David Ramsey
Listener
© 2005 David Ramsey (9324690014774)
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Original songs drawing on the poetry and feel of Folk and Blues with flashes of the Psychedelic
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Born in Western New South Wales in 1973, David’s childhood was characterised by changing scenery. His family moved to a different area of New South Wales every few years, from Gulargambone to Wagga Wagga to Dubbo in the west, from Seven Hills in Sydney to the far North Coast near Byron Bay. David began to learn the guitar in Dubbo at the age of nine, instructed by an Irish Catholic nun whose teaching style was firmly rooted in the Folk tradition. David was taught to sing and strum songs like ‘Tom Dooley’, ‘Paddy Works on the Railroad” and ‘The Streets of Laredo’. David was living in Newcastle by the time he finished school, and began to study Arts at university, as well as continuing to play the guitar and composing songs, largely influenced by The Beatles and Bob Dylan.
In 1992 he became guitarist with the The Hanged Man, an Art-Rock band that attracted a loyal local following. The Hanged Man plus its offshoots (Coffin’ Joe and Dog Rex) performed in Newcastle, Sydney and Brisbane, playing support for acts such as Died Pretty, Kim Salmon & the Surrealists and the Whitlams. After leaving the band, David became involved in the fertile cultural arts scene in Newcastle, performing and hosting events at the original Newcastle Fringe Festivals (from 1996), which over the years evolved into the annual Electrofringe and This Is Not Art festivals.
By 1998 David was performing his songs around Newcastle as half of the acoustic duo Yab-Yum with Rebecca Rushbrook. David relocated to the North Coast of New South Wales in 2001 and began a prolific writing spell, influenced by the creative atmosphere of the area and world events. As well as continuing to listen to his long-time favorites such as Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits and Captain Beefheart, David also immersed himself in the great pre-war Country Blues recordings, absorbing the influences of Charlie Patton, Skip James, Son House, Sleepy John Estes, Blind Willie McTell and Bukka White, among others.
David began to perform his new material on the North Coast music scene with bands the Authorities, the Thirst and Dogsbody, developing a local reputation as a guitarist and songwriter. David was performing his unique Blues material in a Lismore pub in 2003 when he was spotted by songwriter and performer David Virgin (front-man of the influential 1980’s Sydney Post-Punk band Sekret Sekret), who declared David to be “the best Blues guitar player on the North Coast”. During 2004 David Virgin produced David’s debut album ‘Listener’, which was released in early 2005.
David Virgin introduced him to the artist, performer and puppeteer Jimmy Willing, known for his energetic performances with Ragadoll, a legendary act born of the 1980’s Sydney Punk scene. David joined the band Jimmy Willing & the Real Gone Hick-Ups on acoustic guitar, performing alongside Dan Rumour, whose the distinctive electric guitar tones were the basis of the Cruel Sea, the foremost Australian band of the 1990’s. Performing with the Hick-Ups took David to the Tamworth Country Music festival, the Woodford Folk Festival, and on tour with Machine Gun Fellatio. David played and sang on the Hick-Up’s debut self-titled album released in 2005, including the track “Catfish Fishin’”, which features a guest vocal by Christa Hughes, the star cabaret singer who is also known as K.K. Juggy of Machine Gun Fellatio.
David formed the duo D.R.A.M. in 2006, performing original material and electric arrangements of traditional songs with drummer Matt Elliott (of Ragweed, the Hoochers, the Blueskillet Rovers & Thrillbilly Stomp). Together they gigged around the North Coast, creating a stir wherever they played. After meeting Daevid Allen, the timeless and irrepressible front-man of the legendary space-rock band Gong, David suggested they play a gig together. For Daevid Allen it was an opportunity to warm-up for an impending world tour and Gong Family Reunion in Europe, and the gig was so memorable that they did it again upon Daevid’s return from overseas. Performing alongside one of his long-time heroes remains one of the personal highlights of David’s performing career.
David and Matt spent a night of frenetic activity recording their sound live with no overdubs at Fracas Studio in Byron Bay in 2006. The resulting album ‘D.R.A.M. Sessions’ is slated for release in 2009. Around this time David was also lending his guitar and vocal talents to various North Coast acts, gigging with the Box Monsters, Blurter and Black Train. In 2007 he put his hand up to join Country Rock & Roll outfit the Re-Mains on electric guitar, looking forward to a hectic touring and recording schedule; but fate intervened.
On July 4 2007 en route to Darwin for the first gig of a six-week tour around Australia the band's touring van collided with a massive Brahman cow in a remote area of the Australian Outback. The front end of the van collapsed, badly wounding the driver (drummer Grant Bedford), and causing multiple fractures to David's right leg. The cow died instantly. Since then his music career has taken backseat to convalescence in the Blue Mountains with his partner Rebecca and their daughter Romany Rose. The injury was serious and David considers himself lucky to be among the living. He looks forward to continuing his music career with renewed vigor once his surgeon declares that the bones in his leg are fully healed.