David Baxter Obituary, Death Cause – Baxter David Gavan. Over the past several years, there have been so many losses that it has been difficult to cope with the pain.
David informed me he didn’t have much time left when we spoke on the phone last Saturday. To sit with him and his family and friends, I had to travel to Toronto.
All one could aspire for was a farewell like Bax’s. Friends would visit him on a daily basis to talk to him, sing to him, and hold his hand. Several of us gathered around his bed on Wednesday night and sang songs. It was hysterical. He was overseeing, producing, shouting out chord changes,
and informing Kevin Breit that there were “too many chords” despite being exhausted and weak. He had a rougher day the next day, but he managed to express how much the affection meant to him. He even received a note from his guitar hero, Tom Bukovac, which he gratefully accepted. I feel really fortunate to have spent three days with him. to have had the opportunity to tell him tales of our friendship and play him songs. He was among my initial converts. My support system. My mentor.
When none else did, he still had faith in me. And he was really grumpy. He may make you go crazy.
He was involved in many different endeavors over his life, although most people know him as a producer and guitarist. He wrote excellent songs. I was a 25-year-old single mother with a budding music career when we first met. I arrived to Ward’s Island’s Jambo, owned by Joanne Mackell. I originally met a lot of my Toronto-based musical pals there. I asked David jokingly if he wanted to dance since everyone else was doing it. “I don’t know how to waltz,” he remarked. “Me either, we can make our own waltz,” I remarked. This served as the inspiration for a co-write. We went on tours and recorded albums together. He made a ton of friends and musicians for me.
