Dave Vamfer - News letter
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January 2026
I didn’t publish much new music in 2025, only a shorter version of ‘Keep on Coming’. In fact, with a little focused effort, I could have completed and released my second album.
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Trying to move house during the year has been stressful. It looked like it was going to happen at one point, but the move chain fell through. Everything’s back to square one on the moving front. In May I was told that the venue I jam in as a member of a trio was soon changing hands, it was unclear if we would still be able to jam there. It didn’t actually change hands until 24 Oct. We’re still jamming there, though no one has confirmed that we still can. Unfortunately, 2025 also hosted some significant family health issues, and a writers group that I have attended for a long time, closed at the end of the year.
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Did this and other angst cause my lack of published musical output during 2025? Or what is just that I wanted to get my music as perfect as I could before releasing it? Or was I more like a painter who fills a few canvases and is afraid to show them to anyone in case they don’t like them? likely it was all to some degree, but probably more of the latter reason than the first two.
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I did release an updated version of my 'Find the Sound' album during 2025. It has had a fair number of positive reviews. I've shared 2 of my favourite quotes at the end of this letter, together with links to the full reviews should you wish to read them.
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I have finished recording my second album 'Tricks of This Life', but only three of the tracks are processed and ready for publication. Unlike my first album which is quite varied in style, my second album is mostly rock. It contains my most ambitious composition to date, a suite in three parts. It’s based on a song I wrote many years ago called ‘Trying To find The Sound’ which I have previously released as a live track. The new studio recording of the song forms the first part of the suite, the second part is a gentle instrumental, and the final part is a variation on the original song, with additional lyrics. I’ve included a snippet of the live song as a video, and also an audio recording of the new studio version, in this newsletter..​
Trying to Find
the sound
Short Video
​I’ve started work on expanding my 2024 ‘Use Somebody’ EP of cover songs into what I intend to become my third album. Two of the tracks from the EP are being redone. ‘Wild World’ was recorded in 1989 by myself and Moses (a fellow band member from the group ‘Gallop’, that I was in at that time). By the wonders of modern technology, I’ve now isolated the vocals we did together and combined them with a new backing track, I believe this has resulted in a much better track. I’m also redoing ‘Use Somebody’ as I think my current version is a little lacking in rock energy. I’m adding four new tracks: ‘I Shall Be Released’ (Bob Dylan), From Me to You (Lennon & McCartney), ‘Like A Hurricane’ and ‘Birds’ (Neil Young). ​I hope to do ‘Birds’ as a simple recording with just myself on vocal and a classical guitar.
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Not only but also: I’ve done quite a bit of work on five new original tracks which are in various stages of progress. They should be finished in time to release as an EP at some point this year, or maybe form the basis of an album for 2027.
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It’s evident that I need to focus on completing projects and publishing them in 2026. Time will tell.
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Thanks for reading.
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Happy New Year
Dave
‘Throughout Dave Vamfer’s music, listeners can expect an honest voice that speaks of hard-won wisdom, inner passion and letting go of the unnecessary’. Rock Era Magazine 23Nov25
‘He (Dave Vamfer) can get quite detailed lyrically at times, and that also helps you picture everything; sounds like these have soul to them. You can tell that the authenticity is genuine and that he’s pulling from life experience a lot of the time’. Buzz Slayers 25Nov25
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