“The Path”
I took the mind-erasing-time-bending-body-numbing black hole express train South to Nashua, NH where I was dumped into a mucky array of uncertainty known as planet Earth. I made my entrance in the early hours of March 9, 1982, beneath a full moon and snowy clouds, shivering and covered in sludge. I immediately reconsidered.
Don’t get me wrong, it was as poetic as it sounds, but when you’ve just been birthed it’s normal to have second thoughts. Alas, I had arrived. And because words elluded, I made a crinkly, gooey, nappy-assed face and let out an ear-wrenching cry that equated to: “What the fuck did I just sign up for?”
It’s funny how little things have changed since that wintry but blessed day. Having just delivered my first EP “Dreams That Aren’t Mine”, and written my signature on multiple sheets of paper called “contracts”, I find I continue to make conflicted squishy-ball troll-like faces of wonderment. And while my ear-wrenching cry has turned into more of a panting groan, I’m now equipped with what my mother would call an “over-priced” vocabulary, so I can actually form the words: “What the fuck did I just sign up for?”
I spent my childhood growing up around New England. I moved away to high school when I was fifteen, to Concord Massachusetts. There I played the cookie-cutter Golden boy Harvard-bound all-around model student during school hours, and when the bell rang, I’d jump into my primal nature boy suit (J.Crew kakis and a fleece-I hadn’t discovered the joys of being in a loin cloth quite yet…) and escape to the Estabrook Woods. Here, in the outlying parcel of forest bordering my school, I would wonder trails, listen to the birds and animals, build tee pees and investigate the ruins of colonial structures. But mainly, I would dream.
The occasional canoe trip across a tranquil pond led me to my own private sanctuary, an enclave of limestone rock, where I would silently engage with a most peaceful and enchanted world. It was here I first heard my heart whisper: “Live. Your. Dreams.”
So what do you do when you’re met with resistance about following your dreams, and that voice in your heart turns from a whisper to a shouting? I’ll tell you: You get all Robert Frost on your parents. You tell them about “The Road Less Traveled”. Well, that’s what I did anyway. (Side note: That’s sometimes the best way to make a statement to your parents – use the intellect they’ve relentlessly cultivated in you to get what you want.)
But all verbosity aside, it became clear that I was trudging the path of Someone Else’s life. It wasn’t mine. I took one look at the un-trampled grassy trail that Frost speaks about in his hugely famous poem, and I jumped ship. Before I knew it, I was in a car driving cross-country to Los Angeles.
Now let me tell you something about the Road Less Traveled. When you’re traveling it with your father for 7 days in a Volkswagen Jetta, the two of you might not be speaking by the time you get to your destination, but you’ll have some of the best memories of a lifetime. And who knew the Road Less Traveled led to a glittery overly trampled urban-sprawling neurotic wasteland?
(Just kidding LA, you’re truthfully quite a sweet and magical earth-shaking gem. Hearts 4 evs.)
So I set up shop at USC’s Thornton School of Music, and then I wondered why I had followed through with any of it.
In 2003 I lost my father to cancer. His death was a catalyst for me to aggressively pursue the questions: Who am I? Where am I? What is this world all about? And what’s my role in it? It was if in simply asking the questions that another path magically appeared at my feet, luring me into a remarkably vibrant and mystical forest (a landscape reminiscent of Estabrook). As I began walking this mysterious path into Self, Truth, and a Higher Divinity, I started to identify the vast dynamic range of the human experience, and understand that the suffering, the pain, the loss – the uncertainty, is so valuable in moving us closer to our Higher Power.
I’ve met an amazing cast of characters along this magical and spirited trail. In 2007 I was introduced to Miss Kristin Hanggi (pronounced “Hang–ee” - or if you’re Susan Sarandon at the 2009 Tony Awards “Hon-jee”). Yes, that’s the same one who was nominated for Best Direction of a Musical this year. She is a sparkled-face fairy princess. We like to frolic in Dream Land together, and decided we should make some music. I’ve done some musical theatre development for her; she’s developed me.
My spikey-haired cohort Brian Trifon of Trifonic and I became acquainted playing in our pop-rock combo my first semester at USC. (He wore Birkenstocks then.) We’ve done some collaboration together, including the recently released single “Growing Distance Part 2” which I’m told you can hear from time to time in the promos for One Tree Hill and the new 90210 on the CW.
My co-Thoreau loving colleague and composer buddy Cormac Bluestone, who has rocked out with me on bass from time to time, hooked me up playing piano for It’s Always Sunny in Philedelphia in the “The Night Man Cometh” musical episode in the Fall of 2008. While these are just a few of the many brilliant creatures and activities I’ve encounter following the path of my heart, the list goes on and on…
But I must not forget Seth Freeman who produced "Dreams That Aren't Mine EP" slated for a September 2009 release. He and I had a good deal of fun working on the songs you hear on this page. When I walked into his studio in February I was greeted by his smiling face and a Thoreau quote hanging on the wall: "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined."
In truth, walking this road isn’t always pretty, and the destination is unknown. A lot of my Life questions remain unanswered, and I continue to make weird faces, whine, and have second thoughts. What has change, however, is I’ve stopped searching for the answers to my questions, and instead started living the questions. It will all be revealed as I go.
You be well.
-David Forest
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