Dave Shaw
Well-known to New England bluegrass audiences, mandolin player Dave Shaw brings to the band a lifetime of experience in country and Bluegrass music. Growing up in rural western Massachusetts, Dave learned to play stringed instruments at an early age, and as a teenager played in his uncles’ old-time country bands.
In 1985, following service in the Navy, he was a founding member of the Bear Bridge Band, featured for more than twenty years on banjo and lead and harmony vocals. In 1997 he moved to Belmont, NH, where he resides with his wife Jen and daughter Grace. He has become a much sought-after stand-in for many bands, and in addition to Newfound Grass and the Seth Sawyer Band, performs as well in the duo Bear Minimum with long time picking partner Tex Orlomoski.
Dave has a vast record collection and an encyclopedic familiarity with the history and repertoire of America’s rural music, which he happily shares with his friends and acquaintances.