CD DESCRIPTION
David Nefesh's long-awaited 2nd CD "Pureheart" is a folk-rock extravaganza. A collection of 13 songs traversing love, friendship, emotional baggage, and living-in-the-moment. Threaded loosely by the theme of heart-piercing, they make a poignant and optimistic statement about the healing (and often complicated) effects of shedding convention and living outside the chains of inner restraint. The array of infectious contemporary folk songs blended with head-on rock and pop (and bolstered by a strong voice and tasty guitar chops) aims to catapult Nefesh to a new level in both the local and national singer-songwriter arena. In 2007, members of the Detroit Music Awards nominated Pureheart for "BEST RECORDING."
REVIEWS
"...an astounding guitarist...Nefesh draws lyrical inspiration from his own experiences of loss, love and soul-searching and laces his songs with a spiritual subtext that's both refreshing and inspiring. It's a basic premise, but one full of complexity and nuance...an artist to watch."
--Gail Worley, NYC Rock Critic
"An unfailing sincere folkie, David Nefesh comes from the school of 'earnest 'til it hurts'...some notable lyrical moments...a fine folk reflection on the order of what Bob Mould and Billy Bragg have been up to in the past decade."
--Joseph McCombs, San Francisco freelance music writer and contributor to StarPolish.com, OnAir.com, Choler.com, Digital Music Weekly, ZDNet Music, and other publications.
BIOGRAPHY
As a child, Nefesh was strongly influenced by the music
of Neil Young, CSN&Y, Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and others in the folk-rock and rock scene of the late-60's and 70's,
as well as Jewish folk and cantorial music which was prevalent in his family. At age 12, and armed with a songbook to Neil Young's "Harvest," he started years of self-study on guitar. His early adult years led him to study blues guitar by listening to greats like B.B. King, Otis Rush, and Eric Clapton. However, his penchant for strong melodies always remained.
Despite Nefesh's passion for music and performance, he relegated his musical talents to his home, occasional jams with friends and very rare public gigs. He never viewed himself as a singer-songwriter until the late 90's--when personal epiphanies revealed a gifted writer with a strong stage presence. In January of 1999, he started an intense period of writing and performing that has yielded more than 100 original songs and 250 performances in the United States and Canada since that time–as both a soloist and with his band.
His first CD, Stripped, was released in 2000 and garnered excellent reviews--with comparisons to Michael Stipe, James Taylor, Richard Shindell, Ellis Paul, Harry Chapin and others. He has made radio appearances on WDET in Detroit and CFRB in Toronto, Mediaone TV in Michigan, and has had airplay in Europe. His 2006 CD release, Pureheart, is a powerful folk-rock extravaganza featuring 13 memorable songs of love, heartache, and personal observation.
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