Doug Sedgwick
Reston, Virginia, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
“Was favouring Committed, also playing Disappoint You and Junk All the Talk (from the disk). But I've really fallen for Vonnegut...” - Stephen Lomas, DJ Radio Upper Murray, New South Wales, Australia - BSW Press Worldwide
Popular, blues-inflected BugSnakeWilly song "Cable TV" (Sedgwick) was selected by the judges of the 22nd (2005) Mid-Atlantic Song Contest as one of only two Honorable Mentions for this very competitive category. Doug Sedgwick received his award from the Songwriter's Association of Washington (SAW) on November 20th, 2005. - Songwriters Association of Washington (SAW)
Doug Sedgwick's song "Peace in Our Hearts" won Honorable Mention in the 2006 Mid-Atlantic Songwriter's Contest. - Songwriters Association of Washington
Doug Sedgwick – Committed
2008, Sedgwick
Doug Sedgwick is wonderfully schizophonic. Let me explain. Sometimes you will come across a guitarist (usually acoustic) in a bar or coffee house somewhere who’s been playing those scenes for years. They’ve developed a catalog of songs over the years by disparate artists, and perhaps they are such great performers that they’ve learned to channel the original artist (much like a stage actor). The end result is someone who might sound like Van Morrison on one song, John Sebastian another, Jim Morrison a third, etc.
Now imagine that of this group of road warrior musicians, you happen to find the one guy who also has tremendous song-writing ability and who over time has developed a catalog of his own music, but retains that ability to project different personalities/voices into his songs, like soliloquies in a one-man Broadway show. Now you’re talking about Doug Sedgwick. Based out of Reston, Virginia, this folk/rock singer-songwriter might be one of the best of the genre, and you’ve probably never heard of him.
Committed is a dazzling display of songwriting talent and chameleon-like performance acumen. Sedgwick has a homey, comfortable voice that slips over a song like a favorite sweater. His guitar-work is amazing. The depth and layers within the songs on Committed would take novice guitarist weeks to work through. The songs ultimately work because they (appear to be) primarily auto-biographical. Doug Sedgwick is very positive in his message and seems inclined to make the most of each moment, musically or otherwise.
Songs such as Committed, Cable TV, Darker Voice, Standup Blues II, and Peace In Our Hearts provide a roadmap for the journey Committed will take you on. There are no weak points here, just the usual highs and lows that are the trademark of a running conversation with an old friend. Doug Sedgwick’s Committed is a must-have CD.
Rating: 4.5 Stars (Out of 5) - Wildy's World
Timepass Theory (Radio WEBR played on local cable TV) included the title cut from Doug Sedgwick's Committed album in their 11/11/2010 broadcast. DJ Warren commented he had purchased the CD after seeing Doug Sedgwick live and being impressed with the performance. - Mixcloud
Reston Sustainability Award September 17, 2010
Filed under: Awards — friendsofreston @ 6:19 pm
The Reston Citizens Association’s Sustainable Reston Committee honored Reston citizens and organizations contributing to the Reston community’s sustainability at the 2010 Reston Sustainability Awards held on August 18, 2010. The award ceremony was held at the Reston Community Center at Lake Anne. Dr. Gar Alperovitz, the keynote speaker, challenged the audience to come up with new solutions for the economic and ecological problems facing us. As the Lionel R. Bauman Professor of Political Economy at the University of Maryland and the author of numerous articles and books on wealth and community, Dr. Alperovitz was both informed and inspiring. Master of Ceremonies John Lovaas, noted Reston columnist and tv show host, expertly guided the ceremony, providing both humor and background information. The newly formed Doug Sedgwick Band provided elegant and enjoyable music for the spaces in between the ceremony.Reston Sustainability Award September 17, 2010
Filed under: Awards — friendsofreston @ 6:19 pm
Photo: Awardees & Presenters
The Reston Citizens Association’s Sustainable Reston Committee honored Reston citizens and organizations contributing to the Reston community’s sustainability at the 2010 Reston Sustainability Awards held on August 18, 2010. The award ceremony was held at the Reston Community Center at Lake Anne. Dr. Gar Alperovitz, the keynote speaker, challenged the audience to come up with new solutions for the economic and ecological problems facing us. As the Lionel R. Bauman Professor of Political Economy at the University of Maryland and the author of numerous articles and books on wealth and community, Dr. Alperovitz was both informed and inspiring. Master of Ceremonies John Lovaas, noted Reston columnist and tv show host, expertly guided the ceremony, providing both humor and background information. The newly formed Doug Sedgwick Band provided elegant and enjoyable music for the spaces in between the ceremony. - Friends of Reston Word Press blog
After attending a BugSnakeWilly show, Vic "LV" Cook (Gold Medal Winning Songwriter in the 20th Mid-Atlantic Songwriting Contest (MASC)) recently sent BSW the following statement via email: "I really enjoyed it. You guys do very creative versions of familiar covers." Vic later invited Doug "Bugs" Sedgwick to sit in on guitar for one of his shows. Bugs graciously provided some licks for a different evening of great music from this very fine northern VA songwriter. - BSW Press Worldwide
Direct quotes from K. Halverson's email: "We had a blast on Friday night. My wife and I haven't done something like that in years. And our friends had a great time too. They're from Texas and the evening reminded them of home. I passed the wife at a stop sign Saturday morning. She rolled down her car window and screamed "BugSnakeWilly rocks!" And you guys are actually good. Who knew? It takes guts to do Cream but you pulled it off. We want to catch your act again..." - BSW Press International
Discography
Doug's first solo album - Committed was released May 2008 on his independent Clockwise Sounds label.
An early release - Cable TV (Also a song contest award winner - See Press) is getting Internet airplay at http://bandradiolive.com:8000! Open your Windows Media Player, then do file, open and paste in the preceding link to listen.
Songs from the album are also being played on Loyola College radio, CHES 101.5 FM in Erin, Ontario Canada and Radio Upper Murray in New South Wales, Australia.
Photos
Bio
When Appalachia - the best band in central PA - needed lyrics for some original songs in 1978, someone referred them to a Carlisle high school student named Doug Sedgwick. Himself a huge Lennon/McCartney fan and already a respected bass player who had spent some time picking up knowledge (and actually recording with) Berklee grad and neighbor guitarist Mike Childs, Doug left Carlisle for college in FL that same year. From 1976 until summer of 1978, Doug was a subscriber to Guitar Player magazine and devoured every issue cover-to-cover. Fast forward one year and one academic dismissal later and Doug’s next major musical experience finds him playing bass for progressive new wave singer/songwriter Dave Molnar in the suburbs of Detroit. Despite some interest from a small Warner Bros. label affiliate and some white-knuckle studio adventures though, Doug and Dave parted ways. Before and after playing with Dave Molnar as part of “The Hurt”, there were 2 stints in bands with Keyboardist Mike Wolfe: The first being an ELP-style (no guitar) instrumental 3 piece and the second being a larger “show band” that briefly toured the FL club circuit covering Donna Summer and ELO. These bands broke up as well. Doug enlisted in the Army in 1981 and while stationed on Ft. Lewis WA about a year later, bought his first reel-to-reel from a pawnshop and began writing and recording his own acoustic-guitar-based songs. All this time, Doug would seek out open mikes and other musicians, attempting to accumulate as much musical knowledge and experience as he could gather. After being transferred to the VA area in 1983, Doug played his first paid acoustic solo gig at Gerald’s on King Street (now called the Laughing Lizard) in Old Town Alexandria. After leaving the Army with the skills and experience to work as a software engineer, Doug took work in the Dallas / Ft. Worth area where he began collaborating on songs with guitarist and industrial video music composer Mark Boardman. One Doug composition graced a video made for U-Haul, and the upgraded recording equipment he purchased allowed Doug to produce some music Boardman wrote for a soft-core adult film. Around this same time, Mark, Doug and guitar teacher / trumpet player Tom Faver began writing and recording what would amount to 3 albums worth of dense, intricate material made primarily for their own gratification on weekends as Doug began refining and developing his studio engineering skills. Leaving TX to take a different day job, Doug later briefly played lead acoustic guitar for a husband/wife folk duo in DE. (All through this time frame across Texas, Delaware and eventually South Carolina, Doug subscribed to Home and Studio Recording magazine and fortified his hands-on experience with its pages.) Next relocated to Columbia SC, Doug produced a demo recording for legendary local blues outfit Mojo Blue and while shocked at the invite following an impromptu jam – proudly accepted an offer from leader Tony Scarano to play second electric guitar and share the lead vocal chores. Doug also formed his first all-acoustic trio with Tony and Mojo Blue fretless bass player Jim Scott around the same time. For six grueling months, these 2 bands put Doug in front of audiences as many as 4 times a week, occasionally in the same venues where contemporary local Columbia band Hootie and the Blowfish played. Another quest for better day gig work brought Doug back to the Northern VA area in 1992 where he has since enjoyed success as a gigging solo musician and leader of the acoustic duo (once a trio) – BugSnakeWilly – with multi-instrumentalist Steve “Snake” Smith. BugSnakeWilly played the Horizon Dairy festival in 2003 – along with Doc Watson, Junior Brown and Bill Kirchen. In 2004 Doug won his first Honorable Mention in the Jazz/Blues category of the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest for his tune Cable TV. In 2005, Doug won a second Honorable Mention in the World category for his song Peace in Our Hearts. For a brief time, Doug returned to his initial loves - the bass and Lennon/McCartney/Harrison compositions as the leader of an informal Beatles tribute band that played 3 gigs Doug will treasure for the remainder of his days. Furiously gigging and recording since these successes while still continuing to sling code as a full-time software engineer, Doug put out his album: Committed in May 2008 to some very well received reviews. Songs from the album have been receiving Internet radio airplay as well as being played on Loyola College radio, CHES 101.5 FM in Erin, Ontario and Radio Upper Murray in New South Wales, Australia. More recently, Doug has begun recording tracks for a second album – to include at least ONE finished number (Words) that is a gospel/rap duet sung with first-class multiple-award winning indie songwriter hero Daniel “DiEL” Lee.
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