Born in a small town in Maryland called Havre de Grace (have-er-duh-grace); Dave Birks was a Baby Boomer raised on the shores of the glistening Chesapeake Bay. His musical ability was discovered at age 6 when he would sit at the piano and pick out “Yankee Doodle” on the keys.

 

Dave sang in an all-male choir at St. Patrick’s in Maryland when he was ten and picked up his first guitar at twelve. He bought his own guitar at fifteen, and in 1965, began jamming with Joe Pascuzzi; who’s band “Time Will Tell” is still popular in Maryland. Moving north to New England at 16, Dave joined folk singing groups, Top-40 bands, and country bands; all the while expanding his musical horizons.  

 

In 1972, Dave spent a year in Orlando, Florida, playing the “chitlin circuit” with Louisianan bluesman Harmonica Fats as well as R&B artist Jerry Newman & the Barefooters. This was musically and socially a powerful growth experience for a white Irish-Catholic teenager from New Hampshire. His time in the Southern Blues scene brought even further depth to his already broad-based musical influences.