David Pavia

To say that David Pavia is introspective about his music and career is to be guilty of extreme understatement. Like many of his indie singer/songwriter brethren, Pavia mixes his passion for music with a ?day job?? except in this case, there's a stronger connection between his vocation and avocation: he's a psychotherapist who tries to help people connect with their creative spirit. ?Everyone is put here on the earth to do something amazing,? he says. ?Sometimes the world assassinates their best dreams; I try to resurrect those dreams and help people work towards them.

Like many of his indie singer/songwriter brethren, Pavia mixes his passion for music with a ?day job?? except in this case, there's a stronger connection between his vocation and avocation: he's a psychotherapist who tries to help people connect with their creative spirit.

?Everyone is put here on the earth to do something amazing,? he says. ?Sometimes the world assassinates their best dreams; I try to resurrect those dreams and help people work towards them.

Performing is something that's been inside David Pavia as long as he can remember. Bringing his talent into the world was as much about inner strength as talent. ?I just never had the courage to own the dream and believe that I could have something to perform. That's what took me 30 years!? he says.

That self-awareness informs Pavia's lyrics and music?notable for their sincerity and depth. He believes that his art comes from another place; so his process involves becoming aware of a lyrical melody and then letting the lyrics flow from that.

?It's a fairly effortless thing when it happens,? he says. ?My belief is that I am not really writing the songs. You can't really try?if you do, it comes out trite and uninteresting.?

Like many songwriters, he immerses himself in, and draws inspiration from, music for which he has the utmost admiration: John Lennon, Ryan Adams, Jeff Tweedy, U2 ,Coldplay, Springsteen, Black Crowes. Pavia: ?I find Lennon's work to be some of the best stuff ever written.? On his new album, Pavia recorded a cover of Lennon's ?Look At Me? as a tribute on the 25th anniversary of his death.

Pavia has a clear-headed view of the challenges he faces as an indie artist?and the goals to which he aspires. ?I just want people to listen to the record four or five times,? he says. ?Nothing I write will hit people right away.? And rather than yearning for 250 tour dates a year, Pavia prefers to focus on songwriting and bringing his message to his listeners.

?I want them to be more connected to their own creativity,? he says, ?to feel alive and in touch with what is really important for them to understand about their life.?