The Dave Rowe Trio presents a fresh take on the folk scene with powerful three-part harmonies, instrumental virtuosity, exciting showmanship, and keen songwriting. They respectfully build on tradition to move the music into a new groove. Dave Rowe has a strong heritage to draw on, having grown up immersed in music. His father was Tom Rowe, Schooner Fare's bass player, whose driving rhythms laid the foundation for that group's robust sound.
Tom Rowe's abiding joy in the music infected his son. At 12, Dave took up the tuba (!) and got formal training on piano and keyboard before having his dad teach him the electric bass. By 15, he was making money making music as the bass player with the Makem Brothers, Tommy Makem's sons. At 19, he picked up a guitar for the first time, then moved on to learning banjo and mandolin. In 1993, the Rowe men did the most natural thing in the world and formed Rowe by Rowe. When they added Denny Breau (younger brother of legendary guitarist, Lenny Breau) in 1998, they became Turkey Hollow. This configuration toured extensively until Dave lost his dad to cancer early in 2004.
Dave scoured Maine to find musicians to breathe new life into a different configuration. He first found Kevin O'Reilly, an electric bass player with a background in rock music. Kevin provides a strong underpinning to the DRT sound while hanging on to his rock sensibilities. In addition to trio work, he explores the boundaries of bass guitar with his solo music. FACE magazine says, "O'Reilly is to be commended for pushing the bass guitar beyond where whoever created it in the first place imagined it might go."
The trio was originally rounded out with Ed Howe, Dave’s fiddle-toting friend, but after over 4 years in the band, Ed decided family time was suffering too much while he was on the road. He introduced Dave and Kevin to Eric McDonald, a Boston-based mandolin player and current Berklee student, who quickly fell in with the band’s arrangements and made a seamless transition into the lineup. The trio is working on a new CD for spring 2009 release.
This unique group uses Steinberger solid body instruments instead of acoustic instruments in the playing of traditional folk, Celtic, Bluegrass, and original music. The Steinberger instruments optimize the acoustic sound for the electronic age with true close-your-eyes-and-it's-acoustic tone. Music had always been a passion for Dave; now he is continuing and expanding on a legacy so well begun.
