How Speechwriters LLC Saved My Life

I walked tentatively as the house number came into view: nine.  A wave of nervousness suddenly came over me as I proceeded to the front steps of the house.  No, this was not the house of a cute girl (although I was on a first date).  Inside the house was a man I had waited five years to meet: Dave Lowensohn.

In the summer of 2004, a friend of mine told me about a band called Speechwriters LLC.  He managed a band that was touring with them, and thought I may like their sound. His hunch was indeed correct, and Speechwriters LLC quickly became my new favorite band. They had a folk feel with a lot of acoustic, but what really got me were their lyrics.  They spent a lot of time on writing, and they pretty much wrote the ultimate break up songs.  I ordered a CD and a T-shirt, and now felt that I was legitimately part of their fan base since I could show my pride.

My love of Speechwriters gave me a revelation; had I not found out about this band through a friend, I may have never known their existence.  After sitting and thinking in my infinite fifteen year old wisdom, I realized there were so many other bands out there I had not heard of but I could fall in love with.  I quickly began to search and search, adding copious amounts of songs into my iTunes collection.

Even though I had now accumulated a large number of new songs and new bands (well, new to me at least), Speechwriters still was my fallback band.  I would always go to them when I wanted a great band to listen to, and they just happen to be the best band to listen to for almost any mood.  They are especially perfect to listen to after breakups, when their well-versed lyrics would pick me up after leaving the hundreds of girls I dated in high school (okay, maybe thousands of girls.)

A year or two after I found out about Speechwriters LLC, I joined the deadly Facebook community.  I was looking around at the groups one day and came across one called ‘€˜Speechwriters LLC Saved My Life.’  I immediately joined the group, not thinking much of it.  Looking back on that group today, I wondered if they had actually saved my life.  That is a pretty bold statement to make, especially when that object that saved your life is a band.  However, the more and more I thought about it, the more and more I realized they did save my life.  Had I not fallen in love with Speechwriters LLC, my appreciation for good music would have never been as high as it is today.  Listening to Speechwriters caused me to develop the love for music that I have today, and indirectly the reason I am writing this.  Not only that, but the lyrics to the songs are eloquent, they speak to the heart and the romantic in me, and there have been many times where I wish my life could follow the lyrics in one of the songs.  They would pick me up when I was down, and be alongside me when I was happy.

The effect of Speechwriters has had such a strong impact on my life, but it has also affected the lives of my close friends.  There are very few bands I can tell people about without someone hearing of them.  With Speechwriters though, it has become more and more apparent to me that no one I ask ever hears of these guys.  Whether it is because they are from California or that they are not big, I know that this has been my band.  I immediately told my childhood friend about them, and he was hooked.  Since then, I have treated my knowledge of Speechwriters as an important secret that could only be shared with select people.  I chose my close friend and secret crush as my next victim to enlighten, hoping she’d realize the romantic lyrics were my way of telling her how I felt via Speechwriters LLC.  While I may not have won the girl in the end, she did become a huge fan of Speechwriters LLC.  I’ve told three close friends since those original two, and every time the band found a new fan.

It was all this that brought me back to that front porch.  Band members Dave Lowensohn and Misha Chellam had just created a new CD, even though Mischa was teaching English to students in Vietnam.  Although it was really neat they had created a CD across continents, this meant that my date with destiny would only be with Dave, but that was good enough for me

I still had no idea what I was doing.  I had just arrived at this random person’s front porch, but could not figure out what to do next.  My date happened two know one of the two people out on the deck who were sharing a joint as well as smoking cigarettes, and I felt extremely out of place.  I looked through the bay window to see a woman playing guitar in front of about 20 people who were seated on the floor.  No Dave in sight.  My date took out a cigarette as I contemplated what to do next.

I couldn’t knock.  I was sure that somehow all these people were friends and I would stick out like a pimple on a girl’s face at her senior prom.  They’d hear the knocking, the music would stop, and everyone would start whispering to one another trying to figure out who this uninvited guest was.  I was effectively stranded on the deck.

That was until one of the owners of the house came out to make sure the music was not too loud outside.  I quickly said no and asked if it was all right if I came in.  She was incredibly nice and allowed me to come in, and I took a spot standing away from the crowd of best friends in the living room.  Once the girl (other artist touring with Dave, Samantha Murphy) finished her song, Dave emerged with his guitar and began to play.

It was surreal.  I was amazed that not only was I finally seeing this band play, but I was also less than 10 feet away listening to him sing without a microphone.  It was by far the most intimate music experience I’ve ever had.  I stood there and listened as he played about 8 songs that were all incredible.  He finished up and went off into the kitchen to get a drink, and I knew I had to say hi.

I couldn’t even describe how nervous I was to go up and talk to him.  It was like that time in 4^th grade I went to tell Jennifer Corda I liked her, only to be laughed at.  I worked up the courage to say hi and then have no idea what I said to him; I think it was something about him putting on a great show and that I’ve been a huge fan for a few years.  He was really flattered which made me a little less awkward, and then I asked if he’d be up for helping out in an article I wanted to write about him.  He was all for it, and it really made my day.  Maybe even my week.

And while sparks didn’t exactly fly on my date, I still had an unforgettable experience that will be incredibly hard to be topped.