One of our evening routines is to scroll YouTube for music performances. Pavoratti and Friends, Rod Stewart, Keith Urban, Playing for Change, Hamilton, Shag Dancing and many more make this a real treat. A couple of nights ago a Nashville acquaintance, David Olney, appeared on the queue. We had not listened to Dave for some time so we watched his performance, which featured Dave playing with Sergio Webb, a great guitarist and a regular with Dave.
The next morning I googled Dave to catch up on what he had been doing. I learned that he died on January 18, 2020, during a performance in Florida. According to the New York Times, Scott Miller, performing with Dave, said, “David was playing a song when he paused, said ‘I’m sorry,’ and put his chin to his chest. He never dropped his guitar or fell off his stool. We got him down and tried our best to revive him until the EMT’s arrived. His death was as easy and gentle as he was.”
Why did Dave come up on YouTube that night? Why did I google him the next morning? A memory workout!
Townes Van Zandt, a great songwriter and musical hero of Olney’s, once listed his favorite songwriters: Mozart, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Bob Dylan and David Olney, “one of the best songwriters I’ve ever heard.”
If My Eyes Were Blind by David Olney
Cinny and I got to know Dave and his wife, Regine, in Nashville. She taught at Linden Waldorf School located within a Presbyterian Church on a 12 acre property that I maintained.
One day Dave was on campus and came out to where I was pulling a mower behind an old Ford tractor. I stopped and Dave said, “How did you get this job? I would like to do that.” He mowed the large lawn that summer, as a volunteer. The pastor of the church said, “Only in Nashville will you find a songwriter who penned tunes for Emmy Lou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Steve Earle and others mowing your lawn!”
Dave had over 20 LPs of his own published and performed until his death at age 71. “Easy and gentle” he was. He seemed quite introverted but once behind the mic, wearing his signature felt hat and sport coat, he turned into another person, delivering amazing lyrics with great power. I was, like, do I know this guy? We went to a number of his Nashville performances. I took Peter, my son, to meet and hear Dave when he performed in the annual Tin Pan South.
Dave and I had prostate cancer at the same time. He chose radical prostatectomy, or total removal. I chose brachytherapy, or radiation seed implants. (Often I wished I had gone his route. It would have saved me roughly 100,000 trips to the toilet over a 16 year period.)
I am so thankful for the nudge from YouTube and Google to learn about Dave’s death. I called Regine and left a message. She returned with a text.
Cinny remembered another time with Dave. We were working at Penuel Ridge retreat center in Ashland City, TN, right outside of Nashville, at the time. We had initiated a program of “Sunday afternoon with . . . ,” inviting people in the community to perform at the center. Our friend Peggy wanted to hear Dave play, but she was severely disabled, paralyzed from the neck down. She was able to move her wheelchair with the one finger that she could feel. I arranged for Dave to play at our place one Sunday afternoon and then dealt with the effort of getting Peggy into our downstairs space. We recall that board members were able to carry Peggy down and place her back on her chair, and we all enjoyed Dave’s performance. Another example of his gentle and easy manner.
As I ponder “Memento Mori” (you could leave life right now) each day I want to be on the right side of relationships, of self and the common good. and not to give time being a negative force. To be like Dave, gentle and easy and yet, filled with passion.
Next week Reluctant Soldier Boy, a 4 part series, will begin and tell the tale of my time in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. Paid subscribers will find that this series will be a good backdrop for Uniform Spirituality that will post on March 16.
Glad you guys liked the Dave Olney story. A very neat man. Check him out with more YouTube searches.
Thanks for reading my stuff. I am having a good time with the project.