Dave Von Bieker

Indie folk to haunt your heart with small stories and big questions.

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THRILLS! EP 📀

My Good Neighbour in the Bowtie

Monday night I’m sitting in the Princess Theatre holding back tears until I finally give in. The battle starts with the opening scenes and is lost long before the closing credits. Nearly all of us watching are hesitant to leave when the movie ends. We don’t want to

Sing me something I can feel, Dan Mangan

Monday night I find myself in the basement of El Cortez, a grotto-turned-speakeasy packed with fifty sweaty fans of Dan Mangan. We’ve all been tipped off to a secret show, starting at midnight, in one of the most intimate concert spaces I’ve been in.  Mangan plays tune after

So many shows I wrote a song about 'em

This week I have so many shows I may be feeling a little lightheaded. That’s likely the exact right state of mind to write a song you’ll only ever sing once (because it is about said shows and it is VERY specific).  Here’s the song, as posted

The Lies We Tell About Local Music

The lies we tell about local music. “If they were really good, I’d hear them on the radio” This is just one of the lies we believe about local, independent artists. Since I entered the scene in earnest in 2015, I’ve discovered how false and insidious this lie

Jammin' in the Jungle with Joel Kleine

If you get the obscure ‘Tarzan Dan’ reference in the title of this post, my hat goes off to you. If not, let’s move on. This week I got to join Joel Kleine in his basement studio for a ‘very special episode’ of my Facebook Live performances.  Joel is

Drawn Into Bizarre Love Triangle

Sometimes life gets in the way of art.  I often feel this way as chores, doctors appointments and grocery shopping choke out my schedule. Day-to-day duties are not my go-to creative catalysts, but maybe they should be. Monday through Friday I drive my kids to school. This can stall the

The Electric Yellow Woman

The electric-yellow woman I’m sitting in the waiting room of a medical lab.  The space is brand new, decorated in a style I’d call “cold-nice”. It’s all grays and washed out wood-veneers. I feel like I’m in a soulless show-home where pleasing everybody has washed out

You're Not Bored Enough

I’m don’t spend enough time bored.  I’m talking about time without plans and time without entertainment. Time without a phone – or even a book – in my hands. Meandering, wandering time.  With entertainment at my fingertips at all times, I’ve forgotten my need to be bored. Having

On Being Rejected

Ah … rejection letters. I imagine every artist will read these terrible few words one day in their career; “we regret to inform you …” I got a matching set of rejection letters last week.  I applied for two grants to record an album this year and just found out I received

Cross-Post: So Long and Welcome to the Future

The following is a personal letter I shared today with the Bleeding Heart Art Space community – a non-musical endeavour I’ve pursued for over a decade. Until now. Read the original piece here. I have big, exciting, and difficult news for you today. And the end of June, I will

Reconciling art and faith - a conversation with Timotheories

Tim Kuefler, founder of arts-and-culture channel Timotheories interviewed me a couple of months ago and the magical work of editing is now complete. Our hour and a half conversation has been boiled down to its 30-minute essence and uploaded for your enjoyment.  Hear me tell Tim about why I don’

Brand new song from the railroad tracks

A couple of weekends back I found myself listening to the bits of beauty friends had gathered during their time at an art and faith retreat in Calgary. I was retreating, too, so when I heard poet Stephen T Berg mention the “exquisite sorrow” of a “tritone train whistle”, I

What I Do When I Don't Want to Work

This is what I do when I don’t want to work. Sometimes I get stuck. Weekly. Daily. I sputter and stall out. I find myself staring at the screen and refreshing the feed. Waiting for who-knows-what. In limbo.  It was Karin Berquist, powerhouse songstress half of Over The Rhine,

Facebook Live Performance: Brought to You By The Letter 'B'

I go live on Facebook every Monday at 12:30 MST. I love it when you drop by and especially when you comment so I know you’re there and I can say hello. Today’s setlist is brought to you by the letter ‘B’: Babylon (David Gray Cover) Broken

Song Story: Wherever You Are

Songwriting often becomes a way of problem-solving. Or if not solving a problem, pulling it apart to see its parts. Sometimes the best a song can do is steep me in the problem – hold me in the mystery – long enough to hear something new. Wherever You Are is this type

Caught Between the Work and The Waiting

My wife and I suffer a date-night curse.  NIne times out of ten we plan to go out on what’s set to be a beautiful evening. Five PM the ‘cold front’ blows in and we’re wearing rubber boots with our dress up clothes.  It’d be nice, but

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Wherever You Are 🎵

Song Story: Wherever You Are Song writing often becomes a way of problem solving. Or if not solving a problem, pulling it apart to see its parts. Sometimes the best a song can do is steep me in the problem – hold me in the mystery – long enough to hear something

video

Everywhere - Fleetwood Mac Cover with 6 Von Biekers

You lucky ducks - I'm excited to show you this video FIRST! I've been working real hard on it, cloning myself five times so I can fill out this cover of Fleetwood Mac's Everywhere. I would love to hear your feedback on this one,

Song Stories: Santa Fe

Santa Fe is a travelogue of longing. For the past five years I have travelled to Santa Fe, New Mexico for an arts and faith retreat called The Glen Workshop. My life has been changed in so many ways by the event, the people who attend and the location. For

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Santa Fe 🎵

video

Green Eyes cover

Now you get early access to my videos! I'm developing a rhythm to my work that allows me to give you early access to content I'll be sharing to a broader audience later. I worked extra hard to get two Youtube videos done this week so

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Move With Me (early demo) 🎵

Hey there Patrons - it's present day :) This one goes to everyone supporting here - at any level. I'm so grateful to have you here and I wanted to share this song with you FIRST. I've played it live once - this past Tuesday

Song Stories: I Waited

I wrote I Waited years ago, making it one of my oldest songs in current rotation. While I can’t pin down an exact date, I have records of it’s use in set lists as early as 2013.  Maybe it all started in 2010 when I took part in

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I Waited 🎵