Guitar Vocalist #3405

Dave is a full-time professional artist with over 30 years experience in 'The Biz'. He is an Entertainer, Guitar Player and Classically Trained Singer who loves involving the audience in his act. Dave also has radio, national TV and solo theatre appearances at major London theatres such as the London Palladium and Her Majesty's Theatre to his credit.

Catering for all ages, he has built a considerable reputation in the UK, where he has worked the circuit Nationwide, notching up 1,000s of live performances since 1995. He can and does cover material from the worlds of Swing, Country, Irish, Reggae, Ska, Indie, Rock, 50s Rock 'n' Roll and cover anything from acoustic work to party occasions.

With a repertoire of over 800 songs, which he is constantly updating, he is considered one of the most versatile acts in the business today and is self contained with his own high quality PA system. He is pleased to say that he is almost always re-booked!

Reviews From Lemonrock - UK's Largest Live Music Guide


This was the first time I had seen the multi-talented Mr Dawson in action although he has been a professional entertainer for more than 20 years, including appearances at the London Palladium.

Choosing from a repertoire of 800 songs he launched into the Paul Weller classic ballad "You Do Something To Me", showing immediately the excellent tonal quality of his voice and some fine acoustic guitar playing.

Swapping from acoustic to electric guitar Dave worked his way through numbers like Eddie Cochran's rocker "Summertime Blues" and Eric Clapton's "Layla" while his terrific sense of humour shone through in Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" where the lyrics changed to "I shot a man in Croxley".

The variety of songs during the evening was stunning: from blues to Irish (Dave actually sounded as if he was from the Emerald Isle when he performed "The Irish Rover") to a Frank Sinatra tribute (Dave puts on his hat for a swinging version of "Mack The Knife") to pop (Ray Davies' "Lola") to reggae (with UB40's "Kingston Town"). Then, delighting his audience and demonstrating his entertainment worth, Dave even included a Neil Diamond impersonation. (Mr Dawson got through to the final stages of 'Stars In Their Eyes' many years ago performing as the Brooklyn star.)
Always accommodating Dave also enjoys taking audience requests.

Kicking off part two with some outstanding audience participation on Irish favourites "Dirty Old Town" and "The Wild Rover" Dave was then joined by pub regular, Albert, who stepped up to demonstrate his harmonica talents in Canned Heat's "Let's Work Together" after which Dave's versatility was further displayed through a medley of Shadows' instrumental hits and a near-perfect interpretation of Peter Sarstedt's sixties' hit "Where Do You Go To My Lovely" before leading into what undoubtedly proved to be the two highlights of the evening in a magnificent version of Johnny Cash's clever song "Wanted Man", which was brilliantly performed, followed by a simply stunning interpretation of Jerry Jeff Walkers jazzy number, "Mr Bojangles". In this Dave acted his way through the powerful song, which was a joy to see and hear and ended up, for me, as probably the most moving presentation of a song I have ever witnessed by an artist performing in a pub!

I am already looking forward to seeing Dave again and next time, hopefully, with a much bigger audience so he can show even more of his talents.
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If the residents of Greenhill went there for a quiet life, they reckoned without Dave, who literally seemed to bring a ray of sunshine into the room. As Dave began singing, the Sun suddenly streamed through the windows as he regaled the audience with songs from many genres and cultures, singing and playing guitar (an expensive Telecaster, no less!) and like a musically friendly schoolmaster, chiding the initially lethargic listeners into singing, dancing, and all round merriment.

It's been mentioned many times how well Dave plays an audience, and this was an illustration of that. Another well-known facet Dave brings to the table is his ability to pull songs of many styles out of the hat he wears with a Sinatra tilt to it, one moment an East End medley, the next reggae, and even "Sweet Molly Malone", then to please a couple of Scotsmen in the audience, "When you were Sweet Sixteen".

Surely a maestro at work.
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Mr Variety brought his many talents to the cosy Woodman and quickly showed regulars why he is one of the most in-demand performers in the entire south of England.

Luck was on Dave's side as a woman called Anita was celebrating her 40th birthday and there was a ready-made, well-lubricated group of locals ready for a right old party night, which meant plenty of dancers for a delighted Dave.

Dave started in acoustic mode playing guitar and singing a collection of catchy pop hits - George Michael's rhythmic "Faith", Stealer's Wheel's jangly "Stuck In The Middle" and Cat Stevens' uplifting "Wild World".

Then came Dave's piece de resistance, his beautifully sung (and acted) performance of Jerry Jeff Walker's "Mr Bojangles" presented with sensitivity and deep emotion. It was to Dave's total credit that the loud party of birthday guests went silent while he presented his 'masterpiece'. "It's all downhill from here", he joked.

Mr Variety continued with a couple more swing numbers, "Mack The Knife" and "Ain't That A Kick In The Head" before bringing out his electric guitar for Chuck Berry's "You Never Can Tell" and the Shadows' "Foot Tapper."

Dave can switch from one style of music to another at the drop of his hat which he wears for most of his performance. It's a handy tool to have in your box and he can cover virtually all kinds of requests (well, perhaps not one for Beyonce or the Bingo PLayers). So, as soon as someone shouted out for "something Irish", he rattled off "Dirty Old Town", "The Wild Rover" and "The Irish Rover", which featured an impressive guitar solo.

Dave's Cockney delivery made Blur's "Parklife" a perfect choice and the Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black" got a great response from punters.

Dave kicked off the second half using his trusted Telecaster and birthday girl Anita showed she had a powerful set of lungs providing back-up vocals on "Mustang Sally".
Second half highlights included a highly enjoyable version of 10CC's reggae hit "Dreadlock Holiday"; a raucous interpretation of the Surfaris' instrumental "Wipe Out" and a medley of three songs, "Lola", "Sunny Afternoon" and "That's Entertainment", all featuring Mr Dawson on acoustic guitar.

Dave's humour shone through again when he started "I Saw Her Standing There" with "she was just 17 - I didn't touch her".

Two Johnny Cash songs, "Ring Of Fire" and the complex "Wanted Man" were well received and he was brave enough to tackle the Jacques Brel composition "Jackie", made famous by Scott Walker. Not many pub entertainers would go anywhere near a song that difficult.

The evening ended with a reprise of "Mr Bojangles" and everybody went home happy, including Dave, who will almost certainly be re-booked by the Woodman.

• Massive Repertoire
  
• Most Genres Covered
  
• Fully self contained, own P.A. System
  
• 30 Years Experience
  
• Twice Nominated Lemonrock Artist Of The Week (UK's Largest Music Guide)
  
• Renowned For Ability To Engae With Audience
  
• Improvisational Abilities
  
• Many References Available
  
• Featured service provider on both the Care Home UK and Housing Care national websites
  
• Extremely reliable
  
• Stage Clothes
  
• Adaptability
  
• Flexibility