Troubled country singer Mindy McCready’s late boyfriend, David Wilson, appears to have had considerable issues of his own prior to his death reported on Sunday. The 34-year-old music producer’s demise has been determined a suicide.
Wilson was found in his Arkansas home by local police with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead shortly after being transported to the hospital. He leaves behind a 9-month-old son, Zayne, whom he fathered with McCready.
Aside from his involvement with McCready’s various brushes with the law—the most prominent being the 2011 attempt to abduct and hide McCready’s older son Zander from his grandmother, who had legal custody—there is little to suggest that Wilson had a disturbed lifestyle. Rather, the pieces of his puzzle show a typical Nashville music-scene up-and-comer’s story.
Dave Wilson in 2007 (Photo: Vibe 56 blog)
Wilson signed on as an intern in 2007 at Music Row recording studio Vibe 56, where the owners of the studio described him as a lifelong musician with a history of playing clarinet and keyboards. They also noted he was a “tremendous help to the studio and our clients” and that he brought a “positive vibe” to the establishment.
Vibe 56 closed in April of 2011, but Wilson seemed to have branched out on his own way before that. In 2008 he established a MySpace account for “Dave Wilson Productions,” which he self-described as “a young, innovative music production company based in Nashville” specializing in all genres of music and even offering supplemental services such as web production and photography.
Wilson at work (Photo: Stephen Hunton)
He worked on various projects, including some songs for his friends in his former indie-pop band Boom! Kinetic, for which he was the horn player. A fellow member of the band-turned-photographer returned the favor, taking photos of buddy Wilson to help him build his business. The vibrant 2008 shots show Wilson looking happy and healthy, appearing hard at work on his keyboards.
Wilson's MySpace profile shot
Wilson’s last login to his professional MySpace page was in February 2010. A second MySpace account, appearing to be more of a personal page in which he notes he is "extremely fortunate" and loves music engineering, shows his last login to be in 2011. The link to his official business site is now defunct.
It's unclear exactly when or how Wilson met McCready aside from their shared music connection; however, the young producer clearly made an impact on the often-controversial country star's life. McCready praised her late boyfriend in a statement Monday, saying he was a "caregiver" and a "precious gift from God."