Artist Highlight – Dave Grandel

"I cannot say enough great things about Dave. Since the moment he joined, he has been a beacon of encouragement and enthusiasm toward his fellow songwriters. On top of that, he is a great songwriter, musician, and contributor to our community." - Rigel

Meet Dave

Dave is from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.

What do you do during the day?

I’m a carpenter for the City of Regina, a landlord to one property, and I teach electric/acoustic guitar, ukulele and bass guitar two nights a week at home.

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What Day of 100 is your piece from?

This one’s from August 24, 2019. I was barely into 100 Days at that point, so maybe Day 19 or 20.

This song was inspired by a comment that I made to Rigel Thurston of 100 Days Of Songwriting. I had posted a picture on the site and he asked about it. I told him where it was & that it seemed like a sky worth remembering. He thought that was a great title and suggested that I write it, so I did!

This recording is my first foray into using the Spire app, warts and all! Recorded into my iPhone in my dining room while my new pup tried eating a dime that must have fallen out of my pocket while hunting for a pick. Harmonies were added after I saved her from having to pass that dime! 😉

I have also attached the picture that inspired the song and one of my daughter taken at that inaugural Songs For Nature camp!

A SKY WORTH REMEMBERING

You and me, and nothing else

For as far as the eye can see

A getaway, long overdue

No telling where we’ll end up today


Up ahead, reaching for the horizon

Clouds race on creating...

A sky worth remembering

No looking back, hey, take a photograph of

A sky worth remembering

On with the drive, happy to be alive

Under a sky worth remembering


We took a turn down a lonely road

And you never even questioned why

It’s hard to find someone like that

So I’ll love you ‘til the day I die

Up ahead, reaching for the horizon

Clouds race on creating...

A sky worth remembering

No looking back, hey, take a photograph of

A sky worth remembering

On with the drive, happy to be alive

Under sky worth remembering


You gotta take time every once in a while

Quit trying to do so much

Get outta Dodge, take in the sights

‘cause you only get to be young once...


So chase that sky worth remembering

No looking back, hey, take a photograph of

A sky worth remembering

On with the drive, happy to be alive

Under a sky worth remembering

No looking back, hey, take a photograph of

A sky worth remembering

On with the drive, happy to be alive

Under a sky worth remembering

Click here to listen 

Do you have any guilty pleasures in music?

I love so many styles of music, everything from symphonies to big band to most of the pop music 50s/60s/70s/80s/90s. I’m less taken with 21st century pop, and in the last 15 years my wife has opened my ears to today’s Country music, so yeah, as long as there isn’t any rap, I can pretty much listen to anything!

What inspired you to want to write songs?

It started out as a way to deal with my teenage heartbreak, and then I didn’t really write, for a long while...probably 12 years, too busy working... I wrote songs for girlfriends, but they never really went anywhere. I fell into the habit of writing instrumentals for many years because I just didn’t think I had anything to say. I wrote one song for my (now) wife that was a love song and my marriage proposal. I don’t play it often enough, mainly because it’s SO personal.

What does your songwriting habit look like?

I write throughout the day, usually on my phone into a songwriting app, but if I’m driving or can’t stop to write, I open my Voice Memos app and talk/sing to myself. I have a Spire recording device and the companion app which are quite handy and portable, but more to the point, they make excellent DAW-ready recordings! The app is free, the device is around $300 USD. Obviously, you can do bigger/better things with the device but the app is excellent as well.

I would love to write every day and have thousands of songs to my credit, but as a sometimes singer/songwriter/performer, I can’t have too many songs on the go or I tend to forget the lyrics or how to play the song. Plus, “...there never seems to be enough time to do the things you wanna do, once you find them…”

How has developing a songwriting practice affected your life?

Invaded might be a better word... There isn’t a moment of the day that I’m not thinking about music or songwriting. I fall asleep with words bouncing around in my brain and wake with half-baked songs playing in my head. Titles and lyrics are everywhere, we just have to be open to receiving them... Antennas up!

Who are your influences? How have they shaped you?

I am inspired very much when I’m out in nature and solitude...finding a quiet place usually requires some work, but the payoff is that I usually end up with a melody or chords that I like and it helps me concentrate on whatever lyrics I might be working on.

I got involved with a songwriting camp here in Saskatchewan called “Songs For Nature”. They were running a teen songwriting camp and my daughter was interested in writing songs so I asked them if there was room for a volunteer adult chaperone. Turned it into a father/daughter thing. She’s very athletic (and I couldn’t care less about most sports) so it was nice to try something together that we were both interested in! I’ve been to 4 successive adult camps and it’s been the biggest push for my songwriting (until I found 100 Days!)


What challenge are you facing with songwriting?

Believing that someone will be receptive to my work. Creativity was not exactly encouraged when I was younger. Work, on the other hand, was, so I know how to do that, but I’d rather work on creative things than building maintenance.


And, before I forget, a huge debt of gratitude is owed to Rigel & Shane for all of the good work they do, as well as all of you fine folks that show up and encourage each other to do better and to never stop writing! Also, to John Nicholson for his mastering prowess that will eventually grace my EP when I get it done. It would not have been possible without your generous offer, so thank you from the bottom of my heart!

100 Days is, far and away, the best online songwriting community there is... Tell all of your friends! 🙂

Check out Dave’s music page here:

http://www.reverbnation.com/open_graph/artist/6194648

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