Born and raised in Southern Utah, David picked up the guitar at age thirteen, following a serious injury to his right arm that curtailed a bright future in piano. The guitar, however, proved a perfect fit for his multifaceted style of playing and composition. He fell in love with the clean strumming and poetic lyricism of Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell, and James Taylor. By eighteen, he was ensconced in the progressive rock movement of the 1970’s, playing the music of Yes, Genesis, ELP, and Jethro Tull while remaining loyal to his folk roots.
A promising music career was derailed by circumstance when he married and had four daughters. Out of necessity, he attended beauty school and found he loved cutting hair almost as much as playing music. He stayed faithful to his passion for musical expression throughout his marriage and divorce, even while he was raising his two youngest daughters as a single father. The pain of his divorce drove him to start writing songs, and he created a huge body of empowerment music, aimed at helping himself and others break free of the emotional chains that bind them. Around the same time, he met his classical guitar partner, Paul Barfuss, and began learning and arranging pieces for classical guitar. The two musicians collaborated on a Christmas CD of guitar duets, which remains his most successful record to date. His first major break came when he was commissioned to write a song for Gary Zukav’s book, The Seat off the Soul. He began playing and speaking at empowerment conferences all over the continent.
In 2007, he moved to Austin, Texas to connect with other musicians and become part of the rich music community. There he discovered a gift for pop jazz and began writing songs for local jazz singer Corrina Kalish. He had found a home in Austin, but he missed his daughters and grandchildren, so he moved back to St George, Utah to be closer to them. On his return, he continued work with on his new tunes with his daughter Ali, a talented jazz singer. In April 2010, he met Christina and started writing a new set of songs with her, while continuing to write pop jazz. He spends his time going to music festivals, playing his guitars, and riding his bike.
