Dearest website visitor,

I guess I could be really distant and tell you, in some third-person witty description, how I view my own music, but let's not play that game. Let me be sincere. I think you deserve that.

thecitylights* are (is?) David Gwaltney and Chris Newton.

I, David Gwaltney (shameless plug: DavidGwaltney.com), am from Bristol, TN (Congressionally recognized as the birthplace of country music) and now reside in New York City, where I just graduated from NYU's film program. I make music that I would enjoy listening to, and thus, you can often times find me listening to my own music. Call it egotistical. I call it selfless. I'm not sure who is right here.

Chris Newton, my best friend of countless years and bandmate, moved to Bristol in elementary school. Somewhere in middle school, we started playing music together, making biology rock songs and later forming various high school bands (with me usually on bass and silent). Now, Chris joins me once again on percussion and harmonies.

Although thecitylights* used to mainly be a shell for my own music, in the coming months, you will start to see more of Chris's material. This is a BAND, not just singular personalities. This excites me.

As for the lack of capitals and spacing and the convenient placement of an asterisk at the end, it's simply because there is a The City Lights of Australia. I don't want to confuse the world's iTunes library. I'm not pretentious (that's a lie...I did go to film school). It's just a name--a name, I think, that has kind of grown on me.

And, hey: thank you for visiting.