'One of Canada's most tasteful and accomplished acoustic guitarists'

June 13, 2022 

Dave and David Francey:
together again

One of the key relationships in Dave's musical life is his friendship and  collaboration with celebrated singer-songwriter David Francey.

Dave was an early champion of David's music, the two Davids toured together in the early 2000s and Dave co-produced two of David's Juno-winning albums.

Now the pair are reuniting for three tracks on David's upcoming album, including a beautiful new song called The Breath Between. Dave will also join David for two live performances in Ontario over the next couple of months, including a show at the Royal Canadian Legion in Huntsville on June 22 and a headlining gig at the Upper Canada Folkfest in Prescott on Aug. 27.

Dave and David have made some beautiful music over the years. Here's to more of the same!

May 17, 2022 

R.I.P. Michael Wrycraft 

Like so many musicians in Canada, we were saddened to learn of the death of Michael Wrycraft, a brilliant album cover designer and a passionate friend and music lover. 

Michael designed the cover of two Dave Clarke albums, The Healing Garden and Reunion (shown here), as well as the most recent Steel Rail album, Coming Home. He was a larger than life individual and someone who made a profound contribution to the roots music community in Canada. 

You can read more about Michael's life in this Roots Music Canada article. He will be greatly missed. 

February 5, 2022 

Music and more on Just Us Folk

Depending on whether you believe the prediction of Wiarton Willie or newcomer Lucy the Lobster, winter is nearly over -- or it's not.

No matter who's right, good conversation and good music can warm up the coldest day. There's plenty of both on Just Us Folk, the weekly show by Jan Vanderhorst devoted to roots and acoustic music.

On this week's show, Dave joins Jan for a discussion of his latest album, The Healing Garden. Jan, a longtime musical friend, elicits some interesting observations and plays music by not only Dave but Gurf Morlix, Ken Dunn and Mike Trask and Julie Aubé, among others. You can hear the show here. 

Thanks, as always, for the support, Jan!

January 14, 2022 

A Dave Clarke day on Freewheeling Folk

That's the way venerable folk DJ Jim Marino is describing the January 15 edition of his Freewheeling Folk Show on 93.3 CFMU in Hamilton, Ont.

Jim is featuring Dave's band, Steel Rail, in the first half hour of the show, starting at 9:30 a.m. After 10, the focus is on Dave's music and a Martin Luther King tribute, with Dave speaking with Jim live starting at 11 a.m.

The show will also look at Dave's West Coast bluegrass band, Shearwater, at the end of the program.

You can read more on the Freewheeling Folk Facebook page here.

Jim's show is now in its 28th year at CFMU, the station at McMaster University. Thanks for the support, Jim, not only of Steel Rail and Dave, but hundreds of other folk artists over the past three decades.

January 9, 2022 

The 'healing' part of The Healing Garden

A new article on Roots Music Canada delves into how Dave came to write the tunes on his latest album The Healing Garden.

The article, by the venerable folk DJ Jan Vanderhorst, is an up-close-and-personal glimpse into the creative period that followed Dave's illness and recovery a decade ago. In less skilful hands, that could be a little lugubrious, but the interview is a celebration of music and the musical friendship between Jan and Dave.

Thanks for the conversation and the article, Jan!

 

January 8, 2022 

Dave on Dave on Chris

Thanks to Ottawa-based folk maven Chris White, who spent 40 minutes of his January 8 Canadian Spaces show talking with Dave about his latest album. The conversation touches on the Beatles, legendary Montreal folk venues of the 1970s, Dave's 1938 Martin D-18 guitar -- and, of course, the music on CFMA-nominated The Healing Garden.

If you have not been fortunate enough to encounter it, Canadian Spaces on CKCU in Ottawa is Canada's longest running folk music radio program and routinely features some of the best music in the country. His Jan. 8 show also features Christine Graves and Terra Spencer, both worth getting to know.

The discussion about how the Lennon-McCartney (but really Lennon) song Across the Universe ended up on an album of guitar instrumentals is particularly interesting.

Thanks again, Chris.

 

October 18, 2021 

CFMA nomination!

We're delighted to announce that Dave is one of five nominees in the solo instrumental category at the Canadian Folk Music Awards.

Dave joins Olivier Demers, Maneli Jamal, Adam Young and Cédric Dind-Lavoie in the category Instrumental Solo Artist of the Year. Dave was nominated for his album The Healing Garden.

The CFMAs will be held on the weekend of April 1-3, 2022.

You can read about all the amazing nominees here.

Thanks to all the organizers and judges who make these great awards happen.

February 15, 2021 

International recognition from the IAMA

Great news -- Dave's instrumental A Thousand Days Like This was a winner at the U.S.-based International Acoustic Music Awards, announced Feb. 12.  

The song, one of 12 on Dave's new album The Healing Garden, was first runner-up in the Instrumental category. Top prize went to another guitarist, John McMillan. 

The IAMA awards recognize excellence in acoustic music, and judging is based on performance, songwriting/composition/song choice, music production and originality/artistry. 

Musicians from around the world enter the IAMAs every year. 

A Thousand Days Like This was written on the verandah of Dave's home in Victoria, B.C. on a beautiful summer afternoon. The title was inspired by an old friend, the late pianist and music critic Eric McLean, who would raise a glass on particularly special evenings and utter an Italian toast: “Cento di questi giorni.”

If you'd like to see the winners in other IAMA categories, click here. 

And stay tuned for more news about Dave's new album, The Healing Garden, which gets its official launch this month.

 

January 9, 2021 

Dave joins Carolyn Mark's virtual hootenany

Dave joins a talented gang on Sunday, Jan. 10 as part of Carolyn Mark's popular virtual hootenany.

If you haven't yet discovered Carolyn yet, she's an alt-country sparkplug based on the West Coast. Her weekly hootenany features an array of performers that share a love for roots music and musical values. She's calling the Jan. 10 session "The Dave Clark(e) Edition" and it features three (not five) Dave C's, including this one.

Look for this Dave to chime in early in the "hoot," around 7:30 Eastern, but everyone plays a three-song set, so you won't want to be late.

Carolyn Mark's Virtual Hootenany starts at 7:15 Eastern. Here's how you can listen:

https://www.facebook.com/events/214010206652549/

 

December 5, 2020 

New album The Healing Garden is here!

Great news -- Dave's long-awaited second release of guitar instrumentals has arrived!The Haling Garden

The Healing Garden features 12 tunes that detail Dave's life in Western Canada and his brush with cancer.

The melodies with titles like A Thousand Days Like This, River Valley and Prairie Lullaby evoke his time in Victoria and Edmonton, and the title track, The Healing Garden, captures the hope he felt when he looked out of his hospital window and saw workers creating a healing garden.

All but one of the songs are originals; the final track is Across the Universe by John Lennon, a song that came to mean a great deal to Dave as he recovered.

The album will have its official release in January, but it is now on sale for people who might want to give the gift of music and hope for the holidays. (This is Dave's wife writing the post, not Dave, who is too modest to say any of it.)

If you would like a preview, please click here to hear A Thousand Days Like This, The Healing Garden and more.

PS the beautiful album design is by the brilliant designer Michael Wrycraft, whose site is here: A Man Called Wrycraft.

Back home in Montreal

There’s no place like home.

That’s certainly been the experience of Dave Clarke, who is back in his home town of Montreal after a nine-year ramble across the Canadian West that took him all the way to Vancouver Island and back again.

Even better, he has just released his third solo album, a compilation of guitar instrumentals that is called The Healing Garden.

You can find out more about all of Dave's solo work -- The Healing Garden, Reunion (2007) and Guitar Songs (2002) -- on the Music page.

By the way, that's Dave's 1938 Martin D-18 at the top of this page: it has been his constant companion since he ordered it, sight unseen, from Elderly Instruments in Michigan way back in 1980.
 

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