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Lil' Dave Band "In the spirit of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix, but two beats quicker"" LDB Combines a raucous lead guitar, a versatile "country boy" bass player and a classically technical drummer to deliver a blues-rock sound that is pure adrenaline. Lil' Dave Stuart, Josh Preslar and Leon Baker communicate along a shared subliminal channel delivering streams of blues-rock sound that magnetizes audiences. Their differing musical backgrounds and on-stage connection open the band to unlimited potential success. Except among his peers and a growing clutch of die-hard local fans, Dave Stuart is an unheralded, Raleigh based blues-rock journeyman. Born and raised in a northeast Florida beach town in the 1970's, Dave's Vietnam veteran stepfather spun sounds from the war year's most emotional vinyl at home. Jimi Hendrix, Bob Seger and Creedence Clearwater Revival all combined to form a powerful thread in Dave's early life. At age 9, Dave visited his "blood-dad" in Raleigh for a summer and while getting acquainted, learned a few notes on country guitar. That summer experience and those chords remained with Dave when he returned to Florida. He would not see his biological father again for several years. Florida is a sweltering place to emerge and as a teen Dave marinated in a mix of school, good surf, skateboard scrapes and the power chords of southern rockers Molly Hatchet, The Outlaws and Lynyrd Skynyrd. It wasn't a prep school and on to Harvard beginning. In a roux of street life, rough influence, trouble and potent music a life direction for Dave was not clear. He relocated to Raleigh with his Mom in 1982 at age 14, enrolling at Athens Drive High School, leaving his step-dad behind. Dave first found vindication at age 16 in his Mom's gift, a Global guitar. Remembering his country guitar experience, Dave spent his time listening to 8 track tapes, recreating the licks of Hendrix, Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton. He followed the trails of song's origins by researching liner notes credits. Jimi Hendrix' music led to Muddy Waters and Howlin Wolf, Jimmy Page led to Willie Dixon, all converging into the blues-rock platform that Dave cooks from today. At age 16, Dave dropped out of school and at 18 his seed of guitar stardom was interrupted when he fell afoul of the law and was locked up; an experience Dave says he does not care to repeat. He paid his debt and went to work as a home construction laborer. Gaining musical confidence, he formed his first band, Blue Star, at age 18. Blue Star's first gig was at The Watering Hole on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh. The band lasted about a year and gave Dave his first taste of stage fright that he says "disappeared about two songs in". In 1989, on a Tuesday night jam at a defunct Raleigh club, The Switch, Dave met Mike Davis, a stellar local harmonica player. The two joined forces and formed Lil' Dave and The Howlin Blues Band. This original Lil' Dave band included two guitars; drums, a bass and harmonica, yielding a fat Allman Brothers style southern rock sound. The band played a Raleigh circuit of clubs and cut a CD in 1995. At the time there was hope for big things as Lil' Dave opened for the likes of like Rick Derringer, Wet Willie and Molly Hatchet and earned successful slots on stage at the Memphis and Chicago Blues Festivals in the late 90s . But, financial and other problems kept the band from reaching the next level. The original Lil' Dave and the Howlin Blues band broke up in 2000 and Dave Stuart started Lil' Dave Band in 2002 with Josh Preslar and Leon Baker. The new band is quite different from its predecessor. The three experienced musicians have innate rhythmic chemistry and turn local clubs into blues-rock hurricanes with a list of highly improvised covers including Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Pride and Joy", and a hybrid version of "Suzy Q/Born On The Bayou" equal in energy and crisp chord changes to nothing you'll hear elsewhere. The best, however, are Dave's own songs "Torment", "How Could You", "Lia" and "My Baby Can't Cook", all favorites of drummer Leon Baker. The band's mix of additional improvised covers includes killer versions of Howlin Wolf's "Shake For Me", and "Howlin For My Darlin", B.B. King's "Changing Neighborhoods", Jimi Hendrix' "Who Knows" and "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" and John Lee Hooker's, "Hug You, Squeeze You". E. Jones' "They Call Me Guitar Hurricane" is known as "The Lil' Dave Song" among his fans and is a regular set list number. So what's the big deal about Lil' Dave Band? Compared to most local and national blues-rock talent this band is superior in chemistry, emotional output and pure physical entertainment. Lil' Dave begins its blues-rock numbers in original notes and keys and follows on for several bars smoothly, pulling you in deep to the rhythms and beat. Before you are settled and once a few bars have passed, Dave explodes off the base chords into the blue with powerful chord lines revealing his southern rock past. Here, he mesmerizes audiences with blurred hand motions like charging rail wheels, firing notes with power and precision. Josh and Leon instinctively fall into line creating pouring rhythms that bolster Dave's blasts. In Hendrix form, Dave often bends his vibrato clear around his Stratocaster, creating whirrs and waahs he mimics facially. In one screaming segment of Jimi Hendrix' "Who Knows" you are sure you are landing in hell on an ocean liner. Dave's technique is that impacting. Further, Dave's vocal sound reminds listeners of Bob Dylan, Neil Young or Bob Seger. It's "rough, distinctive and throaty". In his upper range, Dave often projects sweet howls that must have ghostly resonance in the Mississippi Delta cotton fields. Offerings like "Who Knows" and "Suzy Q/Down on the Bayou" deliver his howl. It's not to be missed. When all is said and done Dave, Josh and Leon are a night to remember. Inevitably, at the end of every gig, some new fan can be heard saying, "Damn! I LOVE Lil' Dave". Check out the artist's website: http://www.lildave.com Track List: 1. They Call Me Guitar Hurricane 2. How Could You 3. I've Gotta Change Neighborhoods 4. Mary Had a Little Lamb 5. VooDoo Child 6. Torment 7. Suzy Q/Born on the Bayou 8. Lia 9. Shake For Me Suggested CDs:Other Genres:
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