David L. Sharp

My name is Dave Sharp, musician, songwriter, humanitarian, Christian, sixth-generation American. I reside in Montgomery County, Maryland. Many may know of my musical group, the American Hot Club Band. We play 60s rock and 60s soul, plus some 50s rockabilly and a few originals. You can learn about the AHCB at the following URL:

The American Hot Club Band is a four-piece guitar-oriented band with a play list of 60s rock and soul tunes, some 50s rockabilly, and a few originals. I believe it is important to establish a core sound in order to present original material properly. In pop music, the best way to develop a style is to play lots of covers and learn what style is best for you, and it also helps to read a little about the history of rock music. There's no question that its hey-day was in the 60s. We jump around a bit between styles. We're not a Beatles tribute band, but we're definitely grounded in the 60s.

I try to incorporate each band member's personality, but the sound mainly centers around me because I sing most of the songs, play guitar, keyboards and harmonica. I typically alternate between keyboards, four guitars (Gretsch, Rickenbacker, Carvin, Alvarez/acoustic), harmonica, and bottle-neck slide guitar.

Our 60s show includes songs by the Beatles, Dave Clark Five, Kinks, Moody Blues, Byrds, Yardbirds, Rolling Stones, Sam Cook, Ray Charles, Temptations, Otis Redding, Sly & the Family Stone, Rascals, Van Morrison, Youngbloods, Canned Heat, CCR, Jimi Hendrix, Procol Harum, Santana. We also play a few 50s tunes by Elvis, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Buddy Holly.

Over the years, I have written numerous songs and released two CDs. I have played the Washington, DC blues circuit with Blind Date (also known as Problem Child), expressed my inner child with the originals rock band Dave Sharp and Enemies of the People, played in party band Cartel, played the Southern Maryland beach music circuit with Teezin With Fred, and played in a folk duo (The Dave Sharp Duo) with bassist Scott Harlan.

The American Hot Club Band will release a new album/CD in the near future, so stay tuned for details.

You can here us on the band site by going to the demo page (http://www.americanhcb.com) and clicking the MP3 audio. The site also has a video

Musical Influences

For me, everything started with the Beatles, particularly John Lennon and Paul McCartney. I'm probably in the minority, but I view McCartney as the primary melodic composer, and Lennon as a brilliant lyricist. That was the essence of their partnership, in my opinion. But there was an interesting twist because Lennon was also an outstanding guitarist, so he was capable of writing entire songs on his own. McCartney had limited talent as a lyricist and does not do that well on his own, whereas, Lennon could hold his own as a solo artist. Even so, Lennon's music was never quite as good as when he and McCartney were partners, in my opinion. Many of the great Lennon-McCartney songs were songs that were mostly Paul's, but John added a lyrical line that gave the song real teeth. A prime example of this is We Can Work it Out. It's essentially Paul's song, words and music, but John wrote the lyrics to the bridge: "Life is very short, and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend..." The song would be nothing without those words, but it was technically Paul's song. I think in many ways, Lennon was as much a producer for the Beatles as a band member. He was a creative artist as well, but he had the gift of bringing out the best in other people, which made him look great too. McCartney was more self-centered, but a brilliant melody composer.

As a musician who plays in lots of clubs, I have to admit that the Rolling Stones' music fits that scene much better than the Beatles. Growing up, I was never a huge Stones fan, but I have to give them their dues. They know their stuff when it comes to rock and roll and roots blues music. They did a lot to educate people about that musical genre, which really exploded in the 60s. Crowds consistently go wild when we play Stones tunes, so they are definitely a force to be acknowledged and respected.

I always liked the Byrds — their harmonies, and particularly their 12-string Rickenbacker guitar sound. They openly admit that they copied the Beatles' instrumentation. (Roger McGuinn played a Rickenbacker, David Crosby played a Gretsch.) By copying the Beatles superficially, they expanded their own creative capabilities and came up with a new sound that was much different from the Beatles. Their music doesn't get crowds rowdy like Stones tunes, but a solid rendition of Turn Turn Turn generally gets a full round of applauds at most venues. Most people want humanity to grow and prosper in a positive way, which is reflected in the lyrics of that particular song.

The Yardbirds were an amazing band. They gave us a glimpse into the future of rock music. They were the first band I heard to use distorted guitars. And they had the best guitarists in the business, starting with Eric Clapton who was replaced by Jeff Beck, who was joined by Jimmy Page. The band eventually morphed into Led Zeppelin. I'm a big fan of the late Keith Relf, front man for the Yardbirds. He wasn't the greatest singer around, but he sang with a lot of heart, and his harmonica playing is highly underrated. I realize now that he was heavily influenced by Howlin' Wolf, one of the all time great blues singers and blues harmonica players.

One of my favorite R&B singers is Sam Cook. He probably influenced as many white rock singers as blacks who emerged during the 60s and later. Rod Stewart is definitely a Sam Cook disciple. Sam Cooke at the Copa is one of the greatest live pop albums ever made.

Ray Charles is obviously another R&B great. Like the Stones, his music grabs audiences at most venues. Solid renditions of What'd I Say and Georgia will generally win an audience as fast as anything. He was a dynamic artist — great vocalist, great piano player, sax player. He played R&B, straight blues, pop, jazz, country. He could play anything.

I like playing Van Morrison tunes because generally I deliver them well, and they get great crowd reaction. His stuff is often a case of just letting the songs win the audience, just sing the song.

We play the Youngbloods' rendition of Get Together, which is very big this days because there is so much opposition to the Iraq War. When I'm on stage, I don't make speeches, I just sing and play. We consistently get positive crowd reaction to Get Together, at virtually all venues, which is a larger political statement from the people than anything I can verbalize or write.

Elvis Presley is still the king in many venues. Songs like Love Me Tender, I Can't Help Falling in Love, and Good Rockin' Tonight are great crowd pleasers. And we play the Elvis version of Blue Suede Shoes, written by Carl Perkins, which sends people through the roof. Perkins is a highly underrated 50s artist. The Beatles recorded more covers written by him than anyone else. That says a lot.

Buddy Holly deserves a lot of credit for the British Invasion sound. The British rockers copied his electric guitar playing style and his aggressive performing style. He was a true artist because he wrote many styles of music in a relatively short period of time. We play a solid rendition of True Love Ways.

Jimi Hendrix was a great guitarist. He was an aggressive player who remained true to the blues, but he presented things in a different way to make them fit the times. He did a lot of things that the old blues guitarists did, like playing guitar with his teeth and behind his head. As someone who grew up in the American South, I was always amazed at how many young white teenage boys of my generation, not only admired Hendrix, but wanted to be Hendrix. Lots of southern whites loved soul music, but nobody I knew wanted to be James Brown or Otis Redding or Ray Charles. But they definitely wanted to Jimi Hendrix, as much as they wanted to be John Lennon or Paul McCartney or Mick Jagger. This was in the segregated South in the late 60s, early 70s. Many of these teenage boys who loved Hendrix were racist in every other sense, but when it came to Hendrix, all bets were off.

Eric Clapton was my idol as a teenager. I was a huge Cream fan, but one of my favorite albums of all time was the double album with Derek and Dominoes. Clapton's brief partnership with Duane Allman was truly breathtaking. My interested in Clapton has faded because of his problems with substance abuse. I was unaware of those problems for many years, but I lost interest in him because I didn't care for his music as the years passed. Eventually I realized that his music suffered because of his addictions. It's all explained in his autobiography, which I highly recommend. According to the book, Clapton and Hendrix were close friends. Clapton cites the sudden and unexpected death of Hendrix as a major factor that pushed him into substance abuse. That's double-tragedy.

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