The road to 2026 has been an incredible trip. After being away from music for almost 20 years to raise a family, David Moore retired from a 35 year career in the airline industry, moved to rural northwest Texas, set up his own studio and began work on his first album – Seventeen – released in November 2022. In the Spring of 2024 his third album – Get The Led Out! – was unsurprisingly, a tribute to Led Zeppelin. He’s currently in the studio working on a fourth album A Wink Is As Good As A Nod To A Blind Mule…a tribute to his lifelong friend Jim Patterson…”a very talented musician and a wonderful guitar player,” and one whose lyrics appear on one song from the album, Mysteries Of Life.

David now gets the led out and joins us for a Why I Love on Led Zeppelin.

THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BAND

Having been born in Texas and lived my entire life here I have a certain affinity for Texas musicians…early ZZ Top, Steve Miller Band, SRV, Bugs Henderson and an Austin based band Fastball to name a few. However THE most influential band for me was undoubtedly Led Zeppelin. I remember as a teen riding in a car and hearing Communication Breakdown come on the radio and I immediately asked who the band was.

When I finally had the money to purchase my first albums, the first band I looked for was Led Zeppelin. I wound up getting Led Zeppelin III, which turned out to be quite influential on my style when my sister gave me an acoustic guitar at the age of 16 and I started writing music. Side 2 of the album has a number of acoustic based folk rock songs which really appealed to me.

LEARNING PRODUCTION

However another aspect of Zeppelin, and particularly of Jimmy Page was his production skills. I would lay on my back for hours with speakers on both sides of my head and the album cover over the top and listen to the way the songs were mixed and produced. I did not own headphones, much to the dismay of my siblings.

Because today I produce and mix all my material, I know those hours of studying on my back has a definite influence on my work. The song Ramble On, which is on Led Zeppelin II has some amazing guitar work buried in the mix. Instead of mixing that track out front which would be a temptation, Jimmy left it in the background so it isn’t competing for attention and disrupting the overall sound of the song. The neat part is that it gives a bonus to anyone really listening deeply, and adds another layer to the song.

HEY FELLAS HAVE YOU HEARD THE NEWS?

And speaking of Led Zeppelin II, in the world of judging what guitar solo is the best ever, I humbly submit the solo in Heartbreaker. There are a lot of great guitar solos out there, but for me the Heartbreaker solo, with it’s slow beginning and the way it builds to a crescendo while maintaining a melodic structure, is the king to me. Fait accompli…. I was fortunate to see Zeppelin live in ‘75 and ‘77.…amazing shows from an extremely talented group of musicians. Being a “classic rock” guy and having grown up with the wonderful bands from the 60’ to the 80’s which all had some bearing on my sound, Led Zeppelin undoubtedly reigns supreme in Why I Love….

Our thanks to David for writing on such an inevitable choice …

Here’s Mysteries Of Life:

You can read more from our extensive archive of Why I Love pieces from a wide array of artists on an even wider array of subjects, here.

David Moore / Westridge: Website

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