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BIO

Dave is a veteran musician, who has rocked the eastern half of the US including audiences in Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia, as well as Jamaica and Puerto Rico.

 

Dave was born in Jersey City, NJ on August 4th.  His first instrument was a set of drums he received at Christmas, around the age of 5.  His older brother got the guitar (which he never played).  One day, in a sibling brawl, Dave put his foot through the body of his brother's acoustic guitar.  Mom and dad were not amused.

 

At age 8, Dave received his first guitar.  It wasn't until he was almost 10 that he began taking guitar lessons.  Dave studied with several teachers through his grammar school days.  By early high school, Dave was studying classical guitar.  Dave studied classical guitar for three years, one of which was with the renowned classical guitarist, Emmett Finley of the Bayonne Conservatory of Music. 

 

From 1976 through 1986 Dave had played in many cover bands, covering artists such as Black Sabbath, Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, Robin Trower, Deep Purple, The Scorpions, Led Zeppelin, Kiss, Van Halen, Sammy Hagar, Foreigner, The Cars, The Ramones, Joan Jett, Lita Ford, KC and the Sunshine Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Outlaws, Donna Summer, Devo, Tom Petty, BTO, CCR and many, many more.  Some of the bands that Dave played in during this time were Satelyte, Black Fury, Lazarus, X-Caliber, Rampage, The Satelytes, a Southern Rock band (name unknown), The Cone Heads, The Resistors and Partner's in Crime.  Between 1980 and 1983 and again between 2008 and 2011, in addition to performing, Dave worked privately as a guitar instructor.

 

In 1986, while living in Cleveland, OH, Dave joined Stone Pony, an original hard rock band.  Although Dave was already writing original music, it was here that he began to focus on original material.  Since then, Dave has split his energies between various cover projects and his original music, under the project name Leatherfish.  ​

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In 1990, Dave took a much needed break from music, to pursue other things.  As fate would have it, the break lasted longer than anybody could have imagined.  It wasn’t until 1995 when Dave began writing and recording again and not until 2001 for him to return to the stage.

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Since 2001, Dave has played with the original bands, Fillher, Chipper Dove, Bullcock, The Jersey Syndicate, Jaded Past and Pistol Paranoia and with cover bands Smokin' Rose, Hard Luck, Volume 11, If 6 Was 9, Modern 8-Track, Fully Loaded, Fistacuffs, Shooting Blanks, Whiskey Sweet, Rocco and The Machine, Miss Demeanor, The DJC Trio Earthgrinders, 2nd Chance and Crank Box.  Dave is currently a member of Twisted Ginger and also performs as an acoustic solo artist.

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The electric shows from Twisted Ginger are high-energy, kick-ass rock and roll covering a wide range of genres.  The band showcases Dave's distinct guitar playing skills as well as lead singer, Mandy Shi’s powerful vocals and sax and flute talents.  The band is rounded out by Phil Fiore on vocals, bass guitar and keyboards and Russ Ippoliti on drums.

 

The solo acoustic show is a raw and intimate evening of entertaining, feel-good classic, modern and party rock and country that everyone knows, loves, toe-taps to and sings along with.

 

Whether its electric or acoustic, Dave loves when his audience comes up to sing with him and dance with him.  Restaurants, bars, fundraisers, private parties, clubs, benefits, happy hours, home town fairs and special events are all familiar environments that Dave performs at.

 

Dave uses EVH, LTD, Moniker, Gibson, Jackson, Charvel, BC Rich, Fender, Hard Luck Kings, Epiphone, Kramer, Hamer, Martin, Ovation, Takamine, Ibanez, Aria and Epiphone guitars and basses, Kawai, Yamaha and Korg keyboards, Ernie Ball, Martin and D’Addario strings, Fender and Duncan picks, Headrush, TC Electronics, TC Helicon, Zoom, Boss, Morley, Digitech, Akai, Korg, Tascam, Alesis and ART electronics, Shure and MXL microphones, Boss/Katana, Blackstar, Quilter, Bugera, Crate, Peavey, Marshall and Roland amps and Line 6 and Samson wireless systems.

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