David Haerle’s music career started before he was born. His father, Martin, emigrated from Germany to pursue a dream of working in the country music industry, initially setting up shop in the garage and side room of the family home in Los Angeles; David’s maternal grandparents co-owned the first full-time country music radio station in Nashville. Roy Acuff took David, then nine years old, onstage at the Grand Ole’ Opry. Growing up, David and his dad—by then a successful label owner—had “listening sessions,” where Martin played his favorite country records while David played David Bowie, Tony Iommi, Eddie Van Halen, Ted Nugent, Frank Zappa and Jimi Hendrix. When his father, Martin, passed away suddenly, David took over the family business, and has served as president of his father’s CMH Records for the past 29 years.
Making music took a back seat to running the label, but David never stopped playing guitar, and built a recording studio at his house. Gigging periodically, he released his own first full-length album in 2018, and will release his second album, Death Valley, in May, 2020. The songs on Death Valley were selected based mostly on feeling and where inspiration took him at that time.
The video and premise of “The Free Show” work together as well as any video we’ve seen, and may well alter the listener’s outlook on the world surrounding him or her. That may be a bold claim, but check it out. Haerle himself explained his inspiration for the song: “When my longtime partner Erica sees a sunset or an exquisite cloud formation she’ll say, ‘Look, a free show!’ When we take the time to look around us and really see, we find ourselves surrounded by amazing things. A profound free show for me are these magenta flowers that I pass on a walk I take near my office. The color is so vivid and so vibrant that I find it mesmerizing. Their radiance makes me feel hopeful, optimistic and even sentimental. I can’t help but lean in for a closer look every time I pass by. The free show is not just a gift of nature either. Living in Los Angeles, there’s always an interesting face, outfit, tattoo or hairstyle ready to turn your head. Or a low rider event that might cross your path like it did mine the other day. A Chevy in Chartreuse, a Van Gogh Sunset, the world is asking us to take it all in. As the song says about these free shows: ‘many show times today, and there will be more tomorrow.’”
Learn more about David Haerle HERE
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