Born and raised on a farm in Saskatchewan, Dave first picked up the 5 string banjo at the age of 12. Hislove for Bluegrass, Folk and Fiddle music soon gave him opportunities to travel and play gigs around Western Canada.
After high school he moved to Alberta and studied Jazz Guitar at Grant MacEwan University. In Edmonton Dave started playing music for a living backing up Country artists. He then moved to Vancouver to pursue a career there.
Dave continued to back up artists and worked with Colin James, Dallas Smith, Chad Brownlee and The High Bar Gang to name some. In Vancouver Dave also began recording for artists. He was lucky enough to record Banjo on the 4x Platinum hit, TWO HEADS by Coleman Hell. During that time he also won a British Columbia Country Music Award, a Canadian Gospel Music Award and received Canadian Country Music and Juno nominations.
Dave and his wife, Kirby Barber, also a musician, moved to Nashville to continue to pursue music. In Nashville Dave started working with artists such as The Chieftains, Heidi Newfield (Trick Pony), Jordan Smith (American Idol Winner) and High Valley.
When the Covid Pandemic happened, Dave and Kirby moved back to Canada. During that time Dave started to pursue the current release, Molly’s Eyes, an all instrument album.
Molly’s Eyes is a culmination of some of Dave’s biggest influences and experiences. Those influences and experiences all meld into an album that has been a long time coming. You will hear some Chet Atkins, Bill Frisell and Django Reinhardt to name few.
Dave now lives in Penticton B.C. where he is mostly playing shows under his own name. Teaching music lessons and also hosting, along with his wife, a singer songwriter night at the renowned, Dream Cafe.