David Nigel Lloyd

Arts practitioners have to raise their voices higher, but it is hard when not enough people are listening. Song poets like David Nigel Lloyd deserve to be taken seriously. His command over his chosen style of music, and his "incredible Lloyd fingerstyle" is legendary.

- Alternate Music Press

Less than a week after his Tuesday evening concert at the Creative Arts Cafe, David Nigel Lloyd will be on the road -- make that up in the air, given the distance -- for performances in Memphis and then Toronto.

He didn't exactly plan it that way and the Tennessee gig at the International Folk Alliance conference came as a pleasant surprise.

"To my astonishment," Lloyd said, "I was selected to perform in the official showcase segment, which gives you a) the seal of approval from Folk Alliance and b) a whole lotta less competition, as the Texans would say."

Happily, he's managed to work everything out. He'll play in Memphis on Feb. 16 and 17 and be in Canada for the weekend of Feb. 19.

Lloyd, who adds the words "Celtic balladeer, song poet, fine guitarist, tale spinner, fool and scholar" to his e-mail signature is known for his dry wit.

"I write these odd but highly articulate songs and I like to sing them and tell jokes and funny stories in between," is how he describes his work. "Some people like to hear them."

Even though he was talking about what he'll do at the upcoming conference in Memphis, his words will give you a good idea of what his program at Creative Arts will be like. Personally, I tend to think of his concerts as folksy, friendly and relaxing.

Lloyd, who speaks with a bit of a British accent, has performed internationally and his background is in the same vein. His English parents were living and working in Africa when he was born and then he spent his teen years in the United Kingdom before moving to Southern California in the 1970s.

He and his wife, Gita, a visual artist, have lived in Bakersfield for more than 10 years. Both have worked in various capacities for the Arts Council of Kern. When his job at the council dried up due to budget cuts, Lloyd embarked on a more rigorous performance schedule. At age 56, he decided he might as well take advantage of whatever's out there.

That's what led him to apply for a spot at this year's Folk Alliance conference in Memphis. Over the years he's attended other conferences the organization puts on but this is the first time he's been invited to appear in an invitation-only showcase where the audience is made up mainly by agents, producers, recording company representatives and other VIPs.

"To make Folk Alliance work, you have to maintain an extraordinary equilibrium or plunge into despair," he said. "Truth to tell, I've only now started to figure it out."

Overall, Lloyd has a philosophy that may have a certain appeal for artists of any stripe.

"I just try to look at myself as a character in a comedy," he said. "You have to be sharply focused on your goals while being as open as possible to everything and everyone that comes your way because you really don't know what's going to happen or how. You have to be a humble egomaniac."

by Camille Gavin - The Bakersfield Californian

On my SonicBids Music Submission Form I ask some generic questions about the musicians and why I should review them. Most of the responses are fairly generic as well. David Nigel Lloyd, however, made a bold statement:

I get the sense you are looking for that rather ineffable thing, the Genuine Article. For better or for worse, I am one of them.

It is enough to make me roll my eyes. Anyone claiming to be a Genuine Article probably isn’t. Yet he’s right, I am looking for something ineffable. He’s also right in noting that being a Genuine Article could end up being for better or for worse. So, I took a listen to his music, and he’s right about another thing. He’s a Genuine Article. On his website, he describes himself as a Celtic Balladeer, Song Poet, Tale Spinner, Fine Guitarist, Fool & Scholar. Yup, my sort of performer.

Part of the ineffable qualities of a Genuine Article is a sense of timelessness. Stories of love, loss, and death are universal. The setting and characters may change, the stories are the same. Lloyd captures this nicely in the first song of his I listened to as he captured being a nine year old immigrating to this country, the trail of tears, and the 1916 Easter Rising. He carries it forward as he mixes Leonard Cohen’s Future with ‘The Good Ol’ Fin de Siecle’. The next song brings in Bonnie Prince Charlie followed by a song bringing Cuchuliann to Bakersfield.

Yeah, David Nigel Lloyd is a Genuine Article alright. He’ll be playing at Fiddler’s Crossing in Tehachapi, CA at the end of the month. I’m sure it will be a great show, yet it seems like he’s the sort of musician you want to stumble across when your drinking some cheap wine somewhere else.

The Genuine Article isn’t something that you go out searching for. It is what you stumble across when you’re looking for something else, but when you see it, you know. It probably isn’t something you should write about. Instead, you need to mention it in passing. That said, check out Lloyd’s music. Buy a CD and if you live in California, keep your eyes open for a chance to hear him perform. Then you’ll be ready.

The next time you’re talking about Cuchuliann, you can say something like, “You know, I was reading this obscure blog about obscure musicians, and I got turned onto a really great singer songwriter. His name is David Nigel Lloyd, and he’s got a song about Cuchuliann in Bakersfield. If you’re not a genuine article yourself, it might help you pass as one. If you are, you don’t need this review to tell you what a find David Nigel Lloyd is. —Aldon Hynes - Orient Lodge

Wry, witty, acute, and literary with a very nice slant on the Anglo/American tradition. ‘[A Ballad of] Cole Younger’ is a real corker. Quite unique.”

—Robin Williamson [ECM recording artist
and founding member of the Incredible String Band]
- Robin Williamson

DNL pretty much wrote the story of his life with the first track of this his first album, 'The Streets Are Wet With Tears,' an impassioned yet slyly self-deprecating, sarcastic tale of coming to LA. I'm not sure if it's true, but hearing it it's almost impossible to imagine that it's not:

I was only 21 and too stupid to feel sad
when I got on that Greyhound bus and the only things I had
with me were clothing, a novel, an electric guitar
and that womb-warm feeling that that bus would take me far
into the night, the west, to California.
That chosen boy in the promised land of milk and panacea,
I did not feel discomfort sleeping upright in my seat.
I did not entertain the slightest prospect of defeat.

And so the whole album goes, dense with poetry and an unusual blend of witty modesty and deeply self-conscious pretentiousness. Musically it's a killer piece of work, brilliantly arranged, complicated song structures with great guitar leads and deft use of violins and female backing vocals. Somehow it's not dated and sounds like the last good record before the 80s singer/songwriter tradition turned to total shit. Only 400 copies of this almost totally unknown album, DARK AGES (the first edition) got pressed up in 1984.

DARK AGES is not an easy work to get into, and I've converted like three people into fans because most people don't like to work when they listen to music (duh), but I can honestly say that few albums have ever yielded more over a longer period of time than this one —it's the epitome of what you call a ‘grower.’ The more you get to know DNL, the more you'll like him and his sweet natured take on the despicable world around him, and the more you'll realize that he’s that rare misunderstood genius who'll never let the world's indifference turn him into a malcontent, and that he'll keep right on being a genius whether or not anyone notices. Dig it.
—Douglas Macgowan (CEO, Yoga Records)

- Yoga Records

[David] is such a PICKER, & not a flashy, show-off one like some I’ve known, but a technical adept suffused w/heart. I found myself continuously moved, so leaned over to [poet] LisaAnn LoBasso to state so, & she turned to me w/these tender tears in her big blues.

—Jenny Angel (lead vocals, keyboards: the Dusk Devils)


- duskdevils.blogspot.com

WHO I WANT TO BE WHEN I GROW UP: David Nigel Lloyd is a former punk, current folkie, occasional actor, photographer, writer, and raconteur. His website is full of cool photos and stories of interesting, if not necessarily famous, people. I found his website when I stumbled across the name of a movie called SHAKESPEARE'S PLAN 12 FROM OUTER SPACE which I simply must see. The story about that movie, his bio, and a terribly important post called “How to Write a Traditional Song” are just a few of the highlights of this gentleman’s webpage. Go. Give him some love.
—http://www.xnet-solutions.com:81/users/xenolith/wordpress/?p=12

From VENUS NV (a Bakersfield Zine) — David Nigel Lloyd captures the spirit and identity of the angst we never knew we had. His playing is incredible but doesn't draw complete focus off his lyrical poetry. He could be a god of Celtic music, but he might not believe in himself then. So we keep him stripped of the title.
—Patrick Hennen (Senior, Bakersfield High School)

Extraordinary use of language …David Nigel Lloyd draws an audience close, weaving song into story, until his listeners find themselves far away and seeing the world through the eyes of a poet. Watching lightning from the back of a Greyhound bus, or confronting a Celtic hero in the San Joaquin Valley — nothing's quite the usual thing. As you listen… Critical thinking and imagination blend together.
—Mary Tulin (singer, guitarist: Banshee in the Kitchen)


From GOOD TIMES Magazine [Santa Cruz, CA] — On the folk frontier lies David Nigel Lloyd … one of those songwriters … creating a kind of poetry set in motion. Often considered one of the finest acoustic guitar pickers on the West Coast, Lloyd mixes the Celtic tradition with the lyrical maturity of Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan. He is simply one of the finest singer/songwriters you would ever want to dig and you should hustle over to the Art League Theater pronto for any chance of securing seats.
- a blog, a zine, a musician and a magazine

With American roots music making its mark in Britain, why shouldn’t British roots music do likewise here? Singer-guitarist David Nigel Lloyd presented a pleasant solo set that, with material drawn from Flatt & Scruggs and Woody Guthrie, was as much American-influenced as British. His excellent finger-picking and expressive singing gave a warmth to both original and traditional songs.
—Steve Hochman - The Los Angeles Times

The original songs really sparkle with a Celtic blues feel that really appealed to me. The success of this is partly environmental, I’m sure, Lloyd being born of English parents in East Africa then living in Europe, Canada and finding his way to the U.S. His music will bring to mind Robin Williamson on the more Celtic stuff, Nick Drake in the lyrical things. Try it.
—Cliff Furnald - Dirty Linen

On An Age of Fable, DNL presents what the insert describes as “a blend of traditional and original songs.” Sometimes the word ‘blend’ can be taken absolutely literally —for instance, ‘And Keep Our Foe at Bay’ is a convincing latter-day take on ‘The Lowlands of Holland’ that places its tune and general structure in the context of a soldier away at the Vietnam War. In a similarly inventive fashion, ‘A Small Boat Journal’ seems to take the melody and rhythm of ‘The Mingulay Boat Song’ as its starting point but transmutes it to a personal search on Santa Cruz Island (there’s great use of whistles and tabla on this track).

The three completely trad selections, ‘Rosemarry Lane,’ ‘Rosin the Bow.’ And a tune-set, are well-managed (the latter particularly interestingly handles0, and effortlessly and sympathetically preserve the musical deportment off the traditional idiom.

Then, David’s original songs run a consistently intriguing gamut between the simple poetic ‘Rebecca Rebecca’ (dedicated to his wife) and the more tongue-in-cheek ‘Blue Interview’ and ‘Poor Little Englishman.’ David also gives us an evocatively understated setting of William Blake’s ‘London.’
—David Kidman - beGlad Magazine

David Nigel Lloyd is an artist who's been around the folk circuit, paid his dues, and established his own variation in that multifaceted genre, with a wide variety of themes, and material from traditional Celtic ballads, like "Rosin the Bow," to his own compositions, such as "Rebecca Rebecca." The latter is not only his best-known track from the album, but probably his most widely heard and recognized, as it aired across North America on the CBS Late Night With David Letterman show in 1998. His subject matter ranges from the downfall of the British Empire in "Poor Little Englishman!" to the Vietnam War, with "And Keep Our Foe at Bay" and all around the world in between. Fans of both folk and Celtic music will find An Age of Fable to be a welcome addition to their collections.
~ Murrday Fisher - All Music Guide

An Absolute joy to digest! The overall sound is that of Brit and Irish folk styles with some neo-traditional instrumental work. Most fascinating is the touching finger-picked guitar backup and some insightful fiddle and tin whistle playing throughout. The material has a dusty, moody feel and includes original compositions, traditional works and a stunning song from William Blake. This takes every aspect of music and develops it into a cohesive and meaningful experience, with proof that moderate production can still add to art
—Steve Romanoski - OPtion Magazine

Death in Los Fumos … presents a sequence of songs, song-poems and poems interlaced with instrumental passages and found sounds. …A strongly individual musical and poetic mind is at work here obviously —and so it proves on listening to the CD.

DNL’s vocal delivery —both singing and speaking— is both compelling and attractive. Instrumentally, he has an acute ear for the achievement of maximal effect with minimal means; despite the large number of different instrumental colours used, you never get any sense of overkill or undue saturation. …Check out the wondrously catchy little tunettes on guitars and mandolin that comprise “Dirk’s Farewll to Los Fumos” immediately prior to the closing spoken four-line poem “Invocation” … that (seemingly intentionally) mirrors “Intonation” at the very opening of the CD where that very poem leads straight into a beautiful Asturian Spanish-inflected guitar passage, “Dirk Musagetes,” enhanced with distant seagulls.

Musical influences and reference points continue in a similarly wide vein throughout —Arabic music, Harry Partch, folk blues, you name it! …This is a brave and original album.
—David Kidman
- beGlad Magazine

DNL has a sure grasp of his material and a poet’s instinct for the graceful union of traditional and modern. This enables him to give an interesting spin on old standards like ‘The Deserter,’ John Barleycorn,’ and ‘The Leaving of Liverpool.’ He imbues ‘The Ballad of Cole Younger’ with a sort of Dashiel Hammet ambience; and in ‘A Ballad of Roger Casement,’ he weaves a darkly dramatic narrative around extracts from Yeats’ ‘The Ghost of Roger Casement.’

DNL has a strong, melodic singing voice that sounds pretty much at home with the traditional contours of the tunes. A thoughtful and engrossing album.
—Raymond Greenoaken - beGlad Magazine

This is classic David Nigel Lloyd, covering a wide range of themes with songs both traditional and modern, from the quirky autobiographical “Road to Liz Bang Bodhran” to a prisoner’s lament in “Moreton Bay” to “On the Trail of Tears,” an eloquently moving protest about Native American exile. “The Ballad of Cole Younger” is one of the album’s strongest releases —gritty and realistic, it tells of the gang’s robberies and the eventual shootout death of several. Ends with “Let’s meet again in Hell and put our stories up for sale.” Quite a contrast to the over-idealization of Jesse James in ballads from the same time period. Lloyd’s voice is well suited to this song also. “The Greenhorn Woodcutters” is another engagingly eccentric original tune, updating the theme of a maid with two swains, backing it with pedal steel guitar, as the two chain saw-wielding suitors argue over who can better supply their ladylove with a truckload of firewood. Definitely a versatile and seasoned performer, How Like Ghosts Are We provides an effective introduction to Lloyd’s style for new listeners, and his long-term fans will surely enjoy it as well.
—Murrday Fisher - All Music Guide

We [had] come to see David Nigel Lloyd and his Celtic Bluegrass and sung poetry. The music was perfect for a coffeehouse. The storytelling poetics was easily captivating, and while I stood and listened, I could easily see the incredible Lloyd finger-style and command over [his] chosen style.
—N. L. Belardes - Paperback Writer [blog]

The pen is mightier than the sword. Just listen to “My Rage At Another Who Silenced Me” for an entertainingly Chaucerian burn. In addition to curses, Lloyd reflects on ‘the Thames, the Columbia, the Kern and the River of Blood’ as well as ‘the King of the Deep Dark Well, King Jack O’Lantern, Charles Stuart, King Jesus and any number of characters who act like kings’ with this collection of 15 tracks.

A treat for those who enjoy story and verse, this album is narrated in modernized vernacular by a man with the soul of a troubadour. Lloyd refers to himself as ‘Celtic Baladeer, Song Poet, Tale Spinner, Fine Guitarist, Fool and Scholar’ in the adapted style of non-traditional traditionalism. His self-titled “DNL Calling“ is catchy sculpted wit in Celtic Bob-Dylanesque shades of Simon and Garfunkel.

Fittingly heavy in fiddle with gifts of imagery, “The Son of Old Rosin the Bow” is a combined tribute to those lost in 9/11 and Drummer Patrick Michael Meehan’s father. Though most of the lyrics are original Lloyd works, there are occasions where this songsmith remixes an infusion of himself into Trad ballads like “The Three Sisters and The King of the Deep Dark Well/The Just Desert”. DNL even makes his voice heard in the instrumental “Disputed Territory” through his guitar and mandolin accompanied by Dave Ogden’s Irish flute and bodhrán. The vocal and/or instrumental talents of Jill Egland, Jeff Basile Pekarek, Robin Williamson and Nat Dove and many others are featured throughout the collection.

This body of work flows from depths to eddies of the masculine nature of humanity, courtly love, friendship and fable. There are hidden meanings, creative processes and historical ties to explore in the downloadable lyric sheet, which I highly recommend to every listener who appreciates the artistry of a true poet.
—Dionne Charlet - Celtic MP3s Music Magazine

DNL himself is British, California based, but still has strong connections with the UK. The music is almost all in traditional British style – I’m inclined to think much of it sounds specifically English. Certainly there are a number of influences from the rest of the Celtic world. Some of the songs are genuine traditionals – ‘True Thomas’ and ‘Will Ye No Come Back Again’ are marked as such – while others are “trad/DNL” or DNL originals.

There’s an undercurrent of humour that makes the album easy to listen to, and helps to maintain interest, while paying great tribute to its musical roots. I have no doubt that this album will have plenty of appeal for fans of the likes of Roy Harper, Martin Carthy, Fairport Convention, et al. There’s a positive treasury of instruments ancient and modern here. As well as Robin Williamson’s fiddles and harp, we have penny whistles, piano, drums, hammered dulcimer, mandolin, banjo, Irish flute, bodhran, accordion, upright bass; and David Nigel himself plays guitars, octar, mandolin and takes the lead vocal role. Most of the others join in on backing vocals, too, and something called “word soup.”

As I’ve listened through the album, trying to think of something succinct that will sum it up and convey my enthusiasm … I realised that the band it reminded me of nothing so much as, is C.O.B.* Now that’s no small compliment: as far as I’m concerned. — Steve Pilley

**Clive [Palmer’s] Original Band. “Music of such ethereal tripped-outed-ness, that the final results are of sublime psychedelic proportions.” — Gregg Breth’s Catalog of Psychedelic Vinyl Wonderment (1988)
- the ISB Yahoo Group

David Nigel Lloyd bills himself as a “non-traditional traditionalist,” a good handle for songs that often sound old but aren’t, and guitar work in the English staccato style of Martin Carthy and Bert Jansch. Lloyd left Great Britain for the States in 1962, and kicked around rock, folk-rock, and punk bands from the late 1960s until the 90s, when he repackaged himself as a storytelling troubadour. Lloyd’s voice has a lot of road mileage on it and he often twists melodies in border-of-breaking ways reminiscent of Robin Williamson (Incredible String Band), who guests on Lloyd’s new record. But even if Lloyd’s singing is an acquired taste, fancy fretwork, tales plucked from English folklore, and new ones sort of drawn from the same source will entertain.
—Phoenix Brown & Lars Vigo
- Off-Center Views [blog]

Contemporized Celtic/folk music that is completely unique. —Chris Page - The Bakersfield Californian

David Nigel Lloyd is a US-Resident Englishman of Kenyan birth. A lot of that experience must have informed ‘Poor Little Englishman!’ a wonderfully cutting account of a certain country’s inability to adapt to the loss of empire. There’s some excellent playing and arranging; Lloyd uses traditional tunes and themes where it suits his purposes. There’s a lot here that’s of interest. - Folk Roots

(Tuesday, July 10, 2007) DAVID Nigel Lloyd, who will be performing in the chapel at Markree Castle, tonight, Tuesday, July 10, is known in his home-town in California as the “Bard of Bakersfield”.
California boasts many fine players of traditional Irish and Scottish music. And Lloyd, more commonly known as DNL, has been popular within the California celtic music scene for many years.
DNL’s popularity has grown through his talent of re-writing and arranging Celtic songs to suit his local California desert culture. Of interest to Co. Sligo audiences, DNL has replaced historically inaccurate traditional verses within a couple of songs with verses from William Butler Yeats’ poems.
DNL accompanies himself on an eight-stringed octar, a mandocello-like instrument; on a steel-stringed guitar with a unique drop-tuning; and on a nylon string guitar tuned regularly. Good Times Weekly in Santa Cruz, California called DNL “one of the finest acoustic guitar pickers on the West Coast.”
With his “spirited singing and full-bodied playing” as Dirty Linen magazine described his performance, DNL is quite a fun packed story teller too. His celtic style music also surprisingly wanders into other world styles ranging from Peruvian music to Delta blues. On his latest CD, Rivers, Kings and Curses, David includes some wonderful desert musicians along with Scottish bard, Robin Williamson, and well known blues man Nat Dove.
DNL was born in Kenya and lived in England before immigrating to California in 1962. His early music career found him in bands with Glenn Cornick, formerly with Jethro Tull, and Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Billy Bass.
As well as performing as a bard around the west of USA and working with England’s Martin Carthy on his USA tours, DNL serves as the Assistant Executive Director of the Arts Council of Kern, a rural California county.
This is his first Irish performance and excitement is building around Collooney in advance of his visit.
- the Sligo Weekender