Dave Sharp (born 28 January 1959) is an English guitarist who co-founded, along with
Mike Peters, the Welsh punk/new wave band
The Alarm.
Early career
Sharp was born in
Kersal
Kersal is a suburb and district of Salford in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, northwest of Manchester and was historically part of the county of Lancashire.
History
Kersal has been variously known as Kereshale, Kershal, K ...
,
Salford
Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...
,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...
, and began playing with the band Seventeen in the 1970s; he made his recording debut on their "Don't Let Go" / "Bank Holiday Weekend" single. After Seventeen disbanded in 1980, the band reformed as The Alarm, eventually recording hit records such as "68 Guns" and "The Spirit of '76".
Hard Travelers
Towards the end of 2007 Sharp, having spent most of his recent time playing solo acoustic, was ready to form a new band again. He was put in touch with
Henry McCullough and, after a few days together in Ireland, the nucleus of The Hard Travelers was formed. The concept of the band's music was the intention to bring the songs of
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American Left, American socialism and anti-fascism. He ...
to a new public. To complete the lineup, Sharp and McCullough brought in
Zoot Money
George Bruno Money (born 17 July 1942) is an English vocalist, keyboardist and bandleader. He is best known for his playing of the Hammond organ and association with his Big Roll Band. Inspired by Jerry Lee Lewis and Ray Charles, he was drawn ...
on keyboards;
Gary Fletcher on bass; and
Colin Allen on drums.
Their debut gig, following a recording session, was on 22 January 2008 in
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...
at The Cellars. The following booked gigs had to be postponed for a while due to various difficulties and their next performance was at The Black Horse Festival,
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west a ...
where they headlined on 24 May 2008.
Sharp went on to form another lineup of the band, featuring guitarist Scott Poley, Norman Cooke (Drums), Christian Madden (Hammond Organ), Paul Sudlow (Acoustic Guitar). After a short time in the studio, the lineup disbanded.
AOR - The Spirit of The Alarm
In April 2008 Sharp launched his own version of The Alarm, AOR - Spirit of The Alarm, to showcase the band's American setlists from the late 1980s. Together with
North West
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
musicians Wayne Parry, Dave Black, Tom Szakaly and Si Smith, AOR played their debut gig at Glasgow Rockers on 18 April, later supporting
The Damned at Heywood Civic Centre in support of the
Sophie Lancaster Foundation on 26 November 2008.
Sharp currently tours the United Kingdom with regular visits to Scotland and Wales. Dave has also played regular support slots for The Alarm including the 2017 Viral Black tour.
Discography
;Solo albums
* ''Hard Travellin (1991)
* ''Downtown America'' (1996)
References
External links
Dave Sharp's websiteHard Travelers website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharp, Dave
1959 births
Living people
English rock guitarists
English new wave musicians
The Alarm members
People from Salford