David Ayscue

In this EILE issue, we feature Los Angeles-based, folk singer/ songwriter, David Ayscue, with one of his recent singles, entitled New York. The song features a soft, soothing vocal that hovers over gentle guitar melodies. Its paredback soundscape creates a beautifully heartfelt track, while its slow balladic guitar-fingering counteracts the hustle and bustle of the song’s subject matter. Parts of the track remind me of our own Irish band, Tír Na n-Óg (Sonny Condell & Leo O’Kelly), and a little of Nick Drake. If you like both of those, you’ll probably love David Ayscue.

David is a singer/songwriter whose stirring voice and intricate guitar-playing have also been compared with John Mayer and James Taylor. His songs paint vivid portraits of life as a young adult — the loves, characters, anxieties, and adventures, that have all coloured his journey so far.

Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, he was exposed to a multitude of cross-genre music, by surfing through the local radio stations on long drives to and from school - everything from classic rock to folk, to local Bay Area rap.

His musical career developed in high school, where he began playing in open mic nights and student concerts. David subsequently joined his high school’s all-male a capella group, and began to learn the basics of sight-reading, and vocal blending. It was not until his 11th grade year, however, that he put pen to paper, and discovered his newfound love of songwriting.

David’s recent single, New York, is a stunning track with soft vocals over gentle guitar melodies. It is a minimalistic track with a charming atmosphere, that relaxes and soothes the listener.

“I wrote New York last summer. I knew that in early August I was going to visit my brother, who was living in a small apartment in SoHo. My friend from high school was having his 21st birthday party in the city that same week, and a bunch of old friends were making the trip to the city to see everybody. It felt like this mass migration to NYC was happening, and it gave the city this center-of-the-world feeling. There’s a rekindling of a romance in there as well. It’s a Central Park on a Sunday afternoon type of song”, he says.

David Ayscue is an up-and-coming artist, a rare folk singer-songwriter in the buzzing Los Angeles music scene, and is dedicating himself to releasing his own music. We wish him success.

The single, New York, is currently available worldwide.

- M. Butler

You can catch up with David at:www.facebook.com/davidayscuemusic/www.instagram.com/davidayscue/

Photo Will Erwin