David Newberry was all set to be a carpenter like his dad, when an accident with a table saw changed his life.
The injured Newberry acted on a physiotherapist’s advice and stepped up his guitar playing to help his badly cut hand recover. This set him on a new career path that brings him to Red Deer’s Velvet Olive lounge along with singer/guitarist James Lamb on Tuesday.
The one-time carpenter’s assistant from Sutton, Ont., began writing songs and landing gigs. But he never seriously thought he could turn his musical interest into a living until his friends began showing up at his concerts.
“Once I saw that I didn’t have to guilt people into coming, I thought maybe there’s something in this,” said Newberry, with a laugh.
In 2009, the Vancouver-based singer-songwriter released his debut album, When We Learn the Things We Need to Learn, on the Northern Electric Label to glowing reviews; one music critic described Newberry’s voice as having “the ring of truth,” and his songs having “poetic insight aplenty.”
Three-time Juno Award-winner David Francey has called each of Newberry’s tunes a “masterpiece of concise writing . . . (that offers) exquisite insights into the human condition.”
The former political science student’s social conscience makes repeat appearances — especially on the songs We Reap What We Sow and Your Son, The Ghost.
The latter tune was written after Newberry read an article that claimed more U.S. soldiers were committing suicide than dying in combat during a certain period in the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts.
“I was thinking of that crazy statistic and how the military admitted, ‘Yeah, it’s happening more and more but we don’t know why,’ and I thought, I have my suspicions about why it’s happening and what you could do . . . but yeah. . . .”
Newberry feels “we’re at a cusp in a lot of ways. Politically, and ecologically, we’re living on the dangerous edge.”
His poetic We Reap What We Sow, featuring the accordion and the voice of his sister, Sioux Newberry, is a cautionary tale about considering the consequences of various actions.
The 28-year-old writes folk music with rock sensibilities, raising comparisons to Blue Rodeo. But Newberry describes different influences.
He recalled he was reading Walt Whitman’s poetry and listening to Bob Dylan’s music before composing the song All Of My Friends Are Famous about the two highly relatable artists.
“It seemed like a good idea then. (The song title) seems absurd now, but that’s what came to me at the time.”
There’s no cover charge for the 8 p.m. concert.
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com