Weird Medicine: The Podcast - 340 - Holiday Miracle: DAVE RAY CECIL LIVE

Episode Date: December 12, 2018

The complete and unedited Dave Ray Cecil interview. Lots of music, music talk, and metaphysics. Back to medical questions next week! Dr Steve and Dr Scott accompany (ruin) "Comfort Town" at the end! Enjoy! DaveRayCecil.com PLEASE VISIT: STUFF.DOCTORSTEVE.COM for all your shopping needs! SimplyHerbals.net Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to Weird Medicine with Dr. Steve on the Riotcast Network, riotcast.com. I need to touch it. Yo-ho-ho-ho-ho. In the garretid. I've got diphtheria crushing my esophagus. I've got Toboliviris stripping from my nose. I've got the leprosy of the heart valve, exacerbating my incredible woes. I want to take my brain out.

Blast with the wave, an ultrasonic, echagraphic and a pulsating shave. I want a magic pill. All my ailments, the health equivalent of citizen gain. And if I don't get it now in the tablet, I think I'm doomed, then I'll have to go insane. I want a requiem for my disease. So I'm aging Dr. Steve. It's weird medicine, the first and still only uncensored medical show in the history broadcast radio, now a podcast. I'm Dr. Steve, and this is a show for people who'd never listen to.

a medical show on the radio or the internet. Today we're going to do something a little different. It's the holidays, and we had our friend Dave Cecil, from the Dave Cecil band at Dave Rayceasel.com. In the studio today, it's a music show. We're going to talk about music, meditation, internal healing, all that stuff.

But I want you guys to check him out, because Dave should be famous and sadly, as of yet, he's not. But you'll also find out that he doesn't care. If he were famous, he'd be doing the same music that he's doing now. So it's a very interesting conversation. And I hope you enjoy it. Oh, hey, don't forget, stuff.com for all your holiday shopping needs.

Stuff.com makes a huge difference. Thank you. tweakeda audio.com if you want some stocking stuffers offer code fluid for 33% off the best earbuds on the market

for the price don't forget Dr. Scott's website at simplyerbils.net and check out premium.com we're going to have a code for 50% off

coming up soon but you can sign up any time it's just a buck 99 a month okay enjoy the interview with Dave Cecil and we'll see you next week All right. So in the studio today, a special treat, we have Dave Ray Cecil. Thanks for being here, Dave. Thank you so much for having me with, you know, all the storms and stuff. Yeah, yeah, we've had to cancel this. Well, first you were sick. Yeah. And then today it was supposed to snow six inches. And so I saved some money on a hotel room because you're going to.

leave after the gig tonight but I appreciate that but I hate that your wife and kid didn't get to come up and have like a vacation well it's all right so a little introduction we first met Dave when he was playing a gig at a place called Primland and I was sure because this was like the first time we'd ever been there and Diane you've been there this place is pretty fancy it's beautiful place. And I assumed you were famous already. I mean, that's why they had you there is because you were famous. And then we got talking and it turns out that you play in a band with a guy I used to play in a band with who I knew as Arnold Sykes. That was his name was Arnold Sikes. And he's got to be what, 60 now, right? Yes, he is. He changed his name and he's now known as Wiley. Well, I think

He's known to some people as Wiley, and he's Wiley Arnold Sikes. So he's, or Arnold Wiley, something like that. So my, one of my favorite memories of Arnold was I did a gig at this little church in downtown Greensboro, and it was an experimental thing. We did one set of really experimental music, and then we did a set of my music, and in between I did a magic show. This is the most, it's craziest fucking thing. Craziest gig you've ever seen. Sounds cool. And I put on this fake accent and stuff, but I did this trick, which is right in there,

which I'll show it to you in a minute, if you're interested in seeing it, called the Tricky Bottles. And I did it with Arnold, aka Wiley. And it's one of those things where you make a fool of the person that you call up from the audience, right? Because there's a tube and a beer bottle, and no matter what they do, they always get the beer bottle wrong, like it'll be upside down to mine. And it was just fun. And that was really the last time I've seen him. Now, what was he doing? Was he playing?

Nope, nope. He was just hanging out and came to see us. I remember afterward he came up after my part of the, you know, where I played my music. He said, better in Mozart. So that was a huge compliment coming from him because he's actually like a music major.

He's like the real deal. Yeah, he really is. And he's got he's got a schedule that's unbelievable he does all the symphony work and stuff for oh yeah i think wins and salem and grays bro wow yeah and a funny thing is you know if i put together a gig or something and i say hey make and you do it he's he'll he'll he'll even look at oh i'll do it like you don't even man yeah he's like the busiest dude and he loves to play oh my god he'll card it so what he'll just he'll say look man i'll come over and i'll set these up and then i'll go back and i'll play this other gig and then

i'll come back and i'll have it set up and you know well you're our guest and we're talking about somebody else but it is funny because just that we had that connection yeah yeah yeah and but so speaking of being trained are you class are you trained in music were you like a music major in school

no no no no no no I mean I was just telling Scott and Harris telling him that I had a piano in the house which I think is great I bought a piano I got a little girl so I think that you should have some sort of something in the house so I knew I could figure out sitting in front of the piano that I could

put these notes together. So I'd come up with these little melodies and write these songs and stuff. So they were like, well, he's got a little interesting music. I was getting him some lessons. And I couldn't stand going to the ladies' house, man. You go in there and they don't smell like mothballs. She was older and they took the clock, you know, and the whole deal.

Anyway, it's actually called a metronome, but I know what you're talking about. No, exactly. No, but she didn't work out. I didn't really think I had know what I was doing and they were telling me I had to know and so I figured you know so I didn't work out so let me tell you my my first piano lesson experience I got the book my mom got me the book ahead of time and there was a song in there called C-D-E

right yeah and you go C-D-E C-D-C-D-C-D-C-D-C-D-C-D-C right so I learned it before I went to my lesson. And I was really proud of myself. It's like, you know, I taught myself how to read three notes on the treble clef. And I thought she would really be excited. And I walk in, I say, hey, you know, just so you know, in my seven-year-old voice, I kind of already learned this song. And I play, and she said, well, play it for me. And I played it for her. She said, no, you're playing it all wrong. And I was like, you know what? There you go. Nice. How would you play that, wrong. What a way, who knows, but what a way to just shit on a little kid and make them hate doing that? Because you were excited. Yeah. Until then. But anyway, so. No, so what, what ended up

happening to me is I didn't take lessons and I, you know, snuck me a guitar and I learned to play a guitar by myself and I just wanted to write. And so I ended up doing that for like 10 to 12 years and behind the closed doors. I just used it as a way to kind of escape from the world. Yeah. You know, and I had my thing, and I, you know, I didn't need to do anything with it. I'd go out into the world and come back. You know, it was really interesting because always, even now, you know, I'm always dealing with some sort of situation that's going on in a song. Yeah.

Right now, I'm writing songs that I, like when I was coming here, I was writing bass lines and I have, you know, things going on in these songs, you know. So that's what's happening, you know, for me all the time. You know, it's an interesting experience. Now, I was at this wedding. I was at this way. My wife is really, you know, she's aware of my problem. And I was at this weird, this way.

Wait, which problem is that? Not many. I've got many, but I'm talking about the songwriting problem. You know, and I was out in the field. I got these, I've got on my phone. I got like 1,500, you know, song bites, you know, these ideas I put down real quick. And I listen to them, you know, when I'm in the middle of writing something. And so I was out in the field there.

I just want to step away from all the busyness, man. And I'm out in the field, listen to this thing. And somebody said to my wife, man, who's Dave? Who's Dave talking to? And she looked out there and she said, no, man, he's not talking to anybody. Write a damn song. Yeah, it's living with an artist can be difficult. Yeah, I would imagine.

Yeah. She's like, when I'm writing a song, she's like, I just need to get out of your way because you're just like obsessed. Could you do anything else? Could you imagine doing anything else? Well, I mean, an interesting question. That's an interesting question. question because I don't feel like it's something that I do you know I just feel like it's something and I'm not trying to be yeah kooky or anything but it sounds hokey but it's

something that I am I wouldn't choose this shit no way man I mean I wouldn't choose doing it just something that I quit I tried to quit man three times the third time I was really done and then you know it just won't stop so yeah you know you just got to do it it's sort of like you know I mean it's like any other relationship you know you you sometimes it's euphoric and lovely and fun and And other times, like, God, get this all from me, man. The whole being an artist thing, I had a patient who became a friend so I can talk about him. And he was about 20 years older than me.

And he was the greatest portrait artist of ever met. I've got a, I have a portrait downstairs that he did of me. I can tell you the story about it, but, you know, make a long story short. This guy was brilliant portrait artist. and he would capture people. You know, you see portraits and you can tell it's a little off, you know, that uncanny valley where it's just not quite right. This guy nailed it every single time.

And I got talking to him about it. He hated it. But he was so good at it, he could not stop doing it. It would have been not only a waste to stop, but he was compelled to do it because, like you said, that's what he is. Yeah. You know, he didn't like dealing with all these people and how they kept changing their mind.

and say he hated that part of it yeah but he had to put these images on what is that pool i have no idea what that is yeah i mean it's a pool to i don't to create i don't i don't know but you know you can't you can you can wrestle with it and try to put it to sleep and get rid of it all you want but you know in the end for me it just i just i lost and you know i just so i'm just like hey man that's cool you know well if you're called to do something if you if you deny it the next thing that happens is you get swallowed followed up by a fish, aka Jonah.

I'm making a biblical reference. You know? Well, it's true. You know, and the thing is, too, is I was playing the other night at the pizza joint, and they're like,

man, what the hell are you doing at the pizza joint? And I'm like, well, this is supposed to be what I'm playing tonight.

Well, something happened that night, though. Yeah, something did happen. Tell us about that, and then I want to get you playing some music.

Well, there was a girl that, you know, sitting in the front row, and, well, not for us, she was sitting in the booth

that was closest to the stage. It's a pizza joint. Don't make it into something. Yeah, exactly. Anyway, she came up afterwards, and she had tears in her eyes, and she was like, man, thank you so much for this. Your words somehow has helped me, and I feel, you know, healed in some way, you know.

And she said, she did say this. She said, you know, I've always been somebody. I'm going through a lot of stuff. And I've always been somebody's wife or somebody's mom. And I did say, I said, well, who are you without these things? And she said, well, I don't know. I'm like, well, maybe I ought to have a look. Yeah.

You know. Yeah. Yeah. You know, and that's the tie-in. So you healed her, and this is a medical show. So there you go. That's the tie-in with this show. But you're, the song that, and I'm sure you played this that night,

that you won that national songwriting contest or we're a finalist in, is called Nothing to Waste. Yeah. And tell us just a little bit about where that came from. Your songs are all so personal. All right, I'll tell you where it came from. Yeah. I was busy doing another job, okay, and I was doing a real estate, you know, my wife's got

this real estate client, and I'm driving them around, I'm showing them houses. In between showing them houses in the car, I wrote the song. So these people were following me, and I'm like, look, I'm trying to look at the, you know, the GPS address, but I'm also writing this thing down. And so for me, I feel like, so it was just another song, you know, sort of. But for me, I was sort of out of the way. So none of my filters were involved in writing the damn thing. So I think it was better without me involved.

That Zen thing where you got your brain out of the way and it just happened. Yeah. And the thing is we got to talk about that after. Most songs, most of the time anyway, is if I'm in the way or I get involved with trying to guide the song to go a certain way, or I'd like to, oh, I better not say that you, or oh, then everything sort of shuts down, and I can't, and I can't. It's fascinating. Right. So I just got to say, you know what?

It sort of knows what it wants to be, and I'm just going, and my life is like that, too, dude. Dr. Scott's an athlete. He was a semi-pro athlete. His brother's a real athlete. That same thing applies to athleticism, too, doesn't it? You know, when you're in the zone, when you're in the zone. Yeah, you've got to get, if you start thinking, well, I've got to. to pitch a certain way.

Your mind gets in a way. You're going to throw a ball every time, but when your brain gets out of the way, it just happens. It's amazing that athleticism and music, painting, these things all kind of work the same way. There's some link there, and I haven't quite figured it out. Those barriers we create, you know, that if you can somehow realize that the barriers are things you've created, then you can just move on through them. Yeah.

Well, see, that's it. And what you're suggesting is that it's beyond the intellect. Right. It is. So it's like, and the intellect is where you are. So the more that you, you know, like lean not on my own understanding. You wouldn't think, you would think writing a song would be as diametrically opposed to pitching a baseball as it could be. But there's a link there.

Oh, yeah. Very similar. You know, it's interesting. Well, we'll explore that. Let's hear the song. Are you cool? Yeah, yeah. Okay.

This is Dave Cecil, and the song is called Nothing to Waste. When I was young, thought I could see, thought that the world around me, thought I could see, thought that the world revolved around me, thought I could take, thought I could take. Whatever I wanted for free But I'm older now And times brought me down Revealing my soul and retiring a clown Let me know There ain't only one show around

There were times that I should have given Laces I shouldn't have in There were things I would take back Rules I would break that Held me like a prisoner within But I am no longer afraid Yeah I'd rather give here than take I'd rather laugh like a child for no sake

Love like there ain't no mistakes Live now before it's too late Life ain't nothing to waste It might be things that I won't do again, but your losses somehow become wins. And there ain't any reason to spend any season thinking about what might have been. Yeah, I am no longer Afraid And I'd rather give

It than take I'd rather laugh Like a child for no sake And love like there ain't no mistakes Live now before it's too late Life ain't nothing Waste Wow, beautiful,

Wow, beautiful. You know, I follow on Pinterest all these inspirational quotes. And I could hear a lot of what you said, which would be perfect for those. You know, like people, posters and... Memes. Yeah. A whole song full of... Yeah, just, it's a whole song.

Good job, man. So inspirational. One thing I wanted to bring up, you know, when you said when you were young, I thought I could see, thought that the world revolved around me. This is not a song that someone with a bad childhood would have necessarily written. Because people who had bad childhoods. don't see the world that way i don't think so tell us a little bit about your upbringing well i mean you know i mean everybody's childhood is relevant as far as bad or good i mean the thing is it's like like you ask somebody that everybody you know it's all different but i mean my dad left when i was nine

so well we had that stir going on yeah but you know um is really but but you know if you if you you know move towards you know wellness and you try to you know we're all we all are compelled to want to be the best we are and and and for me what that involves is looking inward you know in some way you know how it's not it's like for me uh life was happening for me right like and and you sort wake up in these things like how the hell did i get here yeah but the thing is is that you're making choices all along the way in order to get you where you will are. So, in other words, when you start looking in, you're saying, wait a second, man, I chose

all this shit, you know what I mean? Right on. That's when stuff starts to change and when you start to really, really start to look inward. And then, then you see that everything really unfolded the way it should have, you know, so as far as my childhood, you know, I mean, I was, I felt like

I had a good childhood. Yeah. You know. Now this line, it says rules I would break that held me like a prisoner within. That's about working with Arnold Sykes isn't it?

I mean I'm just hope he's listening. That's all. All right. Now that was awesome, man. Thank you. That was a great song. So the reason we're doing this on this show and we need to

Diane and Scott may not be aware of this, but you and I have been talking for a while and you sent me your CD and we can plug that too if you want and obviously we should I forwarded that

to the guy that runs the Sirius XMU channel. Now, I don't think your music is right for that channel but he knows all the other people that run the folk channel and what's the coffee house

and what's the one where they play both they play sort of alt and Spectrum. Spectrum is my favorite. So he knew all those and nothing. So then you were up in New York City to play that song that you just played for us at Kennedy Center, right?

Yeah. You're one Lincoln Center. Okay, well some present. I knew it was some present at the Lincoln Center. And I called them and I said, look, this guy's could be up there. Bring him into the fish bowl and have him play. Do something. nothing. So I finally said, fuck it. We'll just do it on my show.

Well, you know, it's not surprising we, you know, we were just talking downstairs in the kitchen about this very thing and, you know, as far as like, what a business. Why would it be on a medicine show, you know? Yeah. But, you know, the funny thing is,

you know, there are some things like you just pointed out that have to do with that. You know, wellness and well-being and stuff. Yeah. Yeah, but, you know, my interest is, why is the music in this business so just, it's almost like a lottery. If the right person hears you, you're Brent Dennan, you know? And I'm sure you know who Brent Denon is. I love him.

If that right person doesn't hear you, you're Dave Cecil playing at a pizza place. And that's no flies on that. But I think you should be huge. You know, I really do. So, I mean, but I may interject this. I think Scott and I should be huge too, but, you know, there you go. Yeah. But, you know, there's an old saying in baseball that it only takes one scout to like you.

Yeah. And they'll take you to the top. You know, it just takes one person to hear the songs or to meet Dave and get the word. But I think what the answer was really pretty important for this particular audience because we do deal with people's overall health and well. being in a multitude of ways you know and and i've always said a good medicine is whatever that person needs at that time it may be it might be the right song it may be a cranny you know maybe a hug handy it may be handy maybe whatever so whatever it is so yeah you never know

so i'm um so i care if you're famous do you care do you care i mean are you cool doing this Is there anything that you need that you're not getting by not, you know, playing arenas and stuff like that? I guess folk people don't really play arenas. I mean, you know, I did an interview last, this week here. Somebody contacted me for O. Henry Magazine, and we did a, like, an interview, and he asked me that very thing. And I said, well, you know, the thing is, is I'm going to be doing it whether or not I'm doing it here or I'm doing it in my bedroom or I'm doing it for arenas. So I can't tell you that I don't hang too much, you know, a value on results, you know, about where I'm not. You know what I mean?

It doesn't make any sense, really. So that, so if it does happen, I'll follow it, you know, obviously. I will follow it, but we'll see what happened, you know, but I'll still keep writing. Yeah. It's still, I'm still doing the same thing. It isn't what you do. It's who you are. and therefore you're going to be who you are.

That's it, you know? I get it. I mean, that's like, yes. You know, it's living. Now that you say it, it makes total sense. Up until then, I'm writing these questions down about it. Why aren't you famous? Yeah, man, or Jake, one more real quick story.

You know, one of our best friends, you know, Milhorn, was telling me about Paul Thorne. And you know Paul Thorne? Sure. You know how Paul Thorne hit it big? He was playing in a pizza joiner on, like, Thursday nights down in Mississippi. And a guy heard about him, came and watched him playing on a Thursday. day and that's Saturday he was in London opening out for Eric Clapton you know it was just literally you'd think playing the Lincoln Center something like that would happen you know it is

it's frustrating to me on your behalf and I and what's cool is you don't feel that well I mean if something happened from the Lincoln's litter I wouldn't be sitting in here talking to you guys oh that would be sad I mean that's true but I will say this he'd be too big for us he's got he's got he's the perfect zen attitude towards playing this thing and that's why I think that's why it's so good and comfortable in this space

even with us old hillbillies you know. Speaking of Zen attitude toward playing you want to play another song? Yeah, sure. You've got the choice of when I die or maybe or belong

or when you go. I'd like to play belong. You want to play belong? You want to play belong? Okay. All right. Sounds good. What's this about? You know, the interesting thing about belong is that belong is like, you know, it can be just like a cool, yeah, it's a catchy song. But, you know, it talks all about, you know, what you can do in order to be sort of a noble person, you know, like a good person. But the end of the song is really what it's about.

Okay. So it takes you through this, you know, do all these things to be this person, you know, let go of all this stuff and you'll move towards, you know, being a better. person right but you're still sort of caught in sort of a segregated state and so it's saying again like we were talking about that there might be something beyond that yeah you know as well so anyway okay Find your place, take a stand, make you way be a man When the fight, see it right, if you can You must be bold, but don't be cold

Don't just do the things you're told Break the moat But save your soul If you can Where do you belong Where do you belong? Where do you belong? Where do you belong?

Look around, but make a choice Make a sound Raise your voice Don't use force But stay the course If you can Now you will fall You will lose

Hit the wall Be confused But through it all Keep yourself if you can Now where do you belong Where do you belong? Where do you belong Where do you belong?

Now leave your words to the truth Take what you've heard not as proof Find out for yourself if you can Follow your heart call what may be steadfast in this way This guidance never compromise if you can Now where do you belong Where do you belong Where do you belong? Where do you belong

Where do you Alone Find the truth Deep inside of you Peace will in rain if you do Wake from the dream Oh believe in everything Return to love

Where are you Oh Holy shit And that's not the song that won you The gig at the Kennedy Center Yeah, that was one of them Oh, it was, okay, I was going to say that, dude You've got a great voice

Why does that song make me want to cry every time I hear it? It's very ethereal. Because I don't know where I belong, I guess. Very ethereal. But you, my friend, belong on the stage at the Grammys. I have a question for you. What if you couldn't sing? You have a great voice.

What if you could only do the guitar and then write the words? I don't know. I don't know. I might be doing that. Would you still be inspired, do you think? That's a good question. Have old Jack King singing your lyrics? Yeah.

I don't know. I don't know. you're um you're lucky to have that no it's a good no it's a good question uh but sort of what you're alluding to or talking about is whether or not um uh the outside would be you know would matter you know in pulling me into the right and you said well i have no idea about that but i i could say that um it comes from the heart and so that doesn't really i don't know if i don't know if i couldn't sing i don't know what would have but I can say that it doesn't I'm not writing I'm writing from the heart and so I think that's

you know I've never really been attracted or do I've never liked people who can sing really really super well I kind of like people who can sing something to me that that that it makes me forget them I can't see them anymore and I can experience what they're saying yeah you know and that doesn't for me It doesn't, you know, I used to play with a person who could sing really, really super well. And I'd always, my advice to him, we'd be in the studio and I always say, man, stop singing. You know what, I mean, stop singing. You know, it's like, well, okay, hold on, wait a minute.

Do you know what the song is? Yeah. Do you know what the song is? You know, and okay, well, if you know what the song, the lyrics are saying, then think about a similar experience you may have had, because we're all human, the common experiences, Usually there's some sort of underlying theme. Maybe it's yearning. And go into that and sing from there, man. You know what I mean?

So that I can experience what the hell you're saying instead of me saying, wow, you can sing really well. It's like being taken out of a movie because someone's acting is, you go, wow, that acting is really good. You're missing what they're doing. Or if it's Dustin Hoffman and the whole time you're going, wow, that's Dustin Hoffman. You know, it takes you out of it. Yeah. You're distracted. It's like the finger pointing at the moon, you know, whereas we get distracted by who's pointing at the moon when they're pointing at the moon, man.

It's about the moon. It's about the truth. It's about your own experience and what it, you know, like the girl that comes up, you know, at the pizza joint, you know, and she's crying. She's like, man, thanks, man. We're appreciating. So I don't think there's any other reason. There's no other reason. I don't even know if there's a, you know, I just, it's something I can't help, you know.

I guess what you're saying is, and correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't hear yourself singing the song while you're writing. You're writing it just to be... That's a really good point. I guess you're expressing. And the thing is, is that if you do that, then you better be prepared to experience whatever you're going to sink. It's like when I went down to the southwest.

You know, I got this southwest of, you know, they wanted me come down and play down there. You know, they gave me this artist showcase. And that was cool. but when I was entering it you know I had this other song I was going you know enter because it was nice and safe and I yeah you know and my wife's like

no you got to enter this song you know and I'm like oh man I don't want to enter that shit but I figured it was a long shot anyway so I entered and they wanted me to come down there and I was like oh hell that song so what I did was I rehearsed it over and over again to try to wring out some of the weight you know what I mean but but if

when you get inside the song you disappear you end up disappearing and and you know because you're singing this stuff and you know it's like it it means something it comes from somewhere and you tap back into that and so that's cool how do you categorize your music anyway I keep I keep just saying he's a male singer-songwriter that's good enough that's good enough okay fair enough I mean you know I already figured out you don't like label but you couldn't call it heavy metal so it's you know there is a label that fits it somewhere but i mean i've been down i was down there at the folk at curvil you know i got was at the folk festival down there and uh it was wonderful being

down there and so i felt like uh okay this is folk because i kind of yeah did the same thing you do is like people ask me well what's jean or is i'm like yeah that's good so i guess it's if it's too easy categorized then america i think it's yeah whatever blanket works way more interesting to be thinking about what in the hell is this? Yeah, yeah, you usually want to put it in a box. But the thing is, Americana has a nice blanket, so you can do a whole lot of stuff.

That's what I was going to hear the Americana. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you want to do another one? We're going to do one with you at the end, which we will ruin it. Oh, you will kill it. But thank you for letting us do that.

It's a real privilege to have you here, man. I really appreciate you. Don't say that. I risk my life to be here. You can, if you want to talk about religion versus spirituality, you could do when I die. If you want to do something up tempo. Oh, you want me to do something up tempo? You could do when you go if you do that one by yourself.

I've never heard you do it without the band. You can do whatever you want, though. I'll do this song. Now, this is a new song, and this is a funny song, and this is we were talking about it downstairs. Now, I'm not prepared to do this song, so I'm glad I'm doing it. Okay. It's like everybody can... But, you know, I am a Southern boy, and so I grew up in the Bible Belt, and so like any other Southern kid, I was, you know, filtered through Bible studies and things like that.

And so, you know, my mom was, she always telling me, she has a kid, you were really, you know, you, for some reason, you were aware of, you know, I don't know, I guess you'd call it God. or whatever but I was so I had some kind of I knew or was aware of this presence or this stillness the still quiet voice of a Zicchio something here that some intelligence that's beyond us it's obvious man come on right but my problem was is that I was aware of the nature of it and it wasn't matching up and what the hell they were telling me it was see what I mean. And so I was always a kid in the back going, you know, raising my hand, you know, like, oh, Dave. Do I go to hell? I'd be like, don't you think that's kind of harsh? You know, and so this song sort of brings up in sort of a humoristic way about heaven and hell

and, you know, those ideas, man. Now, I'm not trying to say that people's beliefs and what they're believing is not okay. It is okay. But in actual reality, you've really, really got to look at it and go, I don't know if we really truly know. How do you know unless you have an experience of it, you know? Right. That's sort of... So I just

kind of use it as a fun way to talk about, to talk about this kind of thing, you know? All right. Cool. So this is going when I die. Where will I go when I die Where will I go when I'm dead Will it matter if I try

Will it matter what I said And what will all St. Peter say When I get to the pearly gates Will he shake my hand and say Son you made the great And I'd see all those friends are my who passed away before their time and we will raise a glass to our worldly past

and get lit on God's down when I die man when I die Will it go the other way? Will the devil make me pay for the choices that I made and all my bad mistakes? And will you say with a forked tongue all your sins when you were young

brought down your numbers, son, and here your soul remains and I'd see all my enemies The ones I hated thoroughly And I would spend my days In a fiery blaze For the rest of eternity When I die Man when I die

Now, when my number's finally called, I don't know where I'll go. And even though they tell us all, they don't really know. If it's down or if it's up, or is it all just made up? Because no one knows, and so the question goes. Where will I go when I die? Where will I go when I'm dead? Will it matter if I try? Will it matter what I said?

Will my soul just drift away somewhere in outer space? Will I pass the Milky Way when I leave this here place? And I'll be one with everything. I'll be the birds and the songs they sing. And I will finally rest. Because there was no test Yeah, what will happen is My guess

When No telling when When I die Man when I die nice that was a good one i like that one i think the whole question of existence and the meaning of life there's a lot of that in

folk music you know iris dement wrote that song you know let the mystery be you know that song right yeah yeah sure you know and she's um everybody's wondering what and where they all came from they're wondering where they're going to go when the whole thing's done and she just says well i'll just let the mystery be that's exactly yeah how can you know exactly that's the only rational i thought well anyway yeah i'll get in trouble for that yeah you got a you also you also got to respect where people are i do what do you know we're all doing the best we can and we're all you know because i've been there i've been as certain as I can possibly be, and I've been as uncertain as I can possibly be at different times in my life.

That right there, that certainty. That's, you know, at that intellectual, you know what I mean, this is it, and that's the, and then the next thing, you know, it's... Yeah. You have to embrace the changes, you know, because it is, it's a moving target all the time. Yeah, it really is. You know, the funny thing is, the older we get, the more that shit tends to move. Yeah. What do you mean by that?

There was a quote in the movie Bull Durham that said that the world is not made for those of us who are cursed with self-awareness, which I think is really apropos as we... That's an amazing. You know, if you think about it. Incredible how apropos that is to me. And it's all about me. And it all in the older we get to. But, you know, the thing I'm really enjoying is having someone in here that does, is able to articulate these songs, you know, because we think about great songwriters like John Prine and, um, You know, God, Steve Earle, people that write powerful things.

Yeah, very good. And these songs are really, really wonderful, Dave, man. We're glad you're here. Yeah, yeah, it's a real privilege to have you here, man. Thank you. Let's, do you want to do one more before we do Comfort Town, or are you ready to get out of it? No, no, no. You ready to do it?

But, but can we talk a little bit about Comfort Town? Absolutely. Okay. And let's plug you. You got a website, too, right? We need to plug some stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah, plugs himself. Okay, yeah.

It's Dave Seasel. Dave Ray Cecil.com. It's actually Dave Rayceasel.com. So, D-A-V-E-R-A-Y-Cisle.com. And I'm assuming you have tour dates and all that kind of stuff on there and people can book you. Yes.

Okay. And where can they get that the CD? The CD is... The CDs are pretty much everywhere, but, I mean, as far as like Spotify, it's like all that. But, you know, if you want a hard copy, then you got to get in touch with me.

Okay, so they buy that there. I found you on Spotify. You're also on YouTube, which I was amazed you can just play these songs for free on YouTube. I know, that's a whole other thing. I know, I don't know. You can't make any money that way. But I guess people don't, they don't make a living so much off of selling songs anymore. It's all about you give the songs away, and then people pay to come see you do it live.

Touring, I guess. Yeah, I guess shows. You guess. Why, hell, you don't know. I've got, you know what I'll be doing? Welcome to the Steve show. After this show, okay, I'll probably get in my car and I'll be writing these songs. Yeah.

I got this nice little song that I've been working on and I'm, you know. Cool. And I'm recording a record at the moment. But things have. You're recording it with the band or is it? No, no, no. It's, well, no, this is kind of me, but I'm going to allow whatever I hear in the songs to sort of happen. you know what I mean so maybe some piano

maybe some mandolin I've heard some mandolin stuff oh how about synthesizers that last song that last song actually you know I went over there to Wiley's studio you know and he sat down on the kit and started playing I was like man don't you

you have something a little bit more strange man you know and having a big bass you know and so he got went and got this thing off the shelf it's a marching band bass drum you know they bought for five dollars at a yard sale, he put that thing down there and then put a tambourine on a high hat and play some coconuts, you know, and so I was like, yeah, that's more like it, you know, so that's sort of what I'd like to move into more of a, you know, raw, organic kind of.

Yeah. What will we be able to hear this? I have no idea. It's sort of at a halt at this point because I need some cash. Okay. You're getting ready to get unpolished here in about 30 seconds I'm getting. Yeah, this will be real unpolished. Yeah, and if you want, if you want some melt doing some weird, funky stuff, feel free to have us come over.

We're not too far away. I can make it sound as unpolished as you're going to imagine. All right. So what do you want to do? Anyway, anyway. You want to talk about comfort town? Let's talk about it. You know, when you start doing, not when you start, but when you do lots of meditation, man, you start to become really strange to other people.

You know, because what ends up taking the place of all the, you know, earnest seeking and the acquiring and the, you know, movement to have and, like, you know, trying to get, what takes the place of all that is large amounts of, you know, not really caring anymore or seemingly not caring. Seeing the absurdity. Well, well, I say seemingly because I think a small part of you still does, but most of you doesn't. And so for me, that's miraculous. sure that's miraculous so you're saying that if you sit in silence then stuff's going to start changing that's so to me that makes me it does sound insane doesn't that yeah that's insane so that to me makes me want to go do it you know it's like okay well let me go look so anyway the song Comfortown um in relevance to that is talking about you know so it's not it's not

really a surprise that this is a medical show because um you know the first thing a doctor tells you to do when you get sick, is to take some rest. And when you take some rest, then the body rests, and then it moves towards healing. That's just what it does. So when you sit in silence, the body is at rest, so it obviously moves towards emotional healing. That's what it sort of does.

What goes in, comes back out. Your nervous system unwinds, and it comes back through, right? So it's kind of like, so in Comforttown, Comfortown, obviously is about getting out of your comfort zone, But when we say that, we're conditioned to think that it's just our surroundings. You know, it just changes. Go do something you hadn't ever done before.

Okay, and that may be a comfort zone. But what Comfort Town is talking about is that the comfort is within you. Everything that you're believing, all of your belief systems, it is projecting the reality that your body, mind, is experiencing. And it making you feel safe. And safe is a part of a comfort zone. So what Comfort Town is saying is that maybe there's some. something more. In the song, I mentioned the merry-go-round. Well, in different

religions, the merry-go-round is called different things. In Buddhism, it's called the wheel of samsara. Right. You know, the coming and going. Sure. Like the McRib. I'm kidding. Give yourself a bill.

They're always bringing it back, you know what I mean? That's right. It is like the wheel of samsara. The McRib is a metaphor for herpes for reality it's herpes it's her oh no say it's so anyway I probably screwed that all up but but you know that I just I think that anyway um so um so anyway the merry go round is like uh for some reason we're all fooled to really think that that you know the coming and going is what we are and we're only that and I don't know if you've seen the oom symbol but the oom symbol is you know waking sleeping dreaming the three states of consciousness and then the veil and then behind the veil is the the eye of awareness. And then as you sit in silence, the veil starts to dissolve and unravel. Unravel is a good word. And you become aware. But so the cool thing is that Comfort Town also in the beginning, and I do want to say this because this is important. It says in the beginning, who am I to say you should leave the world of stone and wood? And stone and wood is the world of certainty. What you know so far. And who am I to say, man, you should leave everything? I'm not saying that. that you're okay everything's cool but maybe just maybe there's something more you know and i've you know i think most of us don't even realize that there's something other than our reality you know i remember i had this guy call me and i was watching something there's like a salesperson he calls

me up actually he's a coach is a life coach you know now first thing he's got to do is he's got to sell me his world right he has to sell me the world he believes in so that he can you know get my business okay and after a while he's selling me so look man i don't live in that world dude you know i'm i'm not afraid you know and so that really struck him and when we hung up the phone i knew i'd hear from again he texted me the next day and asked me to coffee okay so i went and had coffee with him oh yeah dude i'll meet anybody for coffee man so i'm sitting there and i started talking to him i was like so what what is it what is your purpose and so he knew what his purpose was And, hey, man, you know, when somebody achieves what they want, I feel like I've achieved my purpose.

I'm like, that's great. That sounds great. And then what happens? He said, well, what do you mean? I said, well, what happens to that feeling that you just achieved? He said, well, I guess I've got to do it again. I'm like, and again. There you go.

And I said, so are you okay with that? Are you okay with being addicted to an experience that you're recreating? constantly and he said this and it was beautiful and i actually thanked him for his honesty he said well yeah and that's my point is that we don't necessarily know or we're not really aware that there's something beyond our reality yeah no man and he was innocent and saying that it was beautiful yeah so anyway i think that the only way to move beyond those kinds of things is to have a burning question that's the only way that you can you know i mean for me it was just I just heard there was something else.

And then that was all she wrote. I had to go look, you know. A lot of people don't want to be challenged in their comfort zone. That's true. They get mad. But that's their life. Everybody's choosing their own thing and it's cool. I'm not saying, that's why the song says,

who am I to say you should do this? Yeah. I'm not saying that. And the Buddhist approach to this, too, is that when you, what you're talking about, Dave, is that it's to embrace moving into a space where you're uncomfortable. because once you've done that you've realized it's really not that bad and being able to embrace moving into that and as you said letting go with those attachments

because those are attachments are what makes moving to an uncomfortable place so difficult and that's in it but I got to say real quick about this song I fucking love that story because I've been so focused on the rhythm one two three four five yeah at hearing this is hearing this makes it like a whole another this I thought it was a great song until ours. Yeah, we were, we were focused on the mechanics of the song. Well, I mean, you could say, well, this is a cool, catchy song. No, but yeah, totally, telly. That's cool, man. That's totally cool.

Hey, and real quick, there's a bunch of people. I didn't spoil it. I didn't spoil it now. Are you insane? No. People who are interested in more Eastern ways of thought, I can highly recommend going on YouTube and just listen to a few lectures by a guy named Alan Watts. and this is all the stuff that he talks about and he's amazing and so just very plain not preachy and when you listen to him you go well that guy's got to be right well it's matter of fact all this shit is like matter of fact it's not really

that's right it's my it's obvious you know it's obvious so it's like you know why wouldn't you why wouldn't you have a look like the girl who comes up to me and saying I don't know who I am without these things yeah well you know it's time you got a life do it do it man before it's well that affected you too that's obvious you know yeah yeah all right so we're going to do comfort town and then we'll say a couple of words we'll do some plugs at the end and then all right all right cool Who am I to say you should Leave the world of stone and wood

To quit the bad and leave the good I'd take it if I only could To live alone to save this out You know the sky, you know the ground, round you never lost but never found you spend your time always down down down down in comfort town Maybe this is all for the call of something more

Maybe it ain't a stranger at my door Maybe all the falls were just the calls to reach my core And I will be the stranger at your door, at your door. Spinning wheels and wrong and right snuggled in and sleeping tight waiting in a line each night just to ride the merry go round down down down in comfort town Maybe this is all for the call of something more. Maybe it's an angel at my door. And maybe all the falls. were just the calls to reach my core

and someday I'll see angels at my door at my door at my door at my door at my door at my door When I was the first When I first song of yours that was the first song of yours

that really just kind of stood out to me. I remember I came up and talked to you about it. I was whistling to you. Like, what was that song? And I'm trying to whistle. And to think that two years later, I'd be sitting here playing it with you. I mean, it's pretty awesome.

It was a real treat. Thank you so much. Thanks for letting us tag along, man. That was fun. Hey, real quick, there's a couple questions. Are the CDs available on Amazon? That's a really good question. Direct to your website, maybe.

Go to Dave Rayceasel.com. Yeah. Yeah, and my contact email is there. Okay, Spotify. Yeah. Where else? YouTube. You're on YouTube?

Yeah, YouTube. Just search Dave Cecil Comfort Town. You could hear. Dave Re Cecil, yeah. Yeah. All right. Man, thank you so much. Thank you so much for being here, man.

Thanks, guys, so much for having me. I really appreciate it. We're just, um. That was great. Awesome, dude. We're big fans, and it was just great having you in the studio. And if anyone's listening to this live, we're going to be at the beer run at 7 o'clock tonight

and try to get Dave out of here before the snow starts. So if you want to hear him live, come get a poster signed or just say hello. If you identify yourself as a weird medicine listener, Scott and I'll buy you a beer. All right. Thanks again, Dave. Thanks, Dave.