Uncommon Ground ^ Dave Golden

Dave Golden
The Press
"A highlight and a perfect end to an amazing weekend of music."
- Nuvo Weekly, Indianapolis

"Edgy and poetic Dave Golden has quickly become a favorite."
- Americana Tonight, Nashville

"Up-and-coming singer/songwriter Dave Golden was an interesting change from the usual... a definite Austin City Limits atmosphere. His songs echo John Lee Hooker's definition of the blues. He made a point of being accessible to the audience."
- Entertainment Today, Los Angeles

"Country Joe McDonald would be proud."
- Radio Crystal Blue, NYC

The Bio
A New York City native with family roots in Tennessee, Golden began his music career as a teenager, playing in and composing for bands throughout NYC. There was the avant garde jazz combo, the all-percussion ensemble, the jam band, the punk rock outfit, the cabaret singers, the classical stuff...

At 18, Golden's jazz combo won back-to-back awards from Downbeat Magazine and embarked on their first tour, playing spots like the Montreux Jazz Festival where he found himself in the company of greats like Ray Charles, Eric Clapton and BB King. When the tour ended, he stayed briefly in Europe, taking a job at a paper mill in Finland and he nearly abandon performing completely, playing only in private for close friends.

In the years that followed, wanderlust would take over, and Golden would find himself in the tango halls of Argentina, on the snow-covered Berkshire border of Vermont and Massachusetts, in the halls of Oxford, in the jungles of Guatemala and even in Asia on a Fulbright.

It was in the Berkshires where Golden's muse reawakened, as he simultaneously schooled himself in contemporary composition and the more traditional musics of the mountains he was living in. In late 2004, he wrote a film score for Sometimes the Neighbor, which took 1st Prize at the Pioneer Film Festival. Golden began writing folk and American roots music and later that year was awarded a Future of Music Scholarship. Within weeks of his first performance, he had catapulted onto the songwriter scene and was being invited to play at summer festivals across the country. Nashville's Americana Tonight took notice, writing "in just a few short months Dave Golden has attracted the industry 'A' list to his door."

His debut album, How To Breathe, was released independently in 2006 and reached #2 on CDStreet's sales charts, knocking off David Crosby for the #1 acoustic spot. A live album is due out in 2008 and his full-length studio debut is in the works. Come catch one of his intimate performances while he's in town!

"There are thousands of bands out there, but there are only a handful of artists. Dave Golden, m'boy! There's Dylan, Cash, Leonard, Willie and Golden. Count 'em on one hand. Everybody's looking for people who sound like other people, but then you get these guys and you don't say 'who's that?' cause they don't sound like anyone else... A true artist. A real original. You can't hold 'im down, you can only set 'im back!"
- Legendary Producer, Bob Johnston, comparing Dave to (Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen, Willie Nelson)

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