]

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

by David LaMotte

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

Aug 1, 2016
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. […]

Retreat almost sold out

by David LaMotte

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…

Jul 6, 2016
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 […]

Thank you!!! New album fully funded…

by David LaMotte

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

Dec 1, 2015
  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 […]

Happy anniversary Rosa

by David LaMotte

  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

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

by David LaMotte

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

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

by David LaMotte

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 […]

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

by David LaMotte

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 […]

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 […]

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

by David LaMotte

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. […]

A fascinating article

Mar 9, 2009
Joseph Hongo, my fellow Fellow from Kenya, handed this article to me a couple of days ago. It’s an interesting read, and outlines some of the great ideological and practical challenges faced by those who would work for peace. So what do you think?

A fascinating article

by David LaMotte

Joseph Hongo, my fellow Fellow from Kenya, handed this article to me a couple of days ago. It’s an interesting read, and outlines some of the great ideological and practical challenges faced by those who would work for peace. So what do you think?

Traffic

Apr 28, 2008
Two really funny vehicular scenes from my last twenty-four hours:  One: Yesterday a Harley-Davidson pulled by my house and I glanced over at the biker riding a machine with all the auditory subtlety of a jack hammer on a freight train, only to do a double-take: he was talking on a cell phone.  Can you […]

Traffic

by David LaMotte

Two really funny vehicular scenes from my last twenty-four hours:  One: Yesterday a Harley-Davidson pulled by my house and I glanced over at the biker riding a machine with all the auditory subtlety of a jack hammer on a freight train, only to do a double-take: he was talking on a cell phone.  Can you […]

from my *very* late thirties…

Apr 25, 2008
…I’ve got about twenty-four minutes to go, actually.  According to my birth certificate I was born at 11:06AM, forty years ago today.  Or almost forty years ago.  About twenty-three minutes short. Had a lovely birthday party with my family last night.  I was born on my sister Margaret’s sixth birthday, and to this day Mom […]

from my *very* late thirties…

by David LaMotte

…I’ve got about twenty-four minutes to go, actually.  According to my birth certificate I was born at 11:06AM, forty years ago today.  Or almost forty years ago.  About twenty-three minutes short. Had a lovely birthday party with my family last night.  I was born on my sister Margaret’s sixth birthday, and to this day Mom […]

Lil Abner

Apr 12, 2008
I’m home for a couple of days and enjoying it while it lasts.  Last night Deanna and I went to see my nephew, Nate, in a high school production of Lil Abner.  Nate played the part of a pumped up hunk that had been transformed from a scrawny kid by a potent herbal potion.  The […]

Lil Abner

by David LaMotte

I’m home for a couple of days and enjoying it while it lasts.  Last night Deanna and I went to see my nephew, Nate, in a high school production of Lil Abner.  Nate played the part of a pumped up hunk that had been transformed from a scrawny kid by a potent herbal potion.  The […]

Cherry Blossoms

Mar 30, 2008
  Washington, DC Current Earworm (song stuck in my head): Ellis Paul, “Washington, DC, 5/91” Given all the traveling I do, you’d think I’d be a more skilled tourist.  Like, for instance, if I were going to go to a major city for a few days with my wife for a little vacation, I might […]

Cherry Blossoms

by David LaMotte

  Washington, DC Current Earworm (song stuck in my head): Ellis Paul, “Washington, DC, 5/91” Given all the traveling I do, you’d think I’d be a more skilled tourist.  Like, for instance, if I were going to go to a major city for a few days with my wife for a little vacation, I might […]

Somewhat Less Impressive Travel Karma

Mar 25, 2008
The trip home today involves four flights, the second of which is the thirteen hour jump from Sydney to LA. After my great luck with the three empty seats on the way over, I paid my dues in the dreaded ‘middle seat’ on the way back, with a huge man in the seat in front […]

Somewhat Less Impressive Travel Karma

by David LaMotte

The trip home today involves four flights, the second of which is the thirteen hour jump from Sydney to LA. After my great luck with the three empty seats on the way over, I paid my dues in the dreaded ‘middle seat’ on the way back, with a huge man in the seat in front […]