Defying labels while blending elements of rock, pop, folk and blues. The themes of love, joy, loss, strength, faith and realization run through Dave Howard's work like a timeless river. Find out why Dave Howard is San Diego's most covered songwriter.

15 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Acoustic, ROCK: Americana



Details:
San Diego singer/songwriter Dave Howard wins a lot of praise from the other acoustic guitar slingers about town, many of whom consider him the cream of the crop.

With his new CD, Unbelievable Unknown, Howard returns the compliment, using many of his peers as backing musicians.

Notables such as A.J.Croce, Wayne Nelson, Jeff Berkley, Dani Carroll, Rick Burkhardt, Sven-Erik Seaholm, and John Katchur beef up Howard's rhythmic strumming and deft picking with drums, percussion, electric guitar, bass, spooky slide guitar, organ, piano, trumpet, and flute.

But the center of attention is always Howard's mellow voice.

It's almost as mellow as James Taylor's, which is to say it's so mellow that it's not depressing when Howard sings, "Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die."

Howard plunges into even darker territory on the song "Thrift Shop Shoes," about a girl growing up poor and abused, ending up in a miserable life of prostitution.

But his voice sounds more at home on "Helluva Highway," a more lighthearted country/rock/blues song that seems like it was written for Bonnie Raitt. (Of course, it would be odd to hear Raitt sing Howard's line, "Broke more hearts than Elvis, burned more bridges than the Vietcong.")

And when Howard sings, "We all need love, what are you afraid of?" or when a flute (also mellow) plays a little counterpoint to the vocal melody on the love song "How I Know," well, it just feels all warm and cozy.

Above review by William Crain, San Diego Reader