Dave Sharp. All Images Subject To Copyright
Dave Sharp was an original member of The Alarm until the surprise departure of front-man, Mike Peters, in 1991.
Post-Alarm, Dave headed for the USA, did a lot of touring and hooked up with the legendary producer, Bob Johnston (Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash and many more) to develop his successful solo career.
Dave’s had an amazing career, meeting, recording and performing with legends such as Willie Nelson and Neil Young.
He made appearances at the Farm Aid and Earth day festivals, alongside people such as Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie and Billy Bragg.
He has performed alongside Kris Kristofferson, Bill Munroe and Porter Wagoner, amongst others.
Steve Johnson caught up with Dave for Keep Cardiff Live and got an insight his philosophy of it being ‘A mighty hard road to be travlin’ down…
1989 saw the US release coast-to-coast hit album, Change, and #1 AOR single, ‘Sold Me Down the River’, from British rock band, The Alarm. Sadly, 1991 saw the surprise departure of the band’s lead singer.
Dave Sharp, co-founder of The Alarm had that previous year enlisted the help of legendary maverick record producer Bob Johnston (Dylan, Willie Nelson & Leonard Cohen) to help cut his first solo record. It was a determined young man who walked through the doors at The Hit Factory NYC in December 1990, and in under a week Sharp’s album Hard Travlin’ had been recorded, mixed and delivered for release to IRS Records.
A relentless two-year period of Stateside touring followed including appearances at Farm Aid concerts and Earth Day celebrations before Sharp returned to New York City in 1992 to perform for an audience of 25,000 gathered in Central Park to celebrate the 80th birthday of folk legend Woody Guthrie. It was a seminal event for Dave Sharp who performed alongside Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie and Billy Bragg and shared the stage with The Right Reverend Jessie Jackson.
In 1996 Sharp once again teamed up with producer Bob Johnston entering Credence Clearwater Revival’s studio in San Francisco to record and release his second solo album, Downtown America. Two underground hits followed, ‘The Ghost of Preacher Casey’ and ‘Give Me Back My Job’, which both received healthy rotation across the board at American radio and led to television appearances on country music’s Nashville Network.
Dave Sharp’s solo albums have received positive critical recognition on both sides of the Atlantic and over the past decade and a half Sharp has been fortunate to work alongside many of the artists he has long respected. Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash have appeared on his recordings. He has performed alongside Kris Kristofferson, Bill Munroe and Porter Wagoner. Whether solo or with a band, guitar in hand, Dave Sharp delivers the “Spirit of Rock & Roll.”
Dave Sharp. Image Subject To Copyright
His music has been described as everything from folk and blues to rock, country and punk; his performances as legendary however one word can never be used to describe Dave Sharp: “Predictable.”
Dave Sharp has embraced mainstream popular culture whilst at the same time remaining one step away from its grasp . . . he likes it that way!
‘It’s a Mighty Hard Road to be Travlin’ Down.’ Dave Sharp writes it, sings it and lives it.