David Randall Shorey – a.k.a. Gashouse Dave – was born in Concord, Massachusetts and played in bands throughout New England, opening for major acts like the Young Rascals, The Animals, The Youngbloods, Jimmy Smith, Starship, Fleetwood Mac and The Doobie Brothers. After a while he packed up the truck and moved to Lake Tahoe and then Mill Valley, where he eventually played bass and guitar with the late Mike Bloomfield for about 4 years, doing tours and recordings on the Takoma, Chrysalis and TK labels. He has also played guitar with a lot of artists, including The Judds, Big Joe Turner, Stevie Wonder, Elvin Bishop and Nick Gravenites, among others.
Gashouse Dave is a bluesman at heart, with a natural lived-in voice that no teenage sensation can approximate. While the music is rooted in the Blues, the lyrics and indeed, the entire vocal attitude are steeped in the literary influences of writers such as Jack Kerouac, Raymond Chandler, William Carlos Williams and many others. His love of music is matched by his passion for the written word.
In fact, he holds a degree in literature, after studying in London and Paris, and even did a few stints teaching English. "I feel like I found friends in books. Early in the game I identified with American writers like Jack London, William Saroyan, John Steinbeck, but drew the line at Hemmingway. I found that I was getting more specific in my quest. I found Bukowski, Raymond Chandler, James Ellroy and Elmore Leonard. The Universe was getting smaller for me. Dee Brown, John C. Neihardt, Robert Anton Wilson, Edgar Cayce, Aleister Crowley, Jules Verne and James Baldwin. I was looking for something in the Brotherhood.
In addition to electric guitar, Dave also plays most of the keyboards, utilizes the dobro as a thematic element and doesn’t hesitate to use what the modern technology can offer. In fact, this californian blues poet mixes the roots of the blues whith what could be its futures.
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