Basic Folk 123 – Denison Witmer

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Denison Witmer‘s music is gentle and kind, he’s a skilled woodworker, an avid birdwatcher and until 2020 hadn’t made a record for 7 years. Growing up in Lancaster, Denison was lucky enough to get some guitar lessons from Don Peris of The Innocence Mission, a well loved indie-folk band. This led to one of many lasting relationships in music as Don went on to produce some of Denison’s early projects. He also counts Sufjan Stevens and Rosie Thomas among his friends and long-time collaborators, with Sufjan signing Denny to his label and saying something to the effect of “I don’t care if you never sell one album, releasing your music is a public service.” Rosie Thomas, who is the only person, I guess besides me now, that calls him Denny, has experienced life and career in parallel. He talks about what it’s been like to have someone to grow up with like Rosie.

Denison has a beautiful skill in that he is able to truly notice and truly see others. He gets into how this skill has made him a better person and a better songwriter. His latest album, American Foursquare, is written in tribute to his hometown Lancaster, PA, which he and his wife moved to in 2013 and where they have decided to raise their family. Denison talks about raising kids, calling it “the most creative thing that I can do.”  He has also been working on songs for a side project called “Uncle Denny,” where he wrote a song for every day of January 2020. That project has produced some beautiful songs and is available on Bandcamp, a must listen!!

Denison Witmer – Catalina Love

Denny’s latest album, American Foursquare