BIOGRAPHY
Co-founder of Celtic progressive/folk/rock/band IONA, with whom he toured the world and released 13 critically acclaimed albums, Dave’s multi-faceted career as a solo artist, keyboardist, guitarist, bouzouki player, composer, improviser, producer, arranger and sound mixer has led him into many musical genres and work with numerous artists including Strawbs, Lifesigns, Troy Donockley, Jack Bruce, Buddy Guy, Nick Beggs, Gloria Gaynor, Moya Brennan, Robert Fripp, Phil Keaggy, Paul Jones, The Norman Beaker Band, Damian Wilson, Nick Fletcher, ‘Snake’ Davis, Adrian Snell, PP Arnold, Mollie Marriott, Dave Kerzner and many others.
Winner of the BBC Radio 2 Best Jazz soloist award (piano) and the Sam Hood Rosebowl for Outstanding Performance during his time at Leeds Music College (where he graduated with a first class pass, including distinction in arranging), Dave has composed soundtracks for numerous short films, TV and multimedia productions and has co-written a guitar concerto with Classic FM favourite Nick Fletcher.
Current live projects include Dave's band Celestial Fire and duo concerts with singer / multi instrumentalist Sally Minnear. Dave is also keyboardist for the legendary Strawbs on their electric band tours and album recordings, and guitarist/keys player for Lifesigns (featuring John Young).
Dave has released three solo albums. 'Veil of Gossamer' (2004), ‘Celestial Fire’, (2014) and ‘The Remembering’ (2016 - the most recent is Dave's first solo piano album). There have also been several collaborative albums and DVD releases with both Troy Donockley (Nightwish) and David Fitzgerald (Iona co-founder). The Celestial Fire band 'Live in the UK' dvd/2cd was released in 2017, and 'Live in the Studio', his first release with Sally Minnear was released in 2018.
When not touring, Dave can be found in his Open Sky studio facility, recording, producing, mixing and writing. He has produced 12 albums for Iona, all his own solo and collaborative albums, and projects for several other artists in genres ranging from acoustic jazz through classical guitar to progressive rock.
Dave is a Vintage Guitars endorsee.