David Wilcox (American Musician) - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

A New York Times music critic wrote Wilcox has a "handful of sterling folk-pop songs, a genial voice and enough guitar virtuosity to make even his lesser material sound convincing." Another described him as a prolific songwriter and folk artist. Another wrote he "sings with a mellow fluency that suggests a hybrid of Mr. Taylor and Kenny Rankin, but he has better enunciation than either." Critics describe his voice as having a "warm, expressive" quality with an "engaging vocal style" and a "warm, baritone vocal tone."

His music has been written as "deeply philosophical" and "insightful". One music critic wrote he was a "influential acoustic guitarist ... the PBS darling of contemporary singer-songwriter folk." Another critic wrote that an "eager, unapologetic sincerity flows from the heart of David Wilcox's acoustic music," and elaborated that "Wilcox uses extended metaphors and beautifully detailed imagery in lyrics that are far more compassionate and philosophic than self-absorbed ... Indeed, as steeped in romance as most popular music is, it rarely speaks directly to issues of loneliness, intimacy and commitment – let alone mortality and inner fortitude. Wilcox does this with sensitivity, analytic zeal and subtle emotional force."

Many of his songs analyze the dynamics of relationships in epigrammatic verses that are at once earnest and gently humorous. While many of Mr. Wilcox's songs have light blues inflections, occasionally they also look back in spirit to Tin Pan Alley. My Old Addiction, one of the most striking songs in his first set on Thursday, was a wry, wistful meditation on the tug of an old relationship that echoed Georgia on My Mind. —Music critic Stephen Holden in The New York Times, 1992

Many critics compare his style to James Taylor as well as Joni Mitchell and John Gorka. A Rolling Stone critic suggested Wilcox's best album was How Did You Find Me Here, which was released in 1989.

One critic sensed Wilcox had a "boyish sensitivity" with "something to say about love, relationships and life" which is sung with "insight, humor and moments of profundity." But the critic felt Wilcox needs to "get some excitement into his music and voice ... His even-keel, generic style of singing, playing and music-writing isn't enough to keep the focus of the modern short attention span" and his songs lack "musical distinctiveness." Wilcox is a "poet/storyteller first, a songwriter/player second".