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Some people like to over pack when they are just going away for the weekend. So, you would think if you’re gearing up to hit the road for two months, you’d put some careful planning into what you’re bringing.
Not Dave Welsh, lead guitarist from Denver-based rock group, the Fray. We spoke with him the day before he and his bandmates were leaving for a major U.S. tour promoting their new self-titled album and he seemed blissfully unconcerned about how much underwear to pack and whether or not he has enough T-shirts.
We were happy to find out that three of the four members of The Fray still reside in Colorado and that they remain humble to their roots. Chatting with Dave was like catching up with an old friend from high school; we talked about everything from the Mile High Music Festival, which the Fray is headlining this year, to which Colorado bars they unwind at.
How is prepping life for the road these days?
I actually think it is going to be alright. We actually leave tomorrow for the road. Just getting the final ounces of time home and then I am gone.
Do you have everything packed already?
No, no. Packing comes within the last hour before I leave. I kind of procrastinate.
Typical guy.
[Laughs] Yeah, exactly. You end up just throwing a whole bunch of clothes in a suitcase and venturing on.
Do you ever run into your old Ralston Valley High School friends and make it seem like old times?
[Laughs] Uhm, I don’t know. Sometimes I think I am gone enough that I end up avoiding that superficial "Hey how have you been?" catch-up conversations. I was actually just at a friend's wedding and ran into a bunch of old high school friends. We were all kind of drunk so it didn’t really matter all that much.
Do you typically have a lot of people from your past in Denver that you weren’t really close with that act like you were best friends now that you’re famous?
Uh, I definitely encounter it occasionally. It isn’t as bad as you would think, though, for some reason. My wife and I fly pretty low on the radar so we have a small group of people we hang out with and keep it pretty low key.
So is your wife from Colorado as well?
Yeah, we met in high school. We’re high school sweethearts.
Awww, really?
Yeah.
Does she actually come with you to a Colorado show?
Oh yeah, she will definitely try and come out to one of our shows. But, you know she is busy enough at home herself, so she’ll come out occasionally.
So you guys don’t still live in Colorado then?
Oh yes, we do.
Oh, you do? We weren’t sure if you made the move to L.A. or not…
No, no we’re still here. We have been here for a long time.
That’s so refreshing to know that you still keep to your roots.
Yeah, we love it here.
Is there a favorite restaurant in Denver that you like to dine at in your spare time?
That’s a good question. Yeah, there is one in the Highlands that has been open for a while now, for like two to three years, but it is called Z Cuisine, don’t know if you have been there, but it is an amazing French restaurant and the chef is actually a French transplant, really funny guy, who talks your ear off even though it is in a French accent and you can’t understand half of it.
Smile and nod.
Yeah, exactly, but it is great. It is very out of the city, you feel like you’re not in Denver when you’re there.
So you make it to the Highlands. Is there a fun bar that you guys like to sing karaoke at or anything?
[Laughs] I think the day I sing karaoke in a bar is the day the world starts spinning the other way.
Ha, you guys don’t sing the Fray for karaoke?
Yeah, not exactly. If we want a good, low key time, we hit up Thin Man quite a bit over on 17th. It is pretty chill.
What is it like for being the poster children for Denver bands?
Uh, you know, I think in one regard it is humbling because there are a lot of bands here that are really fantastic. I was actually just at the Hi-Dive watching the Wheel and they are probably one of the best I have heard in a long time.
Are you the only band member that lives in Colorado or do you all live here?
Actually, three out of the four live here. And Ben the drummer is out in San Francisco, but he has actually made plans to return in a year or so because his wife is out doing some graduate schooling and once they’re done with that they’ll come back. We’re going to be effectively a Denver band for a long time.
Do you guys ever talk about doing "secret shows" anywhere?
Yeah, I mean we entertain that idea a lot actually. You know just because a lot of our favorite clubs here are smaller and they’re the places that have a lot of nostalgia to them and history with us. Yeah, it would be amazing to go play a secret show at the Fox someday or a night at the Bluebird, or wherever. It is all about figuring that out.
And getting everyone together…
Yeah, exactly.
You’re going to do the Mile High Music Festival in July. Are you excited there is a huge music festival like the Mile High in Colorado now?
In a way, it is kind of amazing that it took so long to get a festival here…given the proximity to Boulder and that it’s a college town and that youthful vibe, it seems like we should have had a music festival a long time ago. It is great that we have one going now and last year’s festival was amazing. This year we’re excited to support it and go on board with it and hopefully it turns out as great as last year.
Is there a favorite Colorado sports team that you guys root on?
[Laughs] I am really bad with sports and I have generally no idea what’s going on. However, a lot of our crew and Joe [King, guitarist], actually, was pretty involved with the Nuggets this year. So I kind of faked interest in them for a little while and cheered them on for a couple games and then they lost and everyone was sad, so I moved on.
We have to ask this question: Did you really find God at 1st and Amistad [from the song "You Found Me"]?
Well, I will tell you this—it wasn’t intended to be that way, and then our producer actually Google mapped it and found a proper intersection in Texas somewhere. It is an intersection of a dirt road and another dirt road and they’re actually named those streets. So it exists, but unintentionally.
