Almost Who I Am (TOTR 520)

-originally aired on WTTU 88.5 FM The Nest on Saturday, February 21 , 2026

-episode audio archive posted after the live show

-featuring a career-spanning set from David Wimbish, who is coming to Cookeville on Wednesday, February 25th to perform at Mean Mel’s

-all views only represent the host, the guests, & the artists played, never the student managers or the Communication department or the university

Fourteen years ago in a steamy sweaty summer field in North Carolina, a shambling collective of earnest folk pop singers emerged from the crowd to crush & caress us & themselves with ecstatic praise, poised with dirty grit, all that summer mud on the singer’s bare feet. I was swept in, to stay. 

Emerging from the underground of the worship music scene, The Collection brought the fierce communal energy of groups like Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros or the still mesmerizing Mumford & Sons. More than a decade later, David Wimbish & The Collection are a touring solo artist who has faced his mental health demons & emerged defiant from the other side. 

It’s been a joy to track his career over all these years & watch him embrace honest vulnerability in ways that disarm & humble me, again & again. From our first meeting, he was happy to embrace playing shows in Cookeville, even though it was an unconventional college town that most artists skipped. 

It’s thrilling to present this career arc retrospective & reflective mix, alongside a recent interview conducted about a week ago over video call, all in anticipation of David’s return to Cookeville. 

David Wimbish & The Collection - Almost Who I Am 

Pinkerton Raid - The Were The Children 

Nathan Evans Fox - Some Lights

David Wimbish & The Collection - Brother

David Wimbish & The Collection - My Country Tis of Me

David Wimbish & The Collection - Dancin’ in the Mud

David Wimbish & The Collection - Dirt 

David Wimbish & The Collection - The Art of Dying

David Wimbish & The Collection - Some Days I Don’t Want To Sing  (O’ Death Where Is Thy Sting?)

David Wimbish & The Collection - Mama 

David Wimbish & The Collection - Birds

David Wimbish & The Collection - Left Of Your Joy

David Wimbish & The Collection - Becoming My Own Home 

David Wimbish & The Collection - Won’t Stop Yet - One More Hour

David Wimbish & The Collection - Love Me More

David Wimbish & The Collection - Medication - Deserve To Be Well

-Interview with David Wimbish

David Wimbish & The Collection - Beautiful Life - Just Can’t Get Enough

-Interview with David Wimbish

David Wimbish & The Collection - The Weather - Too Tired To Cry

David Wimbish & The Collection - You - Taste Like Wine

David Wimbish & The Collection - Take It With You

David Wimbish & The Collection - Rose Colored Glasses

David Wimbish & The Collection - Get Lost 

[photo credits: David at the End in Nashville 2024 by TOTR; David at Wild Goose in 2012 by TOTR; Andrew greeting David at Wild Goose in 2013 - photo by Scott Griesel]