I’ve been blessed to perform and record with many musicians in the two cities I’ve called home for most of my life, MKE and PDX. There are some bands and artists for whom recordings and venues have come to symbolize periods of my life, and I’m grateful to all the people that have participated in the musical projects I’ve been a part of, as audience members, listeners to recordings, friends, musicians, sound professionals, photographers, artists, fans, frenemies, whatever.

Here then, are a few of those “Old Scrolls” recordings.

Star Witness

The brainchild of Chris Allen, formerly of Hungry Mob Productions, and lead vocalist Fern Capella, Star Witness released two tracks on which I play viola and violin in 2012. Listen below, or download for free at http://www.reverbnation.com/starwitness.

Moriarty (Guy Fiorentini, Johnny Washday, Dave Rohan, Amy Rohan)

I cut my teeth and learned to play rock violin and mandolin in Moriarty, a rock quartet.

Mode M / Church of the Get Down

“Tickle your Cattails” was produced by Miri Stebivka and Darka Dusty, under the name Mode M, for their compilation album Church of the Get Down, a fundraiser CD dedicated to Pendarvis Farm. Pendarvis Farm hosts Portland-area music festival Pickathon each year since 2006. In 2008, the farm was in danger of losing section of its land to city development, which could have threatened the future of the festival, Dusty wrote me in an email.

I have only been to the Pickathon once, when I volunteered. But, as the tune, on which I play violin (around 4:30 into the heavily-layered track), indicates in Scott Pendarvis’ own words, the farm has been besieged by those who weren’t exactly down with the communitarian message of those involved with making music and art there. This situation has since changed, Dusty writes, and the city of Happy Valley now fully embraces Pickathon and considers it its crown jewel.

Sigmund Snopek

Perhaps the one time in my life I’ll be called upon to do a professional whistling track, Milwaukee Musician and Violent Femmes collaborator recorded me for a rock opera he was finishing called “Trinity Seas.”

Send me an email if you want me to send you a copy of the track.

One Drum (Jahmes “Tony” Finlayson, David Stocker, Jeff Green, Julio Pabon, Cecilio Negron, David Wake, Roman Edirisinghe, Holly Haebig)

With One Drum I toured the East Coast, played the Knitting Factory and South Miami Beach. We played many gigs around Milwaukee’s East Side, in Riverwest, and I never knew quite who was going to show up — it was a “project” or collaboration more than a traditional “band” — but whew, there were moments when we played some badass Latin Borinquen grooves, African jams, Middle Eastern stuff, Brazilian capoeira music that was haunting, beautiful and hypnotizing.

Check out their website at onedrum.net

David Stocker is also involved in art projects including Pan Arts Chicagoand The Grove.