Noel David

Noel David Muyskens, known to the music world simply as Noel David, is a singer, songwriter, and pianist currently residing in Rhode Island with his beautiful wife and two cats. Noel was born in New Jersey in 1957 to a Presbyterian minister and a highly educated mother who played piano and wanted her son to enjoy the same talent. 

In 1972, Noel, then living in upstate New York, almost stopped playing piano when his mom finally let him quit taking lessons. But thankfully those nine early years of classical training were not wasted. No longer with a teacher, Noel figured out the chords to Stairway to Heaven on piano. This was a revelation, playing what he heard on the radio rather than reading sheet music from another era. 

In college in Michigan, Noel formed a duo with a guitar playing Dylan enthusiast named Zander, and they put together an original act that eventually took them to New York City in 1980. Together they performed at Folk City, made famous by the likes of Simon and Garfunkel as well as Dylan. But reality soon set in and Noel started working in a drug store to pay the bills. Zander went off to grad school.

A few of the songs Noel wrote during this time are still part of his repertoire and were very much influenced by the story-telling style of Paul Simon. More songs that Noel has recorded later in life were written while he was advancing through the management ranks of America’s leading drug store chain. Being a corporate executive was never a comfortable place for Noel; his comfort was at the piano, and in scratching out words that transported him far away from big-city retail.

In 2002, Noel left retail behind to start a slightly less demanding second career in the non-profit sector. During this time, he became the keyboard player for a local cover band. Now he was playing everything from Frank Sinatra to Bruno Mars, while learning to sing harmonies and also singing occasional lead vocals. The band, named the Jim Marrone Trio, worked small venues in the suburbs north of New York City for fifteen years. 

In 2016 Noel recorded “From Blossoms to Fruit,” an instrumental album of original piano compositions infused with counter-melodic cello. He was also yearning to record some of his countless original songs, but shelved this idea until retirement, which arrived along with the pandemic in 2020. Noel and his wife moved then to Rhode Island, where Noel met George Dussault, a grammy-nominated producer with a stable of top musicians to call on. 

Noel’s newest songs are influenced by funk, jazz, folk, and even showtunes. Combined with the best of his early writing, Noel and George set out to record an album of original material with Noel singing lead. The resulting tracks are as easy-listening as the best of today’s adult contemporary music, but with lyrics that remind fans of the most timeless folk artists from the 60s and 70s. There is a bouncy, optimistic pop vibe in “This Perfect Day,” poignant personal reflection in “I’ll Always Be There,” and humorous musings about how much American kids have changed in “Generations.” Each song is highly unique in sound and message, and in the lyrics there is always an underlying search for the broader meaning of life, love, and spirituality.