Songwriter David Wilcox brings ‘Musical Medicine’ to HopMonk show in Novato

Musicians often resist the pressure to define or categorize their music, but David Wilcox, a singer-songwriter from Asheville, North Carolina, has an answer ready:

“It depends on how much time you have, but if you don’t have 10 hours, I’d say I play acoustic guitar and write songs that are the start of a good conversation,” he said. “Most of the people who find my music come to it for the same reasons most people go into a bookstore: inspiration, perspective and to learn.”

Those seeking refuge from more raucous sounds will have a chance to experience what has been called his “musical medicine” when Wilcox performs Feb. 11 at the HopMonk Tavern in Novato.

A relatively quiet man in today’s noisy world, Wilcox, 64, who plays acoustic guitar and sings his own songs, would have been labeled a folk singer back In the 1960s. But he doesn’t consider himself an anachronism.

“I got into this music when it wasn’t fashionable, but that never bothered me,” he said. “That’s the way I hear what’s in my heart.”

Wilcox was born in Mentor, Ohio, in 1958. In 1976, he attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where he began learning guitar. He transferred to Warren Wilson College in North Carolina in 1981 and graduated in 1985.

By 1987, Wilcox had released his first independent album, “The Nightshift Watchman.” A year later, he won the prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk Award, and in 1989 he signed with A&M Records, selling more than 100,000 copies of “How Did You Find Me Here?,” his debut album on that label.

In the more than 30 years since, he has made more than 20 albums, either with a major label, an independent company or his own imprint.

“I only record songs I write and I only play the ones I write,” he said. “There must a thousand songs I’ve written, if you count the first 50, which were horrible.”

In an odd coincidence, one of Wilcox’s early favorite musicians is also named David Wilcox, a Canadian blues guitarist.

“I went to see him play when I was 12, ” the songwriter said. “He plays beautiful acoustic slide guitar, and electric.”

The man from Asheville takes a personal approach to his songs, as shown in examples like “This Tattoo” or “We Make the Way By Walking.”

“There are situations where I write spontaneous songs about what people are going through,” Wilcox said. “I think I’ve come to music for very reasons — therapy, spiritual peace. I think it’s good for me.”

You can reach Staff Writer Dan Taylor at dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5243. On Twitter @danarts.