Singer/songwriter David Wilcox's musical influences are not musical.
"It's funny," Wilcox said by phone from Asheville, N.C., "I was and still am most intrigued by those people, artists and characters who are movers. I'm influenced by those who can change the way people think. I tend to seek out those who teach me what's the next development in my heart — like the wizard Merlin."
Those influences have helped Wilcox with a music career that has spanned more than 20 years. With more than 12 albums under his belt, he is comfortable with where he is at this point of his life. "I'm better at being patient with people. I think that has a lot to do with how I'm looking at life.
"I believe that I'm a better player and better songwriter, as well."
Last year, Wilcox and his wife, Nance, took their 13-year-old son Nathan on a cross-country road trip to visit all the national parks. "We had an exceptional time in Utah. There are so many national parks in the state that we spent quite a bit of time there. We home schooled Nathan and lived in this Airstream trailer that we pulled by our bio-diesel truck. There is so much that this country offers. It was one of the most uplifting times of our lives.
"In this time where there are extreme pressures to conform to the masses, it was fortunate that we were able to take Nathan out of school at that time. As you know, the seventh and eighth grades are pressure cookers that try to make people conform. And we're happy he's become an independent person, and, even now, he holds onto those ideals."
Wilcox said his most recent album, "Vista," is a culmination of all his years of playing music professionally. "It's like a little oasis of my life. I wanted to make an album that looked at issues from all sorts of angles. And all these points of view come from how I see myself.
"All the songs are personal to me. And there were times when I was afraid that I was telling too many secrets. I've said this before in other places — music is sacred ground. It's a place where you have to tell the truth about what you've been through. Music can show you another life in a short few minutes.
"And I was finding things out about myself during the process, and those are on the album, too."
If you go
What: David Wilcox
Where: Holladay United Church of Christ, 2631 E. Murray-Holladay Road
When: today, 7:30 p.m.
How much: $20
Phone: 277-2631
Web: www.xmission.com/~holladay/
E-mail: scott@desnews.com