Dave has been playing solo ever since 1995 when he made his live debut aged 18 at the legendary International Bar Songwriters Nights run by Dave Murphy in Dublin. Over the next few years Dave shared a stage there and elsewhere with some of Ireland’s greatest singers including Christy Moore, Paul Brady, Luka Bloom, Declan Ó’Rourke, Damien Rice and Damien Dempsey.

As he was developing his songwriting skills, Dave played lead guitar in the Dublin band ‘Maize’ with whom he played many gigs, including support slots to top Irish acts like The Frames and Mundy. Alas, Maize broke up in the late 90’s, so Dave concentrated on his solo career.

Dave is not your usual ‘I want to slit my wrists’ songwriter, so his songs provide a refreshing change from the norm. Indeed some of his songs are marked by a biting satirical humour. A prime example of which is ‘Ducks’, an ironic look at how the life of the ducks on the grand canal in Dublin is a lot like the life of many humans who walk by them every day!

Dave is no novelty act however and the songs he has written with the Poet/Lyricist Pádraic Ó’Beírn demonstrate how easily Dave can move from ironic humour to ethereal beauty. Their song ‘Lullaby’ is one of the most haunting lullabies you will ever hear.

The year 2000 was vital in Dave’s development as a songwriter because in the summer of that year he met Pádraic at a songwriter’s convention organised by IMRO. They decided to write together and something clicked. Within a few minutes Dave had composed music to Pádraic’s beautiful poem ‘Woodlands’, and this song remains one of the finest songs in Dave’s repertoire.

They’ve since written some more gems together, five of which have been recorded on Dave’s debut album ‘Draíocht’, ‘Dráiocht will be available to purchase soon, but in the meantime below are some samples of songs from the album.

Songwriter Links

Here are some links to some of my favourite songwriters:

www.paulsimon.com - Paul Simon is in my opinion the greatest all-round songwriter alive. In 1999, I was priviliged to see him perform a double headline concert with Bob Dylan in Madison Square Gardens, New York. Dylan is often called the greatest songwriter ever, but at this concert Paul Simon proved he is at the very least Dylan's equal.

www.annscott.net - Ann is one of my favourite songwriters. She has a great voice, a unique guitar style and writes great songs. I recorded some demos with her a few years back. Unfortunately they were stolen and now neither of us has a copy. It's such a shame because they were really good!
 
www.shaycotter.com -Shay is a good friend of mine (sometimes!), he is one of flashiest guitarists in Ireland and he writes some great songs with a bluesy ragtime feel. I recorded guitar on a couple of tracks on his second album 'Medication Time'. This album is available to buy on his website so go and buy it (even though I don't get a penny from it!).

www.seanneedham.com - Sean is a great singer-songwriter from Donegal. I recorded some demos with him a few years back. They used to be on his website but they don't seem to be there anymore. If he gets enough requests for them maybe they'll reappear.

www.declanorourke.com - Declan is one of the best of the new breed of Irish singer-songwriters. He's a fantastic singer and guitarist and his songs are unique. We never actually worked together although we always talked about it. Who knows what'll happen in the future, but in the mean-time Delcan has recently re-released his platinum selling debut album ‘Since Kyabram’.

www.damiendempsey.com - Damo is already a legend in Ireland and he's the same age as me! He's one of the best live performers you'll ever see and his songs are the modern folk songs of Ireland. He's like Bob Marley, Christy Moore and Luke Kelly in one big package. Everyone I know loves him and you will too.

www.thomasmapfumo.com – The legendary ‘Lion of Zimbabwe’ Thomas Mapfumo is one of Africa’s great stars and one of my favourite songwriters. With his band The Blacks Unlimited he has developed the ‘Chimurenga’ sound which has defined his peoples struggles against oppression and corruption. I dedicated a composition for guitar quartet to him; it is simply called ‘Chimurenga’.