Dave Rave (aka Dave DesRoches) is a musician’s musician. To the general public, he’s the manic Teenage Head rhythm guitarist who graduated to lead singer and catapulted the band back into the charts; but musicians know him as a valued session player (Daniel Lanois, Andrew Loog Oldham, Alex Chilton, and countless others) who can play the best version of a song he’s never heard.
Dave began his music career in his high school years writing songs and performing driving acoustic rock and folk-pop in and around their native Hamilton. This evolved into the wildly popular, The Shakers, from 1979-1982 with Rick Andrews, Tim Gibbons and Claude DesRoches. They charted many singles with albums produced by Daniel Lanois (U2) and Jack Richardson (Guess Who, Alice Cooper). Their garage rockapunkabilly sound ignited the masses during their reign.
Following the break-up of The Shakers, Dave took over as lead singer of the already popular Teenage Head. Dave replaced Frankie Venom who incidentally had worked with Dave on several other projects including a band named Madonna. Dave Rave continued to take Teenage Head on an upward trajectory with radio friendly hits like “Can’t Stop Shakin’”. Dave left Teenage Head after a successful run to try things out on his own.
Often referred to as a Canadian Nick Lowe, Dave was the first North American artist to sign to Russia’s Melodyia record label and recorded Valentino’s Pirates in 1989 as The Dave Rave Group. Bullseye Records re-issued the album for the first time on CD in 2001 and the positive reviews continue to pour in. Media continually noted “his sharp pop intelligence means the songwriting is of high standard.” Dave continues to produce incredible music in a wide variety of genres from jazz to punk, including his foray into post-punk folk during his years with Lauren Agnelli recording several albums and touring as Agnelli & Rave. But it is Dave’s pop sensibilities and his devotion to making music that is honest, intimate and real regardless of whether he touches you with smiles, tears or the occasional urge to pogo in your living room.
The Dave Rave Group is the name that Dave uses on his pop side of his career when recording with a number of different musicians that he works with and has worked with in the past. This second Dave Rave Group album, Everyday Magic, has players from his former bands such as Teenage Head, The Shakers and bands and musicians whose projects his has worked on in either in a musician’s capacity and/or in production roles such as Joe Mannix, Kate Schrock, and The Trews. That being said there are no core members of the Dave Rave Group other than Dave himself. This will be The Dave Rave Group’s second album. |
