David Rodriguez
Encyclopedia
David Rodriguez is a folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, performer, and poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
.
Life and music
David Roland Rodriguez was born and raised in Houston, TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. His paternal roots lay in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and his mother's older sister, Eva Garza, recorded for Decca Records during the 1950s. At the age of two he contracted polio and as a result Rodriguez has worn a leg brace and walked with a cane ever since. Because his mobility was restricted his parents bought him a guitar. By the age of fourteen David was playing in a rock band, a year later in a folk group, and by the close of his teens was the pianist in an avant-garde ensemble.
His early musical influences included Lightnin' Hopkins
Lightnin' Hopkins
Sam John Hopkins better known as Lightnin’ Hopkins, was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist, from Houston, Texas...
, Townes Van Zandt
Townes Van Zandt
John Townes Van Zandt , best known as Townes Van Zandt, was an American Texas Country-folk music singer-songwriter, performer, and poet...
, Lydia Mendoza
Lydia Mendoza
Lydia Mendoza was an American guitarist and singer of Tejano music. She is known as La Alondra de la Frontera ....
, and Jerry Jeff Walker
Jerry Jeff Walker
Jerry Jeff Walker is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is probably most famous for writing the song "Mr. Bojangles.-Biography:...
. By his early twenties, David was a law and economics graduate, based in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, where he spent well over the next decade playing music in Texas listening rooms.
In 1992, 1993 and 1994, he was voted the best Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
songwriter in an Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
poll by the music magazine, Third Coast Music.
David Rodriguez decided to settle in The Netherlands in 1994 and continues to live there. On some concerts, he has been accompanied by his daughter Carrie Rodriguez
Carrie Rodriguez
Carrie Luz Rodriguez is a Mexican-American singer-songwriter and the daughter of Texan singer-songwriter David Rodriguez and well-known Texas painter Katy Nail, and is the granddaughter of prolific Texas essayist Frances Nail. She sings and plays the fiddle, mandobird and tenor guitar...
on fiddle.
Discography
| Year | Title | Label | Number | Notes |
| 1990 | Man Against Beast | no label (US) | 15-song cassette, recorded live May 31 1990 at Chicago House in Austin, Texas | |
| 1992 | Avatars, Angels and Ashes | no label (US) | 11-song cassette, recorded live September 1991 at Anderson Fair in Houston, Texas | |
| 1992 | The True Cross | Dejadisc (US) | 3202 | CD reissue of Man Against Beast plus a live duet with Lucinda Williams Lucinda Williams Lucinda Williams is an American rock, folk, blues and country music singer and songwriter. She recorded her first albums in 1978 and 1980 in a traditional country and blues style and received very little attention from radio, the media, or the public. In 1988, she released her self-titled album,... recorded July 1992 |
| 1992 | Landing 92 | Brambus (Switzerland) | CD reissue of ten tracks from Man Against Beast and seven tracks from Avatars, Angels And Ashes | |
| 1994 | The Friedens Angel | Brambus (Switzerland) | ten studio tracks + four live tracks recorded May 1993 | |
| 1994 | Forgiveness | World Records (US) | cassette | |
| 1995 | Proud Heart | Continental Song City (Netherlands) | 1002 | released in the US as Recovery Recordings 2682 (2006) |
| 2006 | The Lonesome Drover | Noose (Netherlands) | N101 | 8 studio tracks, reissued on Folkwit Records (download only) |
| 2007 | Winter Moon | Folkwit (UK) | 0016 | recorded live in Dordrecht, The Netherlands |