Dave Bromberg

Very few of us had even heard of Dave Bromberg before he walked out on to the stage for his solo bluesy-folky set, but he could really play his guitar, and he sang well, and he talked to the crowd and he was funny, so he was well received early on in the Festival before the big names started appearing.

I didn’t know then how talented he is.  Like David Lindley (see an earlier post), he plays a range of stringed instruments, including violin, to a very high standard, and he still plays and tours, on his own and with other musicians.   He worked as a session musician for whole range of performers like Bob Dylan, and Willy Nelson, and Carly Simon; he wrote a song with George Harrison; four of the Grateful Dead played on two of his own albums; and his most recent solo album was nominated for a Grammy in 2007.

His official bio includes this acknowledgement: “An unexpected and wildly successful solo spot at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival in Great Britain led to a solo deal with Columbia Records, for whom David recorded four albums.”  So we helped his career.  Nice.