Veteran Texas-bred musician gives “First Impressions” to Guitar Center
Texas-born composer/producer/multi-instrumentalist David Garza has led a storied musical career, working with the likes of Fiona Apple, Midland, Gaby Moreno, Del Amitri’s Justin Currie, alt. country legend Alejandro Escovedo and Nickel Creek fiddler Sara Watkins. His solo work, which touches on everything from the Mexican music he heard on the radio as a child to the raw sounds of has brothers’ rock and roll record collection, has drawn apt comparisons to the best of Robert Plant and Jeff Buckley.
Guitar Center recently asked the Los Angeleno to share some “First Impressions” of Breedlove’s Organic Collection. Granted, we can’t all compete at Garza’s level, but he sure makes these guitars sound good and serves as a creative inspiration to all of us.
“I can feel the tone in a well-tuned guitar in a way that really does bring me to nature,” Garza told Guitar Center of the Signature Concert Copper CE, while playing the instrumental “Inixia.” “This is definitely what I would consider a diamond in the rough in terms of the workhorse aspect of it. The tone spectrum is really wide, and there’s a lot of malleability within the tone—literally at your fingertips.”
Garza, also a magnificent, expressive visual artist, fingerpicked the Latin-tinged “Black and Tan” on a Wildwood Concert Satin CE, drawing magic from its all solid African mahogany body.
“My first impression of this Wildwood,” he said, “is that I love the look of it. I love the matte finish and the vibe. It feels like your favorite car that you’ve had since high school that you just don’t ever want to let go of.”
Switching gears, with a Signature Companion Copper E, to what he called a Tom Waits/Leon Redbone mode, Garza genteely crooned “Invisible,” noting “The look and feel of this guitar is truly one of a kind. It sounds ancient but feels new … It’s a really exposed tone which I like, so you hear all the intricacies in a way that you don’t in a bigger guitar.”
Garza closed the fascinating session with an impromptu new song, “Why not Strum a Tree?” and did just that with a Performer Concert Bourbon CE, which has a look “right up my alley because it’s got those Texas dirt, dark, sunset, dusky kind of tones.”
Acknowledging the importance of looking to sustainable products and making smart choices as a consumer, Garza told Guitar Center, “As I get older and try to take more responsibility for what I do and play and sing—I’m always pulled back to that sense of responsibility to the planet.”
