User:Racecarmuse/sandbox

Racecar is a studio band formed in 2004 and the moniker / brainchild of Dave Alyassin who had released previous albums under variations of his own name, David Alyassin & Alyassin.

Dave began writing songs in about 1985 in the San Francisco bay area after dropping out of college and working at Oh La La coffee shop in the heart of downtown San Francisco.

It was moving (back) to Santa Fe, New Mexico and releasing his first solo album in 2000 which began the wheels spinning for the first Racecar album. The inspiration was fueled by his first marriage and becoming a father. Dave essentially took over the name, and the copyright to the name Racecar, for his music endeavors. Previous to that and still, the name had been and is used by an alternative rock / jazz band out of the Mid-west. In about 2003 there was some legal wrangling between Dave and the original copyright owners over the name Racecar. Dave owned the copyright however they were the first to use the name.

With the confidence of 3 albums released under his own name, Dave set out to release a rock o' rama CD revealing his heavy sixties and seventies rock influenced original songs. The album was essentially engineered by David Cragin who has won numerous production awards including for Racecar's second release, Dance Like a Ghost.

In 2004, against the advise of all the "How to Succeed in Music" books and articles, Dave shot-gunned "Racecar", the debut, to every record label & radio station he could. Literally he sent the CD to record labels, companies and radio stations worldwide. Within months the album was getting airplay on local and digital radio stations in the U.S., Europe and Asia. The song "Mystical Ages" was the most popular song off the album however "Into the Distance", a Kid Rock inspired tune, was a close 2nd in popularity. Numerous magazine articles came out about the album. Dave was interviewed by radio stations and magazines. "Mystical Ages" was recognized by VH1's Save the Music Foundation and released on numerous compilations including one with ties to the Guess Who's original Canadian record label.

Dave set his sights on an amazing, bigger & better production. Over the next four years he recorded the overly produced "Spruce Goose", clean and entertaining but lacking the soul & grit the Soul of the debut. The album eventually won best Alternative Rock CD in New Mexico in 2008 after suffering a colossal marketing failure.

Eventually, after the demise of Dance Like a Ghost and the dissolution of his marriage, Dave let the copyright to the name Racecar lapse and "evolutioned" to the name "Racecar Muse" as a potential moniker. Between 2009-2015 Dave has written some of his best material. As a single, struggling dad, there is little or no money for recording as 2016 "races" toward us all. Upon a chance meeting with his old band mate, Vance Holmes, they have agreed to get together and record.