David Harvey is an American bluegrass

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

player and

luthier A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...

, responsible for the

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

s, and

dobro Dobro () is an American brand of resonator guitars owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally a gui ...

s produced by Gibson.

Musical career

Harvey is the son of

Dorsey Harvey Dorsey may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Dorsey (surname) * Dorsey (given name) Places United States * Dorsey, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Dorsey, Maryland, an unincorporated community ** Dorsey station, a passenger rail station * Dorse ...

, a mandolin player who played with

Red Allen Henry James "Red" Allen Jr. (January 7, 1908 – April 17, 1967) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist whose playing has been described by Joachim-Ernst Berendt and others as the first to fully incorporate the innovations of Louis Armst ...

and

Frank Wakefield Franklin Delano Wakefield (June 26, 1934 – April 26, 2024) was an American mandolin player in the bluegrass music style. Wakefield was known for his collaborations with a number of well-known musical artists, including Red Allen, Jimmy Martin, ...

; David Harvey grew up playing mandolin,

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

, and

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, and is often referred to as a "mandolin virtuoso." At age 14, he started touring with Allen, and in the late seventies became a member of

Larry Sparks Larry Eugene Sparks, (born September 25, 1947) is an American Bluegrass singer and guitarist. He was the winner of the 2004 and 2005 International Bluegrass Music Association Male Vocalist of the Year Award. 2005, won IBMA for Album of the Yea ...

's The Lonesome Ramblers. In the eighties, he formed The Wild and Blue Band with his wife, Jan, and her sister, Jill Snider, playing bluegrass festivals and recording; they were given the "Best New Band" award by the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in 1992. From 2002 to 2007 he toured with

Claire Lynch Claire Lynch (born February 20, 1954) is an American bluegrass musician, singer, songwriter, and producer. She is a three-time winner of the International Bluegrass Music Association's Female Vocalist of the Year honors. She is considered one of ...

,. In 2004 Harvey produced and played on a tribute to

The Moody Blues The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in May 1964. The band initially consisted of Graeme Edge (drums), Denny Laine (guitar/vocals), Mike Pinder (keyboards/vocals), Ray Thomas (multi-instrumentalist/vocals) and Clint W ...

, '' Moody Bluegrass: A Nashville Tribute to The Moody Blues'', which featured artists like

Alison Krauss Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer, fiddler and music producer. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of eight and recording for the first time at ...

and

John Cowan John Cowan (born August 24, 1953) is an American progressive bluegrass vocalist and bass guitar player. He was the lead vocalist and bass player for the New Grass Revival. Cowan became the band's bassist in 1972 after the departure of original ...

. He also produced and performed on the follow-on album, ''Moody Bluegrass TWO... Much Love'', released in 2011. In 2004, he performed with

Larry Cordle Larry Cordle (born November 16, 1948) is an American country and bluegrass singer-songwriter . Cordle is most famous for his song " Murder on Music Row", which was recorded by George Strait and Alan Jackson and received the Country Music Asso ...

on ''Murder on Music Row'', which spawned the hit single "

Murder on Music Row "Murder on Music Row" is a 1999 song written by Larry Cordle and Larry Shell, and originally recorded by American bluegrass group Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time, as the title track from their album ''Murder on Music Row''. It gained fam ...

" (recorded by

George Strait George Harvey Strait Sr. (born May 18, 1952) is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor, and music producer. Strait has sold over 120 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He holds ...

and

Alan Jackson Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He is known for performing a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country", as well as writing many of his own songs. Jackson has recorded 21 studi ...

Master Luthier

Harvey began learning the trade from John Ramsey, at The Folklore Center in Colorado Springs in the late seventies. In the nineties, having moved to

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, he worked at various places including The Violin Shop and National Guitar Repair, run by Charlie Derrington; Derrington took a job with Gibson, and soon asked Harvey to join him. At Gibson, Harvey is the master luthier who oversees and approves their production of mandolins, banjos, and dobros. He is also responsible for the limited edition Jam Master and Master Models, which includes a signature

Ricky Skaggs Rickie Lee Skaggs (born July 18, 1954), known professionally as Ricky Skaggs, is an American neotraditional country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, ma ...

model.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, David American bluegrass musicians Living people American luthiers American bluegrass mandolinists Year of birth missing (living people)