Long Story Short

Performing songwriter David Simpkins has been actively entertaining audiences for over 35 years. He spent the first 22 years of his musical career playing in cover bands in southwestern Virginia. In 1990, he co-founded an original alternative rock band, the Visible Shivers, based in Blacksburg, VA, that released three full-length recordings and several EPs over a 10-year run. When the band called it quits, David set out on his own, bolstered by years of experience and a much clearer idea of who and what he was as a songwriter. He has since placed as a finalist in the 2000 Appalachian Fair Best Unknown Country Songwriters competition in Gray, TN and was the winner of the Floyd World Music Festival Showcase Stage Best Song competition in 2002. He is the 2009 president of the Southwest Virginia Songwriters Association of Roanoke VA. His recordings have been played locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally on a number of commercial, public, and internet radio stations. He plays regular solo acoustic gigs, and has performed at numerous song-writers-in-the-round events, festivals, benefits, celebrations, songwriters' nights, and open mics. David's free twice-monthly e-mail newsletter, the Meadow Creek Gazette (which is in it's 9th year of publication), is a popular, entertaining, and informative look at his gigs, his philosophies, his pet peeves, and the world of music (and anything else that strikes his fancy) in general. E-mail amosflame@aol.com and write 'subscribe' in the subject line. Long Story Short is David's first solo recording. Working closely with producer, engineer, mixer, guitarist, and Real2Reel Studios owner Rick Krajnyak, the project pulled together a stellar collection of southwest Virginia's finest musicians, including Scott Fore, 2002 National Flatpicking Guitar Champion, and Alan Weinstein, cellist of the internationally-acclaimed chamber group, the Kandinsky Trio.