A few weeks ago, a discussion about Gibson guitars turned into someone pointing out that Dave Decker's electric guitar is one of the most weathered six-strings in all of the Bay area.
"That thing has been glued back together and reborn at least a dozen times," Tampa songwriter Shawn Kyle wrote about the axe.
Decker — a longtime Tampa punk figurehead who most famously played in bands like Clairmel, Too Many Daves, Vaginasore Jr. and Sandspur City — said that guitar plays like a dream, and while he isn't playing it in this new acoustic video of "Horizon 2 Charlie," seeing Decker play his heart out on the song is pretty spine-tingling.
"I wrote a lot of songs in jail and stuff and have lots of journals," Decker, 45, told CL. In the song, he sings about stealing cars and robbing a bank. Let's just say that those lyrics aren't exactly a writer taking advantage of his poetic licence.
"This is a song I wrote in jail and it will be a new Sandspur City song but I did a session for it and recorded it in the granite shop I manage and had my little dog and my grammas rocking chair," Decker said, adding that the simple life gives him peace. "It’s like ‘I took life for granite and now granite feeds my life with sustenance.'"
In the song, Decker talks about getting a letter from a long lost friend while he was in jail. That friend is another longtime Tampa punk figurehead, Jeff Brawer. On Sunday, autumn punk-rock super-festivals Pre-Fest (October 24-25 in Ybor City) and Fest (October 26-28 in Gainesville) announced new bands, including Decker's Sandspur City.
On June 16, Decker's Sandspur CIty plays with Brawer's Old Vices at The Hub in downtown. Tampa. He's hoping that songs like "Horizon 2 Charlie" will show people that there is a light. He is also part of an July 14, all-acoustic show at St. Pete's Green Bench Brewing along with Wolf-Face and You Vandal.
"I just want folks that are caught up in the cycle of self abuse to know that whatever avenue they choose, in the end of they make the choice to live right all they’re dreams will come back into focus," he said.
Watch the clip directed by filmmaker, musician and concert booker Christian Costello below.
This article appears in Jun 14-21, 2018.