Country/Americana music with a Tropical Twist !
A singer/songwriter originally from the New England area, now based out of Virginia, Dave has always had a love of music. After spending time in his early years exploring different instruments it wasn’t until his mid thirties that he finally decided to learn to play guitar. He quickly mastered some of the basic chords and learned several of his favorite Jimmy Buffett songs, and from there he was off and running. He would spend every spare minute he had practicing and learning new skills, and admits that performing live and writing his own music was what he wanted to do.
In 2007 that dream began to come true, when he started performing live at a few local venues in and around Richmond, and remembers his very first paying gig was out on the patio at a popular pizza place. Since then he has performed as far north in New England and as far south as Key West, and averages over 150 performances yearly. He has also been busy writing original music and has been able to record much of what he has written. In 2013, he released his first studio album “Four Hour Lunch Break” which includes 9 original songs, as well as one of his favorite songs to cover “Bouyancy” which was written by Tom Corcoran and John Frinzi. In 2016 Dave released his second studio album titled “Back In Time”. A collection of 12 original songs written and co-written by Dave. One of those songs “Long View Off A Short Pier” co-written with John H. Cunningham, appears in John’s latest novel “Free Fall To Black” during a cameo appearance by Dave. Other releases include a live acoustic CD “No Daily Grind” of which all 12 songs were either written or co-written by Dave, and also a project called “The Sunroom Sessions” Vol. 1 & 2, which was recorded in the sun room off the back of his house. That project has 18 original songs, some of which were recorded in the studio and appear on “Back In Time”. The remaining songs will be re-released on an upcoming studio album at a later date.
Dave was recently quoted as saying “the last 10 years have brought many fantastic shows, but I have to admit that the shows I have played for Parrotheads have by far been the most fun”. He has been fortunate enough to have played several of the popular 3 day music events that are hosted by Parrothead clubs annually and looks forward to many more in the future. One of his favorites was right in his own backyard and was hosted by the Parrothead Club of Richmond, where Dave was a featured performer for 5 years. Others include Midwinter Meltdown(hosted by the Pirates of the Potomac) where he performed twice, and also the New England Parrothed Club Convention, which was hosted that year by the Parrothead Club of Eastern Massachussetts. His most recent events include Laid Back Attack in beautiful Oplympia WA. in July of 2016 and Pardi-Gras in the French Quarter of New Orleans in 2017. In November of 2015, however, Dave experienced the highlight of his career so far, and was booked as a featured performer by PHIP at the annual 5 day convention known to Parrotheads as Meeting of The Minds in Key West, Florida. This was not Dave’s first time in Key West for Meeting of the Minds, but was his first year as a featured performer.
With a lot of road behind him and so many great memories, Dave looks forward to whatever musical adventures the future will bring him. He continues to write original music, and is always looking for that next great live music venue to perform at.
Check Out Dave McKenney On Facebook
