David Brent Keuning (born March 28, 1976) is an American musician, best known for his role as the

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the feature ...

ist of the rock band

The Killers The Killers are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Las Vegas in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After going through a number of short-term bass players and drum ...

, which he founded alongside

Brandon Flowers Brandon Richard Flowers (born June 21, 1981) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and philanthropist, best known as the lead singer, keyboardist, and occasional bassist of the Las Vegas-based rock band the Killers. In addition to his ...

in 2001 and with whom he has recorded six studio albums. Keuning played every show with The Killers since its inception up until the show at Chicago's

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Mus ...

in August 2017. From 2017 to the end of 2020, Keuning was on hiatus from the band. He returned to The Killers to help record their 2021 album '' Pressure Machine''. Keuning released a solo album titled '' Prismism'' under his surname Keuning in 2019.

Personal life

David Brent Keuning was born and brought up in

Pella, Iowa Pella is a city in Marion County, Iowa, United States, with a population of 10,464 at the time of the 2020 U.S. Census. Founded by immigrants from the Netherlands, it is forty miles southeast of Des Moines. Pella is the home of Central College, ...

by parents Charles and Sandra. He has one older brother, Kevin Keuning. He started to play guitar just before entering Pella Community High School where he played in the jazz band. In his senior year the group won state champions class 3A. In 2000 Keuning moved to

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

."The Killers' Dave Keuning"
''

Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' is an American popular magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political ...

'', February 2010 issue. He found work at the

Banana Republic In political science, the term banana republic describes a politically unstable country with an economy dependent upon the export of natural resources. In 1904, the American author O. Henry coined the term to describe Honduras and neighboring ...

store in The Venetian Hotel and Casino on The Strip. David Brent Keuning married Emilie Keuning on October 20th, 2018. He has one son, Kyler Keuning, born September 17th, 2005.

Career

Keuning placed an ad in the local ''

Las Vegas Weekly ''Las Vegas Weekly'' is a free alternative weekly newspaper based in Henderson, Nevada, covering Las Vegas arts, entertainment, culture and news. ''Las Vegas Weekly'' is published by Greenspun Media Group. The paper was founded in 1992 by James ...

'' looking to form a band, mentioning

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment Brandon Flowers Brandon Richard Flowers (born June 21, 1981) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and philanthropist, best known as the lead singer, keyboardist, and occasional bassist of the Las Vegas-based rock band the Killers. In addition to his ...

, who shared Keuning's love of groups such as New Order and the Cure, answered it, only to have Keuning promptly hand him a TASCAM-recorded four-track demo of " Mr. Brightside".
The Killers Bio ''VH1.com'' Keuning announced in August 2017 that he would not be joining the band to Wonderful Wonderful World Tour, tour in supporting their fifth studio album, '' Wonderful Wonderful'', although he would remain a member of the group. Keuning did not contribute to The Killers' sixth album, '' Imploding the Mirage,'' but joined the band again in studio in early 2021 to work on their seventh album, '' Pressure Machine''. He debuted his solo music with the release of his first single "Restless Legs" under the moniker Keuning. The assemblage of new music, created by Keuning in his San Diego home studio, was taken from hundreds of voice memos that he stockpiled while on tour with the Killers over the previous decade that evolved into songs. Keuning's debut album, '' Prismism'', was released on January 25, 2019, and is a collection of 14 tracks with almost all instruments played by Keuning himself.

Playing style

Keuning is noted as a guitarist for playing anthemic and soaring solos in addition to sweetened and often percussive style playing frequently. He is also noted for his "unusual voicings" and "digit-distending, string-skipping" finger work on the guitar in similar fashion of

Andy Summers Andrew James Summers (born 31 December 1942), is an English guitarist who was a member of the rock band The Police. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a band member in 2003. Summers has recorded solo albums, collaborated w ...

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Poli ...

. Keuning was featured in ''

Guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

'' magazine in May 2009 and ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original arti ...

'' in February 2009,Bosso, Joe
"The Killers: All Killer No Filler"
''

Magazine''. March 26, 2009. ''

'' in January 2008 and February 2010, and ''Guitar Aficionado'' in January 2013. In 2010, Keuning's guitar riff in "Mr. Brightside" was voted at number 9 in ''

Total Guitar ''Total Guitar'' is a monthly music magazine based in Bath, the United Kingdom, that has been in circulation since 1994. The magazine is owned by Future plc, who publish many other magazines ranging from drums and video games to technology ma ...

s 50 greatest riffs of the 21st Century so far.

Influences

Keuning cites influences such as

The Edge David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), better known as the Edge or simply Edge,McCormick (2006), pp. 21, 23–24 is an English-born Irish musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist, keyboardist, and backing voca ...

Robert Smith Robert Smith or Bob Smith, or similar, may refer to: Business * Robert MacKay Smith (1802–1888), Scottish businessman, meteorologist and philanthropist who founded Glasgow University's Mackay Smith Prizes * Robert Barr Smith (1824–1915), ...

Bernard Sumner Bernard Sumner (born 4 January 1956) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is a founding member of the bands Joy Division, New Order, and Electronic. Sumner was an early force in several areas, including the po ...

Billy Corgan William Patrick Corgan Jr. (born March 17, 1967) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the lead singer, primary songwriter, guitarist, and only permanent member of the rock band th ...

, Jimi Hendrix,

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

, George Harrison,

Angus Young Angus McKinnon Young (born 31 March 1955) is an Australian musician, best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, songwriter, and only remaining original member of the hard rock band AC/DC. He is known for his energetic performances, school ...

, and

Mick Mars Robert Alan Deal (born May 4, 1951), known professionally as Mick Mars, is an American musician and the retired lead guitarist and co-founder of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe. He is known for his aggressive, melodic solos and bluesy rif ...

Equipment

Guitars *

Gibson ES-335 The Gibson ES-335 is the world's first commercial semi-hollowbody electric guitar, sometimes known as semi-acoustic. Released by the Gibson Guitar Corporation as part of its ES (Electric Spanish) series in 1958, it is neither fully hollow nor fu ...

Fender Starcaster The Fender Starcaster is a series of semi-hollowbody electric guitars made by the Fender company. The Starcaster was part of Fender's attempt to enter the semi-hollowbody market, which was dominated by Gibson's ES-335 and similar designs. Hist ...

* Ibanez Destroyer *

Gibson Flying V The Gibson Flying V is an electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1958. The Flying V offered a radical, "futuristic" body design, much like its siblings: the Explorer, which was released the same year, and the Moderne, which was designed ...

Gibson Les Paul Custom The Gibson Les Paul Custom is a higher-end variation of the Gibson Les Paul guitar. It was developed in 1953 after Gibson had introduced the Les Paul model in 1952. History The 1952 Gibson Les Paul was originally made with a mahogany body with a ...

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuous ...

* Gibson J45 * Ibanez AE Classical Guitar * Gibson Explorer * Fender Jazz Bass Sound equipment * Furman AR15 Voltage Regulator * Axess Electronics FX1+ expansion board, midi foot controllers w/ Axess CFX4 control function switchers and custom made Axess Electronics Deville footswitch interfaces * Lectrosonics Wireless Units * Zaolla Artist and Zaolla Silverline series cables as cables and cable snakes * (2) duplicate FX racks are wired up w/Mogami Cable * Pedals, in Voodoo Lab GCX Audio Switcher Loops: Keeley Mod Ibanez TS9 (phat mod and baked mod)(x2), Boss DD6 Digital Delay, MXR Phase 100 (x2), Electro Harmonix Keeley Mod Big Muff Pi, Ibanez AD99 Keeley Mod Delay, Ibanez AC99 Keeley Mod Chorus, Digitech Whammy, TRex RoommSpate Reverb, and Buff Puff Boost. And for the acoustic: Fishman Aura Classical Pedal, Fishman Aura Dreadnought Pedal Picks: Dunlop Nylon – 0.60mm, 0.73mm, 1.00mm Amplifiers * Fender Deville 2x12" (x2) * Hiwatt DG103 Head and Hiwatt 4x12" Speaker Cabinet NOTE: Hiwatt currently are one of Keuning's sponsors.

Discography

Keuning

* '' Prismism'' (Thirty Tigers, 2019) * ''A Mild Case of Everything'' (Pretty Faithful Records, 2021) Other appearances *"Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" –

(2010) *"Wander" – We Are Hyena (2012) *"This Is a Joke" (2014) – Bombay Heavy *"Clouds Pretend" – The Hunt (2014) *"Heavy Hand," "Goodbye Cambridge" – Blackout Balter (2016)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Dave Keuning's official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keuning, Dave 1976 births Living people American rock bass guitarists American male bass guitarists Musicians from Iowa City, Iowa The Killers members People from Pella, Iowa Guitarists from Iowa American male guitarists 21st-century American bass guitarists Thirty Tigers artists