David Rasner
Vocals/Bottleneck Guitar/Mandolin/Percussion
Dave was born in Spain. In 1972, a hippie boarder who was staying at his Abuela’s house gave him a Mad Magazine and his first record: a heavily scratched copy of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. He also remembers how much he loved when his dad played Al Green’s Full of Fire and even better when dad put on his harmonica holder and played Jimmy Reed songs for Dave. When the family moved to the states and Dave started playing his dad’s guitar, dad finally let him have the 3 records he had wanted: Bobby Bland and B. B. King Together Again...Live, The Best of Muddy Waters, and Lightning Hopkins’ (Folkways Label). Those were his Mel Bay books. His dad also turned him onto the Ink Spots and Harry Belafonte. High School brought New Wave, Van Halen, The Stray Cats, X, Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff and Two Tone into his life . The Vaughan Brothers shifted him off his whole musical axis; leading him back to the blues; and, eventually, to his sensei David Bernstein. Bernstein showed him Wynonie Harris, Little Willie John, Little Milton, et. al., Flint’s BBQ, and Mario’s Bohemian Cigar Store Cafe meatball subs. But, everything changed when J. Sampietro gave him a copy of Ry Cooder’s Borderline. Everything. Ry remains Dave’s idol, his guitar teacher/guru, and his portal to the great underappreciated American songbook. Through almost all of this, John has been there for him. He really is his untucked soul brother.