David Garcia
by Snehashree Mandal for Country Music News International
Multitalented to the core, David lived and grew in Tampa, Florida, since he was eight years old, learning and growing in and around the church. So, without a thought and while playing for the church choir, David became a singer who drove the world and swept it over with his music. At 18, he moved to Los Angeles and wanted to pursue music full time. When he moved to LA, he made music full time; yet he hadn’t been successful much. But then life took a slight turn, and on moving back to Tampa, he got an offer to work with a studio at absolutely no cost. This is where he started building up his music.
Christian music was what he took a plunge on, and indeed it did very well for him with four Grammy Awards and nine Dove Awards in the category of contemporary Christian music. He got a chance to be with some of the best names in this category of music. Working aside MercyMe and Francesca Battistelli, he learned and grew up to become one of this musical field’s pioneers. But then he kept trying new things as he believes the world is changing rapidly. This journeying around brought him to Nashville, the hub of country music.
How did he journey to be a country musician?
He was quite excited with all the pop and country music happening in Nashville. When someone told him that he would do exceptionally well in Nashville, he tried going this way. At this moment, he thought of settling down in Nashville, where you can find some of the most excellent musicians of all times. In 2016, Garcia did his first country radio number with Kip Moore, producing and co-writing the song. The story behind his first country, “More Girls like you,” began when he met Kip, another phenomenally talented artist, with an instinct of his own. Together when they made the first country, David was sure that he could keep making Country music with others in the lot. David did produce four songs as an alternative rapper NF’s platinum-selling album, “Perception”. Meanwhile, he also met another songwriter, Josh Miller, in the process. Slowly it was how he began building it up again here in the field of country music.
The next best thing happened in the Nightbird Studio, where he kept meeting the others, Josh Miller and Tyler Hubbard, for a week writing down the song, “Meant to be.” Bebe Rexha joined in later, and the piano part was the first they recorded together. On the same night, they created their first demo, which was very similar to the song we hear today. “Take home back, girl” is another great song that he co-wrote with Josh & Hillary Lindsay. Carrie Underwood and David conceptualised and wrote Carrie’s new album. He was excited about doing it since it was different from the rest of Carrie’s albums. David soon became a country musician, and indeed, in Nashville, he has a great time writing and living country music.
What does David like best?
If you ask, it would be the keys. He loves playing the keys. Apart from that, he is also a superb player of drums, bass, and guitar. The guitar is something he has taken off late, playing it frequently in Nashville. Being a one-man-army has benefitted David so that whenever he gets an idea, he can immediately create it without having to depend on finding musicians for this sake. He also believes that since the world is moving on far too quickly, being a “little bit of everything” helps in the long run.
His “Meant to be” charted the billboard charts for a straight 50 weeks, which is in itself awesome indeed. Reigning at the top, it smashed all previous Billboard records for being the number one on the “Hot Country” songs chart. With over 10,000,000 copies sold, it received a Diamond certification from the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America®). David believes that the live streaming of music today has taken music to a new dimension. He feels live streaming has “blurred many lines,” and now all that matters is whether people love the song and the music. It is no longer the genre (country, pop, rock), and it is not even about being the traditionalists of yesteryears. David has taken up on the new wave when what matters at the end of the day is what you deliver when in this new age.
Key mentions
- “Spotify Secret Genius Award” for country music in 2018.”
- An ACM Award for “Music Event of The Decade” in 2019.
- The lilting songs you hear out of him right now on the radio are,
- “Gone” by Dierks Bentley (producer),
- “Long Live” by Florida Georgia Line (songwriter)
- “God Who Listens” by Chris Tomlin and Thomas Rhett (producer and songwriter).
Image credit: MusicRow