David Younger
David has been writing songs for over 30 years – driven by a lifelong love of great music, in particular late 60s and 70s progressive (and classic) rock. Favourite bands emerged as Genesis, Rush, Pink Floyd and Yes, supplemented in more recent years by Spock’s Beard, Porcupine Tree and solo work by both Steven Wilson and Neal Morse.
David’s prog upbringing is evident in his long format song structures with recurring themes, piano ballad interludes and some heartfelt lyrics.
Soulful guitar work features on much of David’s work – you can hear influences of Alex Lifeson, David Gilmour, Steve Hackett and Steve Rothery, plus snippets of Francis Dunnery and others. This is supplemented by crunching Rickenbacker bass lines influenced by Geddy Lee and Chris Squire, complemented by multiple layering of 6 and 12 string acoustic guitars, mellotron, bass pedal and additional keyboards.
I have been a ‘fan’ of David’s music since the early days – moving to the longer format gave him the space to stretch out and make his guitar work the centrepiece of his songs. David is a talented multi-instrumentalist – but make no mistake his first love and ‘joker’ card is the guitar.
Few things in music compare to the low death grumble of the Rickenbacker lurking beneath one of David’s stellar guitar solos. David mentions several influences for his guitar playing above but he is no clone – he has moulded these influences into a style of his own. Fast, slow, widdly diddly or yowwwwwwwww, it’s all in the bank.
If you want to know where to start then try ‘A World Away’, ‘It’s Not Too Late’ or ‘Feel Small’ – all masterful examples of their kind. Oh and one last thing, you may get the impression that David is an angry man from the lyrics – I’d say not so much angry as disappointed with the failings of some of his fellow men. I am sure that George W. Bush and Tony Blair don’t ‘Feel Small’ although perhaps they should. These songs won’t change the world but they may change your world like they changed mine.
Enjoy…
Ian McIntyre