Davy Rothbart

@thomaslake Exquisite song, beautiful and inspiring story to go with it. Thank you for this.

About 15 years ago, just before I became a dad, I bought my first guitar. It was a Fender acoustic, candy-apple red. I couldn’t play guitar. Wasn’t much of a singer, either. And even though I’d been a professional writer for most of my adult life, I didn’t know how to write a song. But I looked up to Michael Brick. Michael was a tall guy from Texas who wore cowboy boots. He wrote for The New York Times. When I hosted a gathering of writers in the woods of South Georgia, Michael strolled in and pretty much set the room on fire. He picked up the guitar and started playing a song he wrote. We didn’t know this guy and we’d never heard the song before. But before it was over, MOST OF US WERE SINGING ALONG TO THE CHORUS. That’s how good it was. How good he was. If you were there, you know. It was a few months later when I bought that red guitar. I was 29. Too old to be starting, perhaps. But I took a few lessons, learned a few chords. My daughter was born. I sat in the hallway of our building, going from B-minor to G, while she crawled around on the carpet. I kept practicing until I figured out “The Beaches of Cheyenne," by Garth Brooks. At the next writers’ conference, people listened politely. I saw Michael about once a year. Bought some cowboy boots because he made them look so good. Spent most of the year looking forward to the next time I could hear him sing. In 2014, there was one song I was hoping he’d play. But Michael was not a jukebox. He did things on his own schedule. He didn’t play the song on Thursday night. He didn’t play it on Friday night. Finally, he played it on Saturday night. It was even better than I’d remembered. A few months later, we found out that Michael had cancer. Some of us flew to Texas to see him. We went back in early 2016, for his funeral. Michael Brick was 41. He was survived by his wife and children. Later that year, The Lake Family Band played a show in our front yard for a local festival called Porchfest. The band included some of my friends and relatives, including my dad, a great lead guitarist. We played cover songs. I played rhythm and sang a few songs like the amateur I was. By then my wife and I had three children, and our fourth was born the next year. I kept playing guitar, kept singing. It got a little easier. During the pandemic, my two oldest started taking Zoom lessons on piano. And I sang “Daddy Songs” at bedtime. One night in 2022, I was singing some lullaby or another when these new words started coming to me. A song of my own. I ran to find a pen so I could write it down. Then I wrote another song, and another. When I played some of these songs at Porchfest ‘23, they were just okay. I listened to the recording and realized I needed to get much better at singing my own songs. So I signed up for voice lessons and did guided vocal workouts several times a week. There’s one part on the workout where the teacher says to “keep it bright and bratty.” My 11-year-old son heard this part, unfortunately. Then he kept telling me to keep it bright and bratty. I did. Last year we played a few times at the Songwriters’ Open Mic Night at Eddie’s Attic in Decatur, Georgia. It was me and my wife, Sara, with our older daughter on piano. We made the finals one evening, but didn’t win. My singing still needed to improve. Last summer I did something very hard: I gave up coffee. It made a difference. A few months ago, there were layoffs at my company. Losing my job wasn’t great, but it did give me more time to work on music. I found a producer in a local musicians’ Facebook group who had his own studio. We booked a date. On a Saturday morning in April, I put on my cowboy boots and packed up the old red Fender I’d purchased after hearing Michael Brick sing. Then the Lake Family Band went into the studio and recorded our first song. A song I wrote. It’s about fatherhood and unconditional love. I would like you to hear it. I’ll never be like Michael Brick. But I’ll never forget him, either. Happy Father’s Day, everyone.

!! 24 hours to go!! We're just $5,900 from our goal but really need your help! TONS MORE GREAT PICS & DETAILS HERE: tinyurl.com/w2w-25 Thanks so much for taking a look — every dollar helps us reach our goal of bringing 75 awesome kids into the mountains this summer!

Who will be the first to support our 2025 Washington To Washington trip??! Heading out with another group of awesome city kids for a week of outdoor adventure. Your support truly changes lives! tinyurl.com/w2w-25

ANN ARBOR Premiere of 17 BLOCKS! Tues., March 18th at the historic Michigan Theater! Join @UMWallaceHouse @fordschool & more for a special, memorable night! Hit the LINK HERE for free VIP tix: tinyurl.com/17BlocksA2Prem…

Who will be the first to support our 2024 Washington To Washington trip??! Heading out with another group of awesome city kids for a week of outdoor adventure. Your support truly changes lives!! tinyurl.com/Wash2Wash24

Tuesday night! @DavyRothbart and FOUND are coming back to the Texas! dmagazine.com/micropost/foun…

THANKS @nytimes for generously including 17 BLOCKS @17BlocksFilm among the "Great Documentaries"!! LINK HERE: nytimes.com/2024/02/29/mov… STREAMING NOW on Paramount+ @paramountplus ! @benkenigsberg @BigBeachFilms @mtvdocs @CatapultFilmFnd

Renegade FBI agents; a legendary activist in the crosshairs; a personal journey for a journalist who pries apart his past & explores his own process — @MosiSecret's great new podcast RADICAL, worth a careful listen! @campsidemedia @matthewshaer @joshdean66 podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rad…

In 2003 Davy Rothbart at the New York Times asked Fred Rogers why people sometimes seemed afraid to talk to each other. Mr. Rogers sat quietly for 15 full seconds before answering: “Perhaps we think we won’t find another human being inside that person.”

@joedeceault @WBEZCuriousCity @WBEZ Beyond the first @riseagainst concerts at Fireside, which were amazing, another great memory was seeing my friends' band Stanley's Joyful Noise. That band became @okgo.

@joedeceault @WBEZCuriousCity @WBEZ FANTASTIC piece! Joe P. directed me to it. As someone who was at the Fireside constantly from '96 - '01, this was an incredible, rich account of an important period of my life. Thank you for making it!

Nearly 30 years ago, there was a bowling alley destined to become a punk rock haven: Fireside Bowl. In the latest @WBEZCuriousCity we speak with some of the fans, musicians & crew who helped build a vibrant community & made this humble indie rock abode a legendary venue. @WBEZ

@Becca3129 Denice, Cheryl and everyone else hanging in all right. No day is easy but together we get through it. Emmanuel is never far from our minds. Love to you from all of us!

@Becca3129 Thank you for watching the film and reaching out Becca! The Sanfords are doing good, I just spent time with them last month - we all went camping together! Smurf started a new job driving a truck and is doing great. Justin is now 16 (!) and is doing great in school... CONT

@DavyRothbart I just finished 17 Blocks. Beautiful film. Are there any updates on Denise, Cheryl, Smurf, or Justin?

Who wants to be the first to support our 2023 trip?!

We're bringing 30 city kids into the mountains for a week of outdoor adventure -- help us make it happen! Please check out more details & photos at the link below -- THANK YOU so much! gofundme.com/f/14th-annual-…

@NPRmelissablock @rekha6 @NPR Melissa! SO grateful for the generous curiosity you took in @FOUNDmag - and for your decades of moving, inspiring, incandescent reporting. @NPR (and millions of listeners) are lucky to have had your devoted energies for so long. Excited to follow your next chapters! Congrats! XO

@rekha6 @NPR We’ll always have @DavyRothbart ! npr.org/2003/06/27/131…

A 🧵, 38 years in the making. Today is my last day @NPR after, yep, nearly four decades. It's impossible to sum up what these years have meant, but indulge me as I share some stories that have been among the most memorable for me… 1/

@ArianaJackson @mwrdaisy A pleasure to meet another Ypsi native on the picket line yesterday. Appreciate all your efforts and hope to stay in touch! -Davy

Music Supervisors do vital work on television shows. All that energy, all that finely tuned emotion from the right song in the right moment, that takes skill, talent and craft. #CW4400 wouldn't have been the same without the incomparable @mwrdaisy. #MusicSupervisorEquity

@bartlow_jason @SalliJames1 @Cardboard0G @rawsalerts Agree with most of this -- but for what it's worth, I think you CAN teach it (not that anyone should have to). I've been working on building situational awareness with my son every day. He's 4.

@SalliJames1 @Cardboard0G @rawsalerts It’s called being aware of your surroundings. Can’t teach this. When you grow up in certain areas this is like a 6th sense. Everyone should be aware of their surroundings like this honestly.

🚨#BREAKING: New Dash Cam Footage Captures the Start of Active Shooter's Deadly Rampage killing multiple bystanders 📌#Allen | #Texas Newly obtained, dash cam footage captures the moment when an active shooter emerged from their vehicle outside the H&M store in the Allen outlet mall area. Then proceeded to discharge multiple rounds towards both stores and bystanders, resulting in the tragic loss of numerous innocent lives, including children. The perpetrator has been confirmed deceased, and police authorities have reported no evidence of a second shooter at present.

@hoosierbluesman Thanks for the heads-up Ryan. Sounds like tough sledding for Medora; I hope this special town – and ones like it — can hold onto their school, which is often the glue in their community. Go Hornets @MedoraFilm

@DavyRothbart - a pretty harrowing story down in Medora- a dark trajectory since you made the documentary. Hard to see things unfold in places like this all over the country over the last decade.

@arbustonicole Thank you so much for your generous and enduring support Nicole - you are THE BEST!! And appreciate you spreading the word :) XOXO