T
wo of my favorite pleasures
in life are music and wine.
The third might actually
be marketing, and when I
stumbled upon David Pack’s
Napa Crossroads CD, I found all
three bundled into one. David Pack,
is a musical trailblazer and the more
I have gotten to know him during
the interview process, the more
impressed I become.
David is a Grammy Award-winning
musician and producer. He began
his career as the lead vocalist and
guitarist with the rock group
Ambrosia, popular in the 1970s and
1980s, with top hits like You’re the
Only Woman (You & I) and my
personal favorite Biggest Part Of
Me. He has sold over 40 million units
worldwide as both a performer and
producer combined. He’s produced
for incredible artists like Wynonna,
Phil Collins, Aretha Franklin and
Kenny Loggins, to name only a few.
He served as music director/producer
for former President Bill Clinton’s
inaugurations in January 1993 and
1997. This guy has been making and
driving the most popular music we’ve
been listening to for decades.
David Pac
Napa Crossr
a Toast to M
By Sherrie Wilkolaski
Somewhere in between his top 40
hits and Grammy Awards ceremonies,
he’s found the time to enjoy wine.
I mean really enjoy wine. He takes as
much pride in his music as he does in
being an oenophile. Out of his passion
for both art forms blossomed the
Napa Crossroads project. Here is
what he has to say about the venture.
“Napa Valley and me are old friends.
The grapes speak to me, the land
soothes me, and the people move me
like nowhere on earth. This project is
my love letter to Napa Valley. Every
song was written and recorded there.
The primary inspiration is my five
winery partners who contributed
greatly to make this happen. We
worked joyously to weave their
life-stories into these songs and
create a time capsule to preserve
the memory of friends and a time
that will never again be.”
The CD is a compilation of 15 songs,
performed by David and other
talented musicians such as Alan
Parsons, Bela Fleck and Todd
Rundgren to name a few. I had seen
the list of performers on the cover,
but decided that I didn’t want to go
through the song list, that I would
just listen. It was just about cocktail
time, so I called a dear friend of
mine to get together for a drink, as
I wanted to get the full experience.
I poured myself a glass of my
favorite Napa Valley chardonnay
and my friend Carol a glass of Pinot
Tap to play a song from
David Pack’s Napa Crossroads
my love for the music became deeper.
I started off asking David about
where his love of wine came from. It
turns out a fellow musician got him
hooked with a bottle of French wine.
Grigio. She typically drinks an Italian
varietal, but we grabbed her second
favorite, which is from Napa, to stay
with the theme. We touched our
glasses together and made a toast
to Napa Valley and hit play. We were
not disappointed. It is perfect mood
music, from start to finish.
“Alan Parsons introduced me to
French wine in the mid 70s when
he was involved in both mixing and
producing our first two Ambrosia
As I learned more about the project,
1
albums. Then he was producing Al
Stewart’s ‘Year of the Cat’ record,
asked me to sing on it, and Al turned
out to be ‘the man’ when it came to
collecting, and extolling the virtues
of the best of French wine–including
La Tache, which he bought caseloads of yearly.
“That awakened me to the ‘fine art’