David Wilcox - Stage Door

There are songwriters who chronicle life, and then there’s David Wilcox — an artist who metabolizes it.
His 2025 release The Way I Tell the Story is the latest proof that resilience isn’t just a survival skill, it’s an art form. These songs don’t dramatize. They don’t resolve neatly. They sit in the complexity of living — open-eyed, unafraid, and quietly brave. “Times get tough, and music gets good,” he says, and he means it.
Wilcox first turned heads with his 1989 major-label debut How Did You Find Me Here, which sold over 100,000 copies largely through word of mouth and live shows alone — a remarkable feat for a debut folk record. Rolling Stone praised his soulful insight; The New York Times called his music “a kind of open-hearted therapy.”
A string of celebrated albums followed, alongside collaborations with Shawn Colvin, Patty Larkin, and John Gorka. In 2018, he took top honors at the USA Songwriting Competition. His songs have been covered by k.d. lang and Tony Rice. His guitar work has been studied by anyone serious about the instrument.
His music resonates now more than ever because it doesn’t try to outpace the moment — it meets it. Not flashy. Not loud. Just deeply, generously alive.