First off, what brings you out here to the ATP Tennis Tournament?
David- Well, I live in San Francisco, but I grew up in South Florida and right now I’m on a U.S. tour that goes along the East Coast from Florida to New York. I had the pleasure of playing with the Bryan Brothers at a few private parties here and I also played a CD release party at City Limits, which is just a few blocks from the ITC. I’ll be in DC, then New York next week.

I understand this wasn’t the first time you’ve played with the Bryan Brothers so is it the California connection?
David- Exactly, exactly. We met when I opened their charity Gala for the Bryan Brothers Foundation in Sherman Oaks (CA) last September. Through that meeting, we became fast friends and those guys are great musicians and obviously amazing tennis players so one day we just started jamming out at their studio in their garage. When I had my CD release party in LA, they were there playing with me.

Did you worry that you were going to wear them out too much last night?
David- Well, they didn’t come out last night. They had a couple of close matches in the Quarters and Semis so they wanted to rest up for the Finals, which was good since they dominated in the Finals.

Yeah, I was going to say that it’s got to be hard to focus when they’re out there jamming out.
David- It’s true. Fortunately, it worked out for the best and they won and we still got a couple of good performances in before they left so it was great.

Is there kind of a tradeoff with them trying to help you out as far as playing tennis?
David- It’s funny, because they always say “hey, you want to hit,” but I never do it, because I guess I’m worried I’d injure my wrist, which would be pretty bad considering I play piano. I don’t want to jeopardize the tendonitis that’s already brewing in me so I’m always happy just watching.

You could always get a good game of Sting and try to dodge their serve.
David- (laughing) Exactly, exactly or I could just be a line judge.

So you talked about the tour earlier, how long is it running for (beginning and end)?
David- It started officially this past week with the ITC events and the CD release show at City Limits. Basically, I’ve been doing a cross-country tour since October of CD release parties. We’ve sold out San Francisco and the Viper Room in LA, which the Bryan Brothers came on stage and played. Now I’ve got shows at the Signature Theater in DC and at Pianos in Manhattan coming up this Saturday. 

Are you staying along the East Coast only or are there plans to do the West Coast too?
David- I’m doing the East Coast this week, then I’m going back to San Francisco and later a festival appearance in Malibu in May. I also have a couple of headlining shows in LA and back in San Francisco again. In April we’ll be playing with the Bryan Brother again in Houston.

So that means you spend extended time on Haight-Ashbury then?
David- I love Haight-Ashbury, I mean I live right there. It’s a blast.

Is that the area you got your start?
David- I lived there first, but I got started after growing up down here, and then I moved to Stanford to do my undergrad and Master’s degree. The whole time I was there I was the lead singer of a band called The Spins. We toured and made records for about five years, then just this past October I started to try as a solo artist.

Are there any plans to reunite with the old band or is the solo career really the way you want to go?
David- Well, its solo now, but I’m playing with different guys as I cruise around into each city. I have a different band in New York, in Florida, in LA and San Francisco so it’s always keeping it fresh, for sure.

I’ve read that you’ve opened for some big bands, who are some of the biggest you’ve opened for?
David- I’m actually sharing the stage with Lifehouse, Reel Big Fish and Meiko at the show in Malibu in May. I’ve also opened for Sister Sledge and Loverboy, but I’ve just had the good fortune to play with a lot of great up-and-coming singer/songwriters on the West Coast and now on the East Coast as well. Jon Ralston who used to be with Death Cab for Cutie played at the show last night. It was a good mix.

You definitely have an interesting mix too coming up, considering you’ll be sharing the stage with Reel Big Fish…just a bit of a genre twist.
David- Yeah, that’s true. The festivals are cool though, because it’s just a smorgasbord of lots of great talent in different genres.

So you think you’ll be able to get one of them up on stage with you, maybe get a trombone player?
David- Let’s do it. Let’s get the Bryan Brothers, them, maybe another athlete…let’s do it…why not?

Have (Andy) Roddick jamming in the background.
David- I mean (Andy) Roddick apparently has the talent, but I don’t know if he’s playing much lately.

You could always go (John) McEnroe, because you know he could lay it down on the drums.
David- Yeah, he’s got the rage to probably deliver it.

Websites

www.davidbaronmusic.com, MySpace- www.myspace.com/davidbaron, Facebook fanpage- www.facebook.com/pages/David-Baron/17844526299. iLike (www.ilike.com/artist/David+Baron), Twitter (http://twitter.com/davidbaronmusic)

YouTube
David- Every Friday I do different solo songs in my San Francisco apartment, sometimes covers, demos, just a bunch of exciting things to keep fans coming back and checking out my website. dbaron84 is my YouTube page.

So it sounds like you’re a web whore.
David- I think you have to be, especially as a singer/song writer these days. It just comes with the territory. You have to keep in touch with the fans.

Sounds good, thanks.
David- Thank you.

~Shaps