By Mark E. Waterbury

LD: I have been playing guitar since I was in high school and also have been writing songs for about the same time. I was in a garage band in high school, and played at parties and other events. Then about three years ago, I realized I was getting asked more frequently about how many original songs I had and if I was willing to share them with others. So I decided it was time to make an album, after which I discovered what I had to do to sell it.

MM: Once you decided to record an album what was your first step?

LD: I had originally just put (songs) down on paper and learned how to play them, and that is about as sophisticated as I could be for awhile. I have a friend in the Bay area who plays in a couple bands and is very highly regarded in the music circles. I knew he was into acoustic music and had a good ear for it so I told him I wanted to do an album. Then we just went ahead and did it.

MM: What was your first experience in a recording studio like?

LD: It was educational. I learned a lot about what my vocal and musical capabilities were, and that led me to improve in both areas - tweaking pitches and learning how different song components fit on different beat. It was very interesting doing that type of work.

MM: What was your immediate reaction to the finished product?

LD: I liked it at the time. It was the best effort I could produce at the time. I knew that when I was ready to record a second album, I wanted to work with a producer. I was very lucky in that I was referred to Roberta Donnay, who took what I did for the second album and just ran with it.

MM: What do you think Roberta added to the second album that was not on the first one?

LD: There was so much added beyond the growth of my own songwriting abilities. She added a very good view point on improving some of the songs. She helped me with vocal coaching and arrangements and, in general, helped pull everything together.

MM: Getting back to your first album, what did you do to market it?

LD: I played any place that wouldn't throw me out. (laughs) Places like bars, farmers markets, open mics and similar venues. The (San Francisco) Bay area market is challenging, but it all depends on your viewpoint. I managed to get as many gigs as I could, and worked on improving their quality as I went. There are people who think that the Bay area music scene sucks and no one is paying attention to their music. I don't have time for that. I just don't buy into that negative energy.

MM: Do you consider your music more niche oriented, and does that mean you have to target more of a niche market?

LD: Surprisingly I don't have to hit my niche quite as hard as I thought I would have to. My writing is a little closer to the borderline between tropical folk music and country. Some of my newer music has very contemporary grooves borrowing from new country. My tropical influences have been there for about four or five years. It has reached the point where that type of music seems to come natural to me and I am really finding my voice with it.

MM: Would you say your lyric writing is influenced by life experiences?

LD: I do get many of my ideas from what I see and experience. The actual songwriting can involve more work than that because I have to sometimes keep beating at something and revising it again and again until it gets to be right. Then sometimes I get a song that comes together in my first or second draft. When I reached the point where my first album was not doing my writing abilities justice, that is when I decided to do the new album.

MM: Did you also take a different approach marketing the second album?

LD: So far, yes. I have been doing much more in the area of promoting to radio and trying to get interviews. and I have sent more promo copies out this time. I am starting to work more intensely in the Bay area to find out where people gather who may find my music interesting, and then play in those places. I am promoting myself more as an artist and trying to get people to like me more as an artist, and, as a result of that, convincing them to buy my album.

MM: Do you think there is any particular facet of marketing that is the most important for a singer/songwriter such as yourself?

LD: I'm still trying to figure that out. I do think that it is not any one aspect,but you have to do a combination of everything possible. I am reading several books dealing with booking, marketing and promotions, and I attended a seminar about promoting and marketing. I cram all of this info into the two hours a week I don't have a day job, and try to learn and apply everything I can.

MM: What level of success do you want to see with your music career?

LD: I would like to get to a level comparable to some of the singer/songwriters out there that are selling several thousand CDs a year, and have a following up and down the coast and maybe farther inland. Get some radio play and make at least enough money to support my habit...that's the music habit. I don't have the other kind.